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UN rapporteur: ‘Israel must stop using water as a weapon of war against Palestinians’

MEMO | November 18, 2023

United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur Pedro Arrojo-Agudo on Friday called on the occupying state to stop using water as a weapon of war against the Palestinians and called on it to provide clean water and fuel to the besieged Gaza Strip.

The UN special rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation issued a statement in the context of the water crisis in the Gaza Strip due to the strip being subjected to an Israeli siege and intense attacks.

“Israel must stop using water as a weapon of war and allow clean water and fuel into Gaza to activate the water supply network before it is too late,” Arrojo-Agudo urged.

Arrojo-Agudo pointed out: “Every hour that passes with Israel preventing the provision of safe drinking water in the Gaza strip, in brazen breach of international law, puts Gazans at risk of dying of thirst and diseases related to the lack of safe drinking water.”

He stressed: “I want to remind Israel that consciously preventing supplies needed for safe water from entering the Gaza Strip violates both international humanitarian and human rights law,” adding that the impact on public health and hygiene will be “unimaginable.”

The UN rapporteur pointed out that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) had previously announced that 70 per cent of Gaza’s population drinks salty and dirty water.

For the 42nd consecutive day, the Israeli occupation army continues to launch devastating attacks on Gaza. Its planes target buildings and residential homes, destroying them above the heads of their residents and depriving the Gaza Strip of water, food and fuel. This has led to the deaths of more than 11,630 Palestinians, including 4,710 children and 3,165 women, as well as more than 31,800 wounded people, 70 per cent of whom are children and women, according to official Palestinian sources.

November 18, 2023 Posted by | Subjugation - Torture, Timeless or most popular, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

Five countries ask ICC to probe war crimes in Gaza

Palestine Information Center – November 18, 2023

GAZA – The International Criminal Court (ICC) announced that it received referrals from five states seeking an investigation into Israeli war crimes in Gaza.

ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan disclosed that South Africa, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Comoros, and Djibouti submitted the referrals.

Khan confirmed in a statement that the ICC is already investigating the situation in Gaza.

“In accordance with the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, a State Party may refer to the Prosecutor a situation in which one or more crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court appear to have been committed requesting the Prosecutor to investigate the situation for the purpose of determining whether one or more specific persons should be charged with the commission of such crimes,” he said.

Khan mentioned the establishment of a specialized team upon assuming his term in June 2021, aimed at advancing the investigation in Palestine.

The prosecutor emphasized that the team will probe crimes suspected to be committed during the Israeli aggression on Gaza.

South Africa declared that it had submitted the referral request with “other countries that share the same concerns”, demanding that the International Criminal Court would urgently pay “attention to the seriousness of the current situation.”

The South African Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed in a statement that Pretoria “urges other signatory states to the Rome Statute to join this referral request, or to submit their referral requests independently.”

The ICC opened an investigation in 2021 into war crimes suspected to be committed by the Israeli occupation forces in Palestine.

Since October 7, Israel has been waging a bloody aggression on the Gaza Strip, resulting in the martyrdom of more than 12,000 Palestinian civilians, most of whom are children and women.

November 18, 2023 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Timeless or most popular, War Crimes | , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Activating the Genocide Convention

By Craig Murray | November 13, 2023

There are 149 states party to the Genocide Convention. Every one of them has the right to call out the genocide in progress in Gaza and report it to the United Nations. In the event that another state party disputes the claim of genocide – and Israel, the United States and the United Kingdom are all states party – then the International Court of Justice is required to adjudicate on “the responsibility of a State for genocide”.

These are the relevant articles of the genocide convention:

Article VIII
Any Contracting Party may call upon the competent organs of the United Nations to take such action under the Charter of the United Nations as they consider appropriate for the prevention and suppression of acts of genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III.

Article IX
Disputes between the Contracting Parties relating to the interpretation, application or fulfilment of the present Convention, including those relating to the responsibility of a State for genocide or for any of the other acts enumerated in article III, shall be submitted to the International Court of Justice at the request of any of the parties to the dispute.

Note that here “parties to the dispute” means the states disputing the facts of genocide, not the parties to the genocide/conflict. Any single state party is able to invoke the Convention.

