Israeli soldier confesses to killing US elderly man in West Bank
Al Mayadeen | May 22, 2024
A self-proclaimed soldier from “Israel’s” infamous Netzah Yehuda battalion has admitted that his unit killed 78-year-old Palestinian-American, Omar Asad, in January 2022, according to recordings obtained by The Grayzone.
However, after announcing plans to sanction the battalion, the Biden administration withdrew the decision without offering further explanation.
“Four of these units [Israeli units] have effectively remediated these violations, which is what we expect partners to do,” the US State Department claimed.
The fifth unit appears to be Netzah Yehuda, an all-male unit of Orthodox Jewish nationalists that operates exclusively in Ramallah of the occupied West Bank and is accused of crimes, including sexual assault and beating at least three older men to death while they were lying on the ground while in custody.
Netzah Yehuda soldiers detained Asad and left him outdoors in harsh conditions, bound and blindfolded until he died. Instead of punishment, all the soldiers got was a slap on the wrist, and compensation was paid to Asad’s family.
A report by Washington DC-based human rights organization, DAWN, found that at the time of the killing, the commander of the unit, Lt. Col. Mati Shevach, was promoted to Deputy Commander of the Kfir Brigade, which oversees the Netzah Yehuda formation.
Spokesperson Vedant Patel responded during an April 29 State Department press briefing to questions regarding why the administration had hesitated to sanction the battalion.
“This is an ongoing process,” Patel said, further claiming, “I’m not going to speak to it more specifically, but consistent with the memorandum of understanding that we have with the government of Israel, we are engaging with them, consulting with them as it relates to not just this broader process but additional information that they’ve shared.”
The Grayzone obtained the glorified account of the killing of Asad, which according to the self-described soldier’s account, the unit brutalized Asad as punishment for supposedly interfering with a raid.
“This geezer who’s like trying to interfere with our operation, we’re going to like, f*** with him for a night,” the soldier said, as he called Arabs “murders, criminal animals” and boasted about killing and torturing Palestinians, likening himself to Americans who photographed themselves with dead Japanese soldiers during World War II, “doing funny things with their bodies.”
“Yeah, I enjoy it because they’re our enemy,” he expressed.
Read also: IOF units ‘remediated’ after rights violations, no Leahy sanctions
NGO updates complaint to Met Police on UK ministers’ complicity in Israel war crimes
MEMO | May 22, 2024
An NGO has submitted a complaint to the United Kingdom’s Scotland Yard against Israel’s use of “starvation as a weapon of war” and targeting of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, in what is the latest such complaint regarding war crimes in Gaza to be reported to British police.
According to the London-based International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP), it submitted a complaint to Scotland Yard’s War Crimes Team regarding Israel’s suspected use of “starvation as a method of warfare” and for ‘wilfully causing great suffering’ to Palestinians.
Although filed in the UK, both crimes are illegal under British and international law, including under the Rome Statute and the International Criminal Court Act 2001. Using starvation as a weapon of war also violates the Geneva Convention, a major keystone of contemporary international law.
The 60-page complaint – which was added to by a further 800 pages of evidence – includes accounts collected by ICJP’s investigation and legal teams, which include former British police detectives who collected the evidence to the standards of British police forces.
The evidence reportedly includes that collected from first-hand eyewitnesses, expert reports and expert evidence from nineteen medical professionals who have worked within the besieged Gaza Strip since October, when Israel began its ongoing offensive.
According to ICJP’s Director, Tayab Ali, “Complicity comes in many forms, whether that be providing political cover, encouraging criminal acts, supplying weapons or, as in the case of starvation, withholding funds from agencies that provide life sustaining humanitarian aid”.
The extensive complaint notably builds upon and expands an existing complaint issued by the ICJP back in January this year, which named four British government ministers for alleged complicity and criminal responsibility in Israeli war crimes. This latest update, however, further implicates a fifth senior government minister as an alleged perpetrator of those crimes.