There is no doubt that Israel’s actions amount to genocide. Numerous international law experts have said so and genocidal intent has been directly expressed by numerous Israeli ministers, generals and public officials.

This is the definition of genocide in international law, from the Genocide Convention:

Article II
In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group

I can see no room to doubt whatsoever that Israel’s current campaign of bombing of civilians and of the deprivation of food, water and other necessities of life to Palestinians amounts to genocide under articles II a), b) and c).

It is also worth considering Articles III and IV:

Article III
The following acts shall be punishable:
(a) Genocide;
(b) Conspiracy to commit genocide;
(c) Direct and public incitement to commit genocide;
(d) Attempt to commit genocide;
(e) Complicity in genocide.

Article IV
Persons committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III shall be punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals.

There is, at the very least, a strong prima facie case that the actions of the United States and United Kingdom and others, in openly providing direct military support to be used in genocide, are complicity in genocide. The point of Article IV is that individuals are responsible, not just states. So Netanyahu, Biden and Sunak bear individual responsibility. So, indeed, do all those who have been calling for the destruction of the Palestinians.

It is very definitely worth activating the Genocide Convention. A judgement of the International Court of Justice that Israel is guilty of genocide would have an extraordinary diplomatic effect and would cause domestic difficulties in the UK and even in the US in continuing to subsidise and arm Israel. The International Court of Justice is the most respected of international institutions; while the United States has repudiated its compulsory jurisdiction, the United Kingdom has not and the EU positively accepts it.

If the International Court of Justice makes a determination of genocide, then the International Criminal Court does not have to determine that genocide has happened. This is important because unlike the august and independent ICJ, the ICC is very much a western government puppet institution which will wiggle out of action if it can. But a determination of the ICJ of genocide and of complicity in genocide would reduce the ICC’s task to determining which individuals bear the responsibility. That is a prospect which can indeed alter the calculations of politicians.

It is also the fact that a reference for genocide would force the western media to address the issue and use the term, rather than just pump out propaganda about Hamas fighting bases in hospitals. Furthermore a judgement from the ICJ would automatically trigger a reference to the United Nations General Assembly – crucially not to the western-vetoed Security Council.

All this begs the question of why no state has yet invoked the Genocide Convention. This is especially remarkable as Palestine is one of the 149 states party to the Genocide Convention, and for this purpose would have standing before both the UN and the ICJ.

I am afraid the question of why Palestine has not invoked the Genocide Convention takes us somewhere very dark. Anyone who, like George Galloway and myself, cut their political teeth in left-wing politics of Dundee of the 1970s has (long story) their experience and contacts with Fatah, and my sympathies have always very much lain with Fatah rather than Hamas. They still do, with the aspiration for a democratic, secular Palestine. It is Fatah who occupy the Palestinian seat at the United Nations, and the decision for Palestine to call into play the Genocide Convention lies with Mahmoud Abbas.

It is more and more difficult daily to support Abbas. He seems extraordinarily passive, and the suspicion that he is more concerned with refighting the Palestinian civil war than with resisting the genocide is impossible to shake. By invoking the Genocide Convention he could put himself and Fatah back at the centre of the narrative. But he does nothing. I do not want to believe that corruption and a Blinken promise of inheriting Gaza are Mahmoud’s motivators. But at the moment, I cannot grab on to any other explanation to believe in.

Any one of the 139 states party could invoke the Genocide Convention against Israel and its co-conspirators. Those states include Iran, Russia, Libya, Malaysia, Bolivia, Venezuela, Brazil, Afghanistan, Cuba, Ireland, Iceland, Jordan, South Africa, Turkey and Qatar. But not one of these states has called out the genocide. Why?

It is not because the Genocide Convention is a dead letter. It is not. It was invoked against Serbia by Bosnia and Herzegovina and the ICJ ruled against Serbia with regard to the massacre at Srebrenica. This fed directly through to ICC prosecutions.

Some states may simply not have thought of it. For Arab states in particular, the fact that Palestine itself has not invoked the Genocide Convention may provide an excuse. EU states can hide behind bloc unanimity.

But I am afraid that the truth is that no state cares sufficiently about the thousands of Palestinian children already killed and thousands more who will shortly be killed, to introduce another factor of hostility in their relationship with the United States. Just as at this weekend’s summit in Saudi Arabia, where Islamic countries could not agree an oil and gas boycott of Israel, the truth is that those in power really do not care about a genocide in Gaza. They care about their own interests.

It just needs one state to invoke the Genocide Convention and change the narrative and the international dynamic. That will only happen through the power of the people in pressing the idea on their governments. This is where everybody can do a little something to add to the pressure. Please do what you can.

Hat tip to the indefatigable Sam Husseini who has been pressing the Genocide Convention on the White House.

November 18, 2023 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Solidarity and Activism, Timeless or most popular, War Crimes | , | Leave a comment

Britain implicated in murder of Gaza doctor sponsored by its Foreign Office

BY KIT KLARENBERG · THE GRAYZONE · NOVEMBER 14, 2023

The UK government refused to condemn Israel’s targeted murder of Dr. Maisara Alrayyes, a Palestinian alumnus of the British Foreign Office’s prestigious Chevening scholarship. Meanwhile, London has instructed media outlets to keep silent about its direct involvement in the Gaza slaughter.

Since the beginning of Israel’s military assault on the besieged Gaza Strip, the British government has remained unflappably silent on the carnage inflicted on Palestinian civilians with one notable exception.

On November 8th, the Foreign Office announced the death of Dr. Maisara Alrayyes, a Palestinian alumnus of its prestigious Chevening scholarship scheme, under which “outstanding emerging leaders from all over the world” can pursue all-expenses-paid master’s degrees at prestigious British universities.

The Foreign Office refused to state the cause of Alrayyes’ death, provoking a wave of condemnation.

Meanwhile, King’s College, where in 2019 Alrayyes studied Women and Children’s Health, issued a brief statement stating he and his family were “killed,” though it refused to name the perpetrator. The college noted that his work had been published “in a number of high-profile journals… and he was well respected and known among his colleagues for his dedication to improving healthcare for women and children in low-income and war-affected regions.”

Colleagues of Alrayyes subsequently revealed that he and his family had been murdered as a result of Israeli airstrikes after spending 30 hours trapped under rubble.

In the days leading up to their deaths, the physician texted his former classmates at King’s College, telling them:

“In the last few days, I’m starting to feel more terrified than ever. I imagine myself underneath the rubble, and I have a great fear of staying alive under the rubble.”

His worst nightmares were realized thanks in no small part to the British government sponsors of his Chevening Scholarship.

Britain’s Cleverly meets Alrayyes, signs off on Israel’s killing spree

The Chevening Scholarship is considered something of a crown jewel in Britain’s soft power arsenal, and a vital mechanism for promoting her interests abroad. Over 15 Chevening graduates have gone on to become heads of state, and London is keen to promote the success of alumni the world over. A leaked Foreign Office report on improving public perceptions of Britain in the former Yugoslavia found London was “favourably associated with education (universities, schools, the Chevening scholarship programme).”

A Chevening Journalism Scholarship was therefore made available in every country in the region, to “improve the perception of the UK with participants, who are influencers in the Western Balkans.”

As Alrayyes met his fiancee, also a Chevening scholar, while studying in Britain, London was particularly enamored with his example. In September, he was among a select group of graduates granted a meeting with Foreign Secretary James Cleverly in Jerusalem.

These British leaders failed to provide Alrayyes with even the slightest measure of protection when the brutal bombardment of Gaza began this October. While sleeping in his home with his family, he became a target of the Israeli military. In death, he has become a public relations problem for the British Foreign Office that once sponsored him.

Cleverly has repeatedly dismissed calls for a ceasefire in Gaza while insisting Britain fervently supports Israel’s right to “defend” itself – a euphemism for backing Israel’s crushing assault. When grilled about Alrayyes’ murder by ITV, the Foreign Secretary half-heartedly mumbled:

“Every loss of life is heart-breaking. And there are people both Palestinian and Israeli who have lost their lives. That is why we are so focused on getting humanitarian aid into Gaza.”