Due to the war crimes’ illegality under British law and subsequent ability to be prosecuted in the UK, Scotland Yard’s War Crimes Investigation Team will now reportedly consider the complaints leading up to an ultimate decision on whether to open a formal criminal investigation on the matter. If that proceeds, there is the possibility that police will then question, arrest, and prosecute the alleged perpetrators and those complicit.
READ ALSO: Boris Johnson accused of obstructing investigations into war crimes in Gaza
Norway, Spain, Ireland to formally recognize Palestinian statehood
The Cradle | May 22, 2024
Norway, Ireland, and Spain announced on 22 May that they will formally recognize Palestine as a state next week, drawing the ire of Israel as the country immediately recalled its ambassadors to Dublin and Oslo.
“There cannot be peace in [West Asia] if there is no recognition … In the midst of a war, with tens of thousands killed and injured [in Gaza], we must keep alive the only alternative that offers a political solution for Israelis and Palestinians alike: Two states living side by side, in peace and security,” Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said on Wednesday.
Shortly after Oslo’s announcement, Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said his country would also recognize a Palestinian state.
“Today, Ireland, Norway, and Spain are announcing that we recognize the state of Palestine,” Harris said at a news conference. “I’m confident that further countries will join us in taking this important step in the coming weeks,” he added.
Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said via social media that the recognition will become official on 28 May.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez followed suit, announcing Wednesday that the country’s council of ministers would also recognize an independent Palestinian state on 28 May. He also accused his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu of putting the two-state solution in “danger” with his policy of “pain and destruction” in Gaza.
In response to the news, Tel Aviv immediately recalled its ambassadors to Ireland and Norway and pledged to recall its envoy to Spain. The foreign ministry also summoned the ambassadors from the three European nations to “reprimand” them.
Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz called the show of support for Palestinians a “folly,” adding that recognizing Palestinian statehood “[sends] a message to the Palestinians and the world: Terrorism pays.”
Palestinian officials welcomed the announcement by three European nations, with Hamas calling it an “important step.”
“We welcome the announcement by Norway, Ireland, and Spain of recognition of the State of Palestine, and we consider it an important step on the path to consolidating our right to our land and establishing our independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital,” the statement by the Palestinian resistance says.
“Historical moments in which the free world triumphs for truth and justice after long decades of Palestinian national struggle, suffering, pain, occupation, racism, murder, oppression, abuse and destruction to which the people of Palestine were subjected,” the Secretary-General of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) said via social media.
Nine European countries — Bulgaria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Sweden, Malta, and the Greek Cypriot administration — have already recognized Palestine as a state.
The latest Democracy Perception Index reveals shifts in global perceptions
By Ramzy Baroud | MEMO | May 21, 2024
The Democracy Perception Index (DPI) issued its 2024 report on 8 May, revealing important and interesting shifts in global perceptions about democracy, geopolitics and international relations. The conclusions in the report were based on the views of over 62,000 respondents from 53 countries, representing roughly 75 per cent of the world’s total population.
The survey was conducted between 20 February and 15 April this year, when the world was largely transfixed by the Israeli war against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
It is important to note that the DPI, although informative, is itself conceived in a biased context as it is the product of a global survey conducted by western-based companies and organisations.
The DPI results were published ahead of a scheduled 2024 Copenhagen Democracy Summit, whose speakers will include Hillary Clinton, US Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell and President of the European Council Charles Michel. The first speaker listed on the conference website is Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Founder and Chairman of the Alliance of Democracies Foundation, which commissioned the DPI.
All of this is reflected in the kind of questions which are being asked in the survey, placing greater emphasis on whether, for example, ties should be cut with Russia over Ukraine, and China over a war that is yet to take place in Taiwan. Such major shortcomings notwithstanding, the outcome of the research remains interesting and worthy of reflection.
There are some major takeaways from the report. For a start, there is growing dissatisfaction with the state of democracy, and such discontent is not limited to people living in countries perceived as non-democratic; it also includes people in the US and Europe.