Britain implicated directly in the Gaza slaughter

In every way, Alrayyes’ horrific death is a nightmare for London, not least because the British government itself may be somehow implicated. Analysis by Declassified UK indicates that since October 7, 33 military transport flights have traveled to Tel Aviv from Britain’s vast airbase in Cyprus. The outlet could not find records of similar journeys before the attack on Gaza began. A Ministry of Defence spokesperson denied the planes were ferrying “lethal aid”, but supported “diplomatic engagement.”

This explanation is rendered all the more dubious given that in late October, the Defence and Security Media Advisory (DSMA) Committee wrote to the editors of major British news outlets to demand they not report on British special forces “deployed to sensitive areas of the Middle East.”

DSMA is a Ministry of Defence body that imposes a very British form of censorship on the press. It brings together representatives of the intelligence and security services, military veterans, high ranking government officials, press association chiefs, senior editors, and journalists. Together, they decide what issues related to national security can be reported on, and how. It creates a situation in which the overwhelming majority of British national security journalism is directly influenced by the state.

The Committee’s recent intervention was spurred by media reports of the SAS being stationed in Cyprus to assist with hostage rescue operations. This was almost certainly designed to explain the presence of British special forces in the region while concealing their involvement in the assault on Gaza, where Alrayyes was murdered.

‘Israel controls the Foreign Office’

The Foreign Office’s handling of Alrayyes’ death reportedly sparked outrage even among its own staff, who were already outraged at Whitehall’s refusal to acknowledge, let alone condemn, the spiraling civilian death toll in Gaza. Historically, the department was pro-Arab. Its conversion to the cause of Zionism is a relatively recent development, although sympathy for the Palestinians endures in certain quarters.

This is somewhat remarkable, given British politicians who dare speak up for the Palestinians are routinely targeted for reputational destruction by the Israel lobby. Both Labour and the Conservatives have highly influential “Friends of Israel” clusters within parliament, which operate in close, clandestine concert with Tel Aviv’s embassy in London.

In 2017, undercover Al Jazeera journalists caught Israeli embassy representative Shai Masot on tape in meetings with Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI), discussing a “hit list” of parliamentarians to “take down” due to their support for Palestine. This included MP Crispin Blunt, a longtime critic of Israel, and Foreign Office minister Alan Duncan. Masot expressed a desire to “destroy” Duncan, to ensure he wouldn’t receive a top post within the department.

In response, Duncan telephoned Mark Regev, then-Israeli ambassador to Britain, who alleged Masot was a junior “local hire” with no formal diplomatic status. In reality, Masot was an Israeli Defense Forces veteran who had served as the embassy’s senior political officer since November 2014, acting as chief point of contact between the Israeli embassy and the Foreign Office.

Israel returns to kill Alrayyes’ family

On November 8, friends of Maisara Alrayyes learned that his two brothers were also murdered by the Israeli military as they dug through the rubble of his home to extract his dead body. They had survived the attack on their home two days prior, but became targets when they returned in an attempt to give their brother a proper burial.

Having whitewashed the murder of Alrayyes, the British Foreign Office has been silent about Israel’s targeted killing of Alrayyes’ family. Meanwhile, UK Rishi Sunak continues to reject calls for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian factions in Gaza.

November 16, 2023 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

Euro-Med: Israel used over 1,000 white phosphorous bombs in Gaza

Palestine Information Center – November 16, 2023

GAZA – The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has said that the Israeli army has launched more than 1,000 strikes, utilizing internationally prohibited white phosphorus, on populated areas since it started its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip on October 7.

In a statement on Thursday, the Euro-Med Monitor said it had documented the Israeli army’s indiscriminate use of white phosphorus against civilians, describing it as an “incendiary substance that burns human flesh and causes lifelong suffering.”

Euro-Med said that its team received testimonies affirming that the Israeli army carried out 300 strikes with white phosphorus bombs and projectiles within a period of about 40 minutes on Wednesday evening, November 15, on a residential block in Beit Lahia town, north of Gaza.

“The night before, a large number of white phosphorus shells were reportedly seen falling on a crowded populated area in Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, north of Gaza City. Similar attacks also occurred on several occasions in al-Shati refugee camp in western Gaza and the town and camp of Jabalia, north of the Strip,” Euro-Med elaborated.