What’s more, democracy, in the collective awareness of ordinary people, is not a political term often infused as part of official propaganda. When seen from the viewpoint of the people, democracy is a practical notion, whose absence leads to dire implications. For example, 68 per cent of people worldwide believe that economic inequality at home is the greatest threat to democracy.
On the question of “threats to democracy”, there is growing mistrust of Global Corporations (60 per cent), Big Tech (49 per cent) and their resulting Economic Inequality (68 per cent), and Corruption (67 per cent). This leads to the unmistakable conclusion that western globalisation has failed to create the proper environment for social equality, empower civil society or build democratic institutions. The opposite, based on people’s own perceptions, seems to be true.
Then we have global priorities which, as seen by many nations around the world, remain committed to ending wars, poverty, hunger, combating climate change, etc. However, this year’s top priority among European countries, 44 per cent, is also centred on reducing immigration, a significant number compared with the 24 per cent who prioritise fighting climate change.
Although the world appears to be divided about cutting ties with Russia and China, the selection of the question again reeks with bias.
The respondents in western countries, who are subjected to relentless media propaganda, prefer cutting such ties, while most people in the rest of the world prefer keeping them. Consequently, due to China’s positive perception in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, the DPI gave Beijing a “net positive”. Russia, on the other hand, is on the “path of image rehabilitation in most countries surveyed with the exception of Europe,” reported Politico.
The greatest decline was suffered by the United States, largely due to Washington’s support for Israel in its ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. “Over the past four years… perceptions of the US’s global influence became more positive – peaking in 2022 or 2023 – and then declined sharply in 2024,” the report concluded.
The large drop took place in the Muslim countries that were surveyed: Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkiye, Morocco, Egypt and Algeria. Some western European countries are also becoming more critical of the US, including Switzerland, Ireland and Germany.
Most people (55 per cent compared with 29 per cent) believe that social media has a positive effect on democracy. Despite growing social media censorship, many in the Global South still find margins in these platforms which allow them to escape official or corporate media censorship. Growing criticism of social media companies, however, is taking place in western countries, according to the survey.
Despite official propaganda emanating from many governments, especially in the west, regarding the greatest threats to world peace, the majority of people want their governments to focus on poverty reduction, fight corruption, promote economic growth, and improve healthcare and education, while working to reduce income inequality. “Investing in security and defence,” came seventh on the list.
Finally, people in countries which have an overall negative perception of the United States include some of the most influential global and regional powers, such as China, Russia, Indonesia, Austria, Turkiye, Australia and Belgium.
Despite massive media propaganda, censorship and scaremongering, people around the world remain clear on their collective priorities, expectations and aspirations, which are real democracy, social equality and justice. If these collective yearnings continue to be denigrated and ignored, we should expect more social upheaval, if not outright insurrections and military coups in coming years.
Itamar Ben-Gvir promotes future Israeli settlements in Gaza
Press TV – May 21, 2024
An Israeli minister has once again called for the expulsion of the Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and an expansion of settlements in the besieged Palestinian territory.
Itamar Ben-Gvir in comments carried by Israel’s Maariv news site on Tuesday advocated a full military takeover of Gaza.
The far-right minister said Israel should push the Palestinians to “voluntarily” leave to make way for settlements.
“Israel should be the one that controls the Gaza Strip, unequivocally, and no one else,” Ben-Gvir said.
Most important, he said, is “encouraging voluntary emigration of Palestinians” from the territory. “I would love to live in Gaza if possible.”
Last week, the minister said the settlements called for by far-right attendees were the “true solution.”
“We must encourage emigration. Encourage the voluntary emigration of the residents of Gaza. It is moral!”
The minister has repeatedly called for the mass expulsion of Gazans and urged settlers to move into the besieged territory since Israel launched the savage military campaign across the region in early October.
Ben-Gvir has also said he “opposes transferring humanitarian aid” to the Gaza Strip, where basic necessities are scarce and a famine is looming.
Since early October, Ben-Gvir has encouraged shooting Palestinian women and children in Gaza, execution of Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails “to free prison space.” He has threatened to quit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet if the genocidal campaign ends.
Report: Israel systematically abuses jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti
MEMO | May 20, 2024
Jailed Palestinian leader, Marwan Barghouti, has been subjected to violations and torture, and spends days in a narrow, dark cell in solitary confinement, without any means to treat wounds he sustained as a result of being dragged with his hands tied behind his back, the Guardian revealed on Saturday.
The newspaper pointed out that books, newspapers and a television that he used to be able to access have been confiscated since October.
“The lights that flicker in his cell each evening are intended to make sleep near impossible,” it said.
His lawyer Igal Dotan, who visited Barghouti in Israel’s Megiddo Prison two months ago, told the paper that “mentally he’s a very strong person, but physically his condition is deteriorating, you can see it. He’s struggling to see out of his right eye, as a result of one of the assaults.”
“He has lost weight – he doesn’t look good. You wouldn’t recognise him if you compare his current appearance with the famous photos of him,” he said.
Barghouti told his lawyers that in March he was dragged to an area of the prison without security cameras and assaulted. He recalled bleeding from the nose as he was dragged across the floor by his handcuffs, before he was beaten unconscious.
Dotan counted bruises in at least three places on Barghouti’s body when he visited weeks later, adding that he probably has a dislocated shoulder from the assault and is in constant pain, but prison officials have refused a full medical examination of his injuries.
Since October, he has been transferred to three different detention facilities, and held in solitary confinement in each.
In Ayalon Prison “he was beaten on several occasions,” said Dotan, including an incident where guards swore at him while Barghouti was “dragged on the floor naked in front of other prisoners.”
Washington has ‘no objections’ to Israel’s brutal assault on Rafah
The Cradle | May 21, 2024
Israel has decided to “limit” its ongoing operation in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah and forgo a major offensive there, the Washington Post’s David Ignatius said in an opinion piece.
According to Ignatius, the decision comes after discussions with Washington on the matter.
Following conversations with unnamed officials, he claims that a plan to send two more divisions into Rafah will not commence and that operations will be restrained.
“Israeli leaders have reached a consensus about a final assault on Hamas’s four remaining battalions in Rafah. Instead of the heavy attack with two divisions that Israel contemplated several weeks ago, government and military leaders foresee a more limited assault that U.S. officials think will result in fewer civilian casualties and, for that reason, Biden won’t oppose,” Ignatius wrote.
He says Israel “plans to conduct regular raids against [Hamas] insurgents [in Rafah], much as it does now in the West Bank. Indeed, the West Bank might be a model for how Gaza evolves going forward.”
The report came the same day that Israeli officials reaffirmed their intention to fully invade Rafah.
US media has reported in previous months that Washington was aiming to mold Israel’s Rafah operation into a more limited campaign focused on surgical raids and “counterterrorism” operations rather than a full-scale assault.
The US has since repeatedly warned that it would refuse to support Israel’s assault against Rafah without a plan to safely evacuate the besieged population there, something that has not happened.
Since the operation began on 7 May, Israel has instead forcibly displaced over 810,000 of the at least one million civilians sheltering in Rafah – most of whom had already been displaced from other parts of Gaza.
“The exodus continues in Gaza. UNRWA estimates over 810,000 people have fled Rafah in the past two weeks. Every time families are displaced; their lives are at serious risk. People are forced to leave everything behind looking for safety. But there’s no safe zone,” the UN refugee agency said on 20 May.
Relentless Israeli bombardment of the city continues as troops continue to push forward into Rafah.
“At least five civilians today were killed and others were injured in Israeli airstrikes targeting a group of citizens near Awadallah Junction in the Yabna refugee camp in the center of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip,” WAFA news agency reported on 21 May.
Al Jazeera reported on 20 May that Israeli forces have reached the depths of Rafah’s Brazil neighborhood.