“Palestinian residents said they suffered from severe shortness of breath and coughing as a result of inhaling white phosphorus in the midst of extremely unpleasant odors spreading in the air and severe blurred vision due to the thick white smoke,” Euro-Med cited.

According to Euro-Med, people exposed to white phosphorus can suffer from respiratory damage, organ failure, and other serious and life-altering injuries, including burns that are extremely difficult to treat and cannot be relieved with water.

“The escalating use of white phosphorus and smoke bombs against densely populated areas comes within the framework of forced displacement and ethnic cleansing that are being practiced by the Israeli army in order to force half of the Gaza’s population to leave their homes, shelters and hospitals and move to areas in the south of the Gaza Valley.”

Euro-Med accused Israel of persisting in violating the principles of proportionality and precaution by launching random attacks on the Gaza Strip and directly targeting the lives and health of civilians, and using internationally prohibited weapons in flagrant violation of the international humanitarian law and the rules of war.

“In addition to that, Israel uses bombs with huge destructive power against populated areas, and such bombs pose the single greatest threat to civilians in modern armed conflicts. This explains the severity of the massive destruction that turns entire residential neighborhoods into rubble and ruins in the Gaza Strip.”

November 16, 2023 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Subjugation - Torture, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

Dozens killed in latest Israeli bombing of Gaza Mosque

The Cradle | November 16, 2023

At least 50 Palestinians were killed and dozens of others injured on 15 November after the Israeli army targeted a mosque in the besieged Gaza Strip, WAFA news agency reports. 

The attack on the Sabra neighborhood was conducted during a congressional prayer when the mosque was full of Palestinian worshippers. 

Israel has conducted similar attacks on places of worship since its inception; in this war alone, multiple Mosques and churches have been leveled, including ones dating back centuries. 

On 20 October, the Israeli army destroyed the Grand Al-Omari Mosque in Jabalia, dating back to the 7th century; it was one of the largest mosques in Palestine. 

Hours before the Al-Omari bombing, the Israeli army targeted and destroyed the Church of Saint Porphyrios in Gaza, the third oldest church in the world. 

“We condemn this unconscionable attack on a sacred compound and call upon the world community to enforce protections in Gaza for sanctuaries of refuge, including hospitals, schools, and houses of worship,” World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Jerry Pillay said in response to the bombing of the 1,400-year-old structure. 

“Our prayers go out for healing to all those wounded, along with our condolences to Patriarch Theophilos II and all our Greek Orthodox brothers and sisters in Christ,” Pillay added. 

Outside of Gaza, Israel launched an airstrike against the Al-Ansar mosque in Jenin refugee camp, West Bank, on 22 October. 

An Israeli statement justifying the Al-Ansar Mosque attack said it was a“joint operation between the army and the Shin Bet” and that the strike targeted an “underground terrorist route.”

This has been a line used by Israel to justify their attacks on not only multiple places of worship but also civilian residences and hospitals. 

As of 15 November, 11,470 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, of whom are 4,707 children, 3,155 women, and 686 elderly. 

November 16, 2023 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

Haniyeh family home in refugee camp bombed by Israel

MEMO | November 16, 2023

The family home of the head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, has been bombed by Israel, local media have reported. His home is in the overcrowded Al-Shati refugee camp, where he grew up.

Military sources claimed that the house was being used as infrastructure for Hamas, and a meeting place for the movement’s members and senior officials. Haniyeh has stayed outside the Gaza Strip since 2019, when the former Palestinian Authority prime minister was elected to head the political bureau. He is currently based in Qatar.

The Israeli occupation continues its ongoing aggression against the Gaza Strip for the 41st day, with the support of the US, as its aircraft bomb the vicinity of hospitals, residential buildings, tower blocks and the homes of Palestinian civilians, destroying them over the heads of their residents. It also continues to prevent the entry of water, food and fuel, all of which has led to the death toll rising to 11,500 martyrs, including more than 8,000 children and women, with 29,000 wounded.

November 16, 2023 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

Bunker Debunker: Did Israel Build Subterranean Fortress Under Gaza’s Biggest Hospital?