The Palestinian resistance continues to fiercely confront Israeli troops in Rafah, as well as in the north of Gaza as battles remain ongoing.
ICC MUST INVESTIGATE BRITISH MINISTERS FOR COMPLICITY IN GAZA WAR CRIMES
By Mark Curtis | Declassified UK | May 20, 2024
With the ICC’s chief prosecutor issuing an application for an arrest warrant against Israel’s prime minister for “war crimes and crimes against humanity”, attention must turn to those who have aided Israel.
British ministers have for months been materially assisting Israel during its onslaught against Palestinians in Gaza. This support is being provided in three main ways.
First, the UK is providing arms to Israel. Recently filed court documents reveal that, as of January this year, the UK government had 28 extant and 28 pending “high-risk” licences with Israel marked as “most likely to be used by the IDF in offensive operations in Gaza”.
On 18 January, Israeli forces bombed a residential compound in Gaza housing the emergency medical team of Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), a British charity. Four British doctors were injured in the airstrike, alongside MAP staff members and a bodyguard.
The attack was carried out by an F-16 jet, components for which have been supplied by UK companies.
But the UK continues to arm Israel, rejecting repeated calls by campaign groups, former supreme court judges and some MPs to halt them.
Second, the UK military is training Israeli armed forces personnel in Britain during the genocide.
The government has admitted that “there are currently six Israeli Armed Forces officers posted in the UK”. It says “Israel is represented by Armed Forces personnel in its Embassy in the UK, and as participants in UK defence-led training courses”.
Third, the UK military is conducting spy flights over Gaza in support of Israel. Declassified has found that over 200 surveillance missions over Gaza have been undertaken by the Royal Air Force, which is likely to have gathered around 1,000 hours of surveillance footage.
None of this spy activity is being used to halt Israel’s attacks on Palestinians. The UK government says these surveillance activities are solely to aid the release of hostages held by Hamas.
Although the ICC has also indicted Hamas’ leadership for hostage taking, there is little evidence that Britain’s surveillance of Gaza has helped save lives. Rather it encourages Netanyahu to continue a military campaign and avoid negotiating a ceasefire, a path many of the hostages’ families favour.
Secrecy to avoid prosecution
British ministers are refusing to provide detailed information about these three areas of activity to parliament, likely to avoid prosecution for complicity in war crimes.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) is, for example, refusing to give parliament further information about its training of Israeli military personnel in Britain or a military agreement signed with Israel in 2020.
The UK government is also refusing to give any details about the spy flights over Gaza, which began on 3 December.
Court documents show UK ministers decided to continue arms exports to Israel on 8 April, one week after the strike that killed three British aid workers who were employed by the charity World Central Kitchen.
Also on 8 April, the UK began its latest round of negotiations with Israeli ministers to strike a new trade agreement. Rather than sanctioning Israel over its actions in Gaza, the UK is deepening commercial relations.
Legitimacy of investigation
The ICC has legitimacy in investigating British ministers since they are shielded legally and politically at the domestic level.
There is almost no chance the UK system will hold ministers accountable for aiding war crimes, particularly since they are protected by “crown immunity”.
This deems that ministers cannot commit a legal wrong and do not act as persons but as agents steeped with Crown authority, and are therefore untouchable under the law.
The very purpose of the ICC is to investigate and prosecute the commission, including aiding and abetting, of the most serious crimes when domestic authorities refuse to act.
They don’t care
The international Genocide Convention requires all states to prevent and punish genocide.
The principle of the Responsibility to Protect, adopted by all states in 2005, highlights the responsibility of states to prevent “atrocity crimes” such as war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.
UK ministers are not only failing to uphold these norms: they are actively supporting those Israeli decision-makers violating them.
British ministers have consistently defended Israel’s attacks on Palestinians as the death toll has mounted to the tens of thousands. They explicitly reject South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
Evidence suggests UK ministers just don’t care about international law or how many people – Palestinians or Britons – are killed in Gaza.
At the same time, the British government is refusing to publish the legal advice it has received on whether Israel is violating international law in Gaza.
Ministers responsible
Arrest warrants have been issued by the ICC against Netanyahu and his defence minister Yoav Gallant.
Its chief prosecutor, the British barrister Karim Khan, says he has “reasonable grounds to believe” that the two Israeli ministers “bear criminal responsibility” for crimes including “starvation of civilians as a method of warfare”, “intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population” and “extermination and/or murder”.
Rishi Sunak as prime minister, along with foreign secretary David Cameron, defence secretary Grant Shapps and trade secretary Kemi Badenoch – who all approve UK arms exports to Israel – must be investigated over their complicity in war crimes.
Deputy foreign secretary Andrew Mitchell, who has acted as the government’s chief apologist for Israel’s actions in the British parliament, should also not escape the ICC’s attention.
Nor should defence minister Leo Doherty and former foreign secretary James Cleverly (now home secretary), who contributed to UK government decisions on policy towards Israel.
Mark Curtis is the director of Declassified UK, and the author of five books and many articles on UK foreign policy.
Israel army is floundering in Gaza, ex-commander says
MEMO | May 20, 2024
Reserve Commander General Gadi Shamni has warned that the Israeli army is “floundering” in Gaza, adding that Israel “clearly” will not achieve the goals it has set for its bombing campaign.
In an interview with Maariv newspaper, Shamni said, “It is difficult to see how all the Israeli detainees will be returned from the Gaza Strip,” adding that he believes Hamas will suffer losses due to the war, but will not be “eliminated militarily”.
According to Shamni, the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned Israel to “years of confusion, isolation, and severe damage to the economy.”
“The most dangerous thing is the dramatic erosion of the status of Israel, which was a regional power until the Hamas attack on the Gaza envelope settlements on October 7,” he added.
Since 7 October 2023, the Israeli occupation army has continued its aggression against the Gaza Strip, with American and European support, as its planes bomb hospitals, resident buildings, towers and Palestinian civilian homes, destroying them over the heads of their residents, and preventing the entry of water, food, medicine and fuel. More than 35,450 Palestinians have been killed as a result, while over 79,470 have been injured. A further 1.7 million have been forcibly displaced from their homes and neighbourhoods, according to UN data, many numerous times.
Netanyahu ‘rejected’ proposals to resume prisoner swap talks
MEMO | May 20, 2024
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected proposals by Israeli negotiators on Saturday for the renewal of indirect talks with Hamas for a hostage release deal, the Times of Israel has reported, citing multiple reports by major Israeli networks yesterday. The proposals were apparently presented to Netanyahu by Mossad spy chief David Barnea, Shin Bet security chief Ronen Bar and General Nitzan Alon, who is in charge of the “hostages file” for the army.
According to the report, the proposals included an “Israeli concession,” and were presented during the war cabinet meeting on Saturday evening. However, said Kan, Netanyahu responded by saying: “All these proposals will lead to an end to the war. We tried and made significant overtures. Hamas rejected everything.”
Channel 12 quoted war cabinet minister Benny Gantz as retorting: “It is apparent you are unhappy with [the negotiators’] work. If that is so, replace them and bring someone you trust and believe in.” To this Netanyahu responded that he “will not agree to any proposal that ends the war.”
During the same meeting, minister Gadi Eisenkot was quoted as saying: “No one here wants to stop the war, but your position does not allow us to bring back the hostages. You’re not leaving the team with any possible path toward reaching a deal.”
A minister in the war cabinet told Kan, “After yesterday’s meeting it has become clearer that Netanyahu doesn’t want a deal” while others present said, “We saw the despair in the eyes of Nitzan Alon and his senior aide after the meeting. They seem to have come to a final realisation that there will be no deal.”
ICC applies for arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Sinwar
The Cradle | May 20, 2024
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has applied for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, the movement’s military wing chief, Mohammad Deif, and Political Bureau head, Ismail Haniyeh, for war crimes.
Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan said there were reasonable grounds to believe that all bore criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity from at least 7 October 2023.