By Ilya Tsukanov – Sputnik – 15.11.2023

Situated in Gaza City, the Dar Al-Shifa Hospital is the largest medical complex in the Gaza Strip, and has a 700-bed capacity. The IDF has targeted the complex repeatedly over the past week-and-a-half, alleging Hamas’ use of facilities located underneath as a fortified command center. Is there any truth to this story? Sputnik did some digging.

The Israel Defense Forces provided a worrisome explanation for its targeting of hospitals and ambulances in the Gaza Strip on Monday, publishing (and then deleting) an eyebrow-raising X post saying that “for Hamas, ambulances are used to transport its operatives and weapons to disguise them as civilians,” while “hospitals are in fact terrorist infrastructure.”

“This is against international law and turns them into legitimate military targets,” the IDF said.

In the days and weeks before and since, the al-Shifa hospital complex has come under repeated attack. On November 4, an air strike hit an ambulance near the hospital’s entrance, killing 15 people and injuring 60 others. The hospital was targeted a second time on November 6. Finally, on Wednesday, the IDF launched a ground raid inside the facility.

Before mounting its “precise and targeted operation,” the IDF alleged that Hamas had established a secret headquarters burrowed deep underneath the medical complex. In a statement, the military said it had “publicly warned time and again that Hamas’ continued military use of the Shifa Hospital jeopardizes its protected status under international law,” and lamented that the “relevant authorities in Gaza” ignored an IDF ultimatum to “cease” “all military activities within the hospital.”

Several weeks earlier, the IDF released a computer-animated video of a massive alleged underground tunnel and bunker complex it said was situated underneath the hospital complex, including conference rooms, arms and fuel caches and even a makeshift weapons factory. Israeli intelligence followed up by providing interrogation footage of a captured Hamas fighter admitting there was indeed a large underground hardened facility underneath al-Shifa used by the militant group. US intelligence, Pentagon and White House officials chimed in in support of Washington’s Israeli ally, alleging that Hamas has indeed been using tunnels underneath Al-Shifa for “command and control areas as well as weapons storage,” and that “newly declassified intelligence” indicates that the hospital is being used “to support their military operations.”

Hamas has dismissed the allegations, accusing the IDF of using the claims to justify its indiscriminate bombing of the Gaza Strip.

Who Built the Facilities Underneath al-Shifa?

Starting out as an army barracks during the British Mandate for Palestine era, al-Shifa was turned into a hospital in 1946 during the closing years of Britain’s occupation, and expanded into an entire complex of medical facilities during Egypt’s administration of Gaza between 1953 and 1967. Seizing the Strip during the Six-Day War of June 1967, Israel preserved and then expanded the hospital complex, and in the 1980s, with US financial backing, gave it a major overhaul, with Israeli architects Gershon Zippor, Teddy and Ben Kaplan and others tasked with creating its modern-day design, outlining a “Master Plan for the Year 2000” of modern, six-floor buildings spread across a 12.5-acre complex and equipped with what were at the time the latest medical innovations.

Along with the medical facilities, the project reportedly saw the construction of “a secure underground operating room and tunnel network” underneath the Hospital’s Building Number 2 in 1983, with a large “underground concrete floor” constructed underneath the facility during the same period. Other reports indicated that the hardened underground facilities were used to house the hospital’s laundry and “various administrative” offices.

Zippor, notably, had previous experience with underground military facilities, and between 1972 and 1976 engaged in the conversion of bunkers and trenches used during the Six-Day War into the Ammunition Hill Memorial Site and Museum in Jerusalem.

Hamas reportedly knew about the hospital complex’s hidden underground fortified areas, with a 2014 report in Ynet revealing that Zippor’s son, Barak, had mentioned that in the late 1980s, an Israeli contractor “hired Hamas as a security company” for the hospital.

As for the potential use of the underground facilities by Hamas after Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, a 2009 report in Haaretz citing Palestinian sources indicated that the militant group’s leaders never hide in one place, but spread out and constantly change locations using an elaborate network of tunnels.

None of the Israeli reporting on the hospital complex’s construction shows photos of its reported fortified basement areas, and reporters covering Israeli attacks on or near the hospital during Israel’s wars with Hamas in 2008-2009, 2012, 2014 and 2023 have yet to present any direct proof of Hamas’ use of the underground facilities built by the Israelis.

“When it comes to the issue of the bunker or the tunnels underneath the Shifa Hospital, I think one of the reasons that Israel is…asserting this is because every time it has tried to make an assertion regarding Hamas’ operations, those assertions have consistently been debunked,” Sami Hamdi, political analyst and head of International Interest, a UK-based global risk and intelligence company, told Sputnik.

The IDF will undoubtedly hope to find evidence of Hamas using underground facilities and tunnels built in the 1980s as evidence to support its narrative about the Palestinian militant group’s use of civilian infrastructure and noncombatants as human shields, but it remains to be see whether Tel Aviv can actually sway public opinion in this manner, the political analyst believes.

“The point being, I think that when it comes to the Israelis pushing this narrative, it has less to do with the idea that Israel actually believes [it] and more about a desperate attempt to try to win back public opinion that it has emphatically lost as a result of the bombardment of social media videos showing the realities of the atrocities that are being committed in Gaza,” Hamdi said.

Mehmet Rakipoglu, a researcher at Dimensions for Strategic Studies, a London-based think tank, points to the irony of the IDF accusing Hamas of using bunkers and tunnels underneath Gaza’s civilian infrastructure when Israel itself appears to have built the “secret shelter” under the Shifa hospital in the first place.

“It is obvious that Hamas did not use the hospital as a shield. Even though Israel tries to manipulate public opinion with amateur videos, the truth is clear,” Rakipoglu told Sputnik.

So far, “the places that Israel claims to be used by the ‘Hamas terrorist cells’ and as tunnels are spare water tanks,” the observer said, referring to social media posts mocking the IDF’s reported ‘proof’ of alleged militant tunnel networks in civilian areas which turn out to be mere water containers, heaters and septic tanks.

November 15, 2023 Posted by | Deception, Timeless or most popular, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

UN issues Gaza water warning

RT | November 15, 2023

At least 70% of Gaza will be without access to drinking water by the end of Wdnesday, the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has warned. The agency blamed Israel’s fuel blockade for the crisis, which has resulted in the collapse of water infrastructure in the enclave.

The 23,000 liters of fuel Israel has allowed to the UNRWA on Wednesday can only be used “to transport the little aid coming via Egypt,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement. The agency needs around 160,000 liters a day for “basic humanitarian operations,” such as maintaining the water facilities, he added.

“Key services, including water desalination plants, sewage treatments, and hospitals have ceased to operate,” Lazzarini said. “It is appalling that fuel continues to be used as a weapon of war.”

Supplying just the trucks will lead to more loss of life, Lazzarini said, calling on Israel to “immediately authorize the delivery of the needed amount of fuel as is required under international humanitarian law.”

Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza after the October 7 incursion by Hamas, which killed an estimated 1,200 people. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy the Palestinian group, launching air and artillery strikes against the enclave and sending ground troops earlier this month.

Lazzarini has also appealed for a ceasefire, noting that over 60 UNRWA installations in the enclave have been hit – most of them in the south of Gaza, which Israel said would be “safe” for civilians.

The government in West Jerusalem has adamantly rejected any ceasefire, or fuel deliveries to Gaza. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir declared “Diesel = weapon” on Wednesday, while Transportation Minister Miri Regev wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that “fuel for UNRWA is fuel for Hamas.”

UNRWA was established in 1949 to provide humanitarian aid and protection to palestinian refugees “pending a just and lasting solution to their plight.” It operates in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.

November 15, 2023 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Subjugation - Torture, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

Belize severs diplomatic relations with Israel

MEMO | November 15, 2023

The Central American state of Belize announced the severing of its diplomatic relations with Israel due to Tel Aviv’s continued attacks on the Gaza Strip.

The Belize government said in a statement published on its website that the decision was taken because Israel did not accept calls for a ceasefire and prevented the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

It added: “Despite our requests, Israel has not stopped its violations of international humanitarian law nor allowed relief workers to alleviate the suffering of millions of Gazans.”

As a result, it continued, the government is withdrawing the accreditation of Israel’s ambassador to Belize and withdrawing “its request for accreditation of Mr. Jonathan Enav as Belize’s Honorary Consul” to Israel.