The ICC, based in The Hague, opened an investigation into Israel’s actions in the occupied territories in 2021. The investigation has been expanded to cover both Israeli and Hamas actions since the start of the Gaza war on 7 October.
The ICC accused Hamas of killing several hundred Israelis and of committing various war crimes during its assault on Israeli military bases and settlements during Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. The ICC accusations include extermination, murder, taking hostages, rape and other sexual crimes, and torture.
The ICC statement also does not mention that during the 7 October Hamas attack, Israeli forces killed many of their own civilians by responding with heavy weapons. Israeli media has reported that the army used helicopters, drones, and tanks to open fire on Hamas fighters and their Israeli captives in settlements (kibbutzim), military bases, and the Nova music festival site.
These heavy weapons burned many Israelis alive or buried them under the rubble of the houses they destroyed. The killings and resulting mutilation of the bodies were then blamed on Hamas by Israeli authorities, who suggested fighters from Hamas’ armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, had tortured them.
UN investigators have sought evidence that Hamas has committed mass rapes on 7 October in response to Israeli claims, but Israel has failed to provide it. Many reports of Hamas committing mass rape, including in a widely publicized article in the New York Times in December, have been shown to be false.
The ICC also accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant of war crimes, including extermination, murder, directing attacks at civilians, and using starvation as a weapon of war.
The ICC statement focused on Israel’s efforts to starve Palestinians in Gaza, citing its efforts to cut off food, water, medicine, and electricity to the enclave starting on 9 October. The ICC statement mentions Israeli attacks on civilians, including those queuing for food.
The statement claims that Israel carried out these war crimes as part of a right to self-defense and to defeat Hamas, win the release of Israeli captives held by the group, and punish civilians it viewed as a “threat.”
At the same time, the ICC statement did not mention the reason for the Hamas attack, namely to break the 17-year siege on Gaza, end decades of illegal occupation and settlement in the West Bank, and free thousands of Palestinians held hostage in Israeli prisons.
The ICC statement makes no mention of Israel’s relentless bombing of Gaza, of Israeli sniper drones killing civilians, and of the torture and sexual abuse of Palestinian detainees swept up in Gaza and taken to detention facilities in Israel. The ICC statement also makes no mention of Israeli efforts to ethnically cleanse Gaza nor of the estimated number of Palestinians killed by Israeli bombings and other actions, which now exceeds 34,000, including some 8,000 children, according to conservative UN estimates.
In response, an Israeli official told the Times of Israel that Karim Khan’s “baseless blood libel against Israel has crossed a red line in his lawfare efforts against the lone Jewish state and the only democracy in the Middle East.”
“The blood libel will not deter Israel from defending itself and accomplishing all its just war objectives,” says the official. Netanyahu will issue a video statement later in the day.
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Book Review
Palantir CEO Calls for Draft to Fight the Empire’s Wars
Involuntary servitude is good for business
By Kurt Nimmo | Another Day in the Empire | April 20, 2026
In 2025, Alex Karp, the CEO of government and military tech contractor Palantir, published The New York Times best-seller, The Technological Republic: Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West. The Wall Street Journal praised the book as a cri de coeur, a passionate appeal “that takes aim at the tech industry for abandoning its history of helping America and its allies,” while Wired praised the book as a “readable polemic that skewers Silicon Valley for insufficient patriotism.”
On April 18, 2026, Palantir posted twenty-two points to social media summarizing the book. In addition to taking Silicon Valley to task for insufficient patriotism, advocating a role for AI in forever war, and denouncing the “psychologization of modern politics,” the Palantir post on X declares: “National service should be a universal duty. We should, as a society, seriously consider moving away from an all-volunteer force and only fight the next war if everyone shares in the risk and the cost.”
National conscription, a form of involuntary servitude, and the wars it portends, is good for business, especially for corporations within the orbit of the Pentagon, the CIA, and the national security state. Palantir fits comfortably within this amalgamation. … continue
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