“All activities conducted by the Israeli Honorary Consulate in Belize and the appointment of the Honorary Consul are suspended.”

It concluded that it “renews its call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, unimpeded access to humanitarian supplies into Gaza and the release of all hostages.”

This comes after South Africa, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia and Jordan recalled their ambassadors from the occupation state over its war crimes in Gaza.

November 15, 2023 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Solidarity and Activism, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

Pentagon Quietly Ramps Up Ammo For Israel

By Svetlana Ekimenko – Sputnik – 15.11.2023

With the Palestinian death toll in Gaza reportedly reaching over 11,000, including 4,630 children, the US has been facing pressure over its support for the Israeli campaign. However, the Biden administration has rejected calls for a ceasefire, even as hundreds of thousands of pro-Palestine protesters have taken to the streets across the country.

As Israel continues its operation to eliminate Hamas in the Gaza Strip whatever the costs, the Pentagon has reportedly been tacitly boosting military aid to its biggest non-NATO ally.

Despite publicly voicing concern over the surging civilian death toll in Gaza, Washington is maintaining a “weapons pipeline” to cater to Israel’s military aid requests, reported Bloomberg.

Thus, Israel has asked for over 57,000 155 mm high explosive artillery shells, 20,000 M4A1 rifles, 5,000 PVS-14 night vision devices, 3,000 M141 hand-held bunker-buster munitions, 400 120 mm mortars, and 75 army vehicles, specifically, the Army and Marine Corps’ new Joint Light Tactical Vehicle. Israel has also ostensibly requested 200 armor-piercing Switchblade 600 dive-bombing drones made by AeroVironment Inc., which the US Army does not have in its inventory.

All of this is contained in an internal Defense Department list seen by the outlet. The catalogue of weapons shipped to Israel is reportedly contained in a Pentagon document, “Israel Senior Leader,” dated late October. Some of the weapons are already being delivered, while others are in the process of being provided by the US Defense Department from both American and Europe-based stockpiles, it was added.

The report underscored that the US is ready to acquiesce to Israel’s weapons demands far beyond the provision of Iron Dome interceptors and precision munitions manufactured by Boeing Co. that was publicly announced earlier. Two Iron Dome batteries are currently en route to Israel by sealift.

One tally purportedly revealed that 36,000 rounds of 30 mm cannon ammunition, 1,800 M141 bunker-buster munitions, and close to 3,500 night-vision devices had already been delivered to Israel by late October. Another tally is described as including around 2,000 Hellfire laser-guided missiles produced by Lockheed Martin Corp. These are intended for AH-64 Apache helicopter gunships. Another 36,000 rounds of 30 mm ammunition to be fired by the Apache’s cannon are also on the cited weapons list. A further 312 Tamir missile interceptors have also been donated to Israel by the US.

When asked to comment on the report, a Pentagon spokesman said that it was “leveraging several avenues – from internal stocks to US industry channels – to ensure Israel has the means to defend itself.”

The spokesperson added that Israel was being provided by the US with 155 mm artillery shells, small-diameter bombs, precision-guided munitions, along with “Iron Dome interceptors and medical support equipment.”

Since the start of Israel’s campaign to target Hamas in retaliation for the militant group’s attack on October 7, Washington has staunchly supported Tel Aviv. The Biden administration did make a feeble attempt at shuttle diplomacy, but had nothing to show for it. As the Israel Defense Forces intensified their Gaza operation to eliminate Hamas, global protests have surged over the spiraling Palestinian civilian death toll. Over 11,000 people, many of them children, have already died in the enclave, according to the Gazan Health Ministry.

However, Washington has rejected calls for a ceasefire in hostilities even as hundreds of thousands of pro-Palestine protesters have taken to the streets across the US. Instead, the Biden administration urged for a “humanitarian pause” in Israel’s assault.

The Biden administration has faced censure from non-governmental organizations for its provision of artillery shells, along with other munitions, to Israel. Over 30 such organizations wrote to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday to call on him to refrain from sending the 155 mm shells, saying:

“In Gaza, one of the world’s most densely populated places, 155 mm artillery shells are inherently indiscriminate… These munitions are unguided and have a high error radius.”

More than 500 former Biden campaign staffers also urged US President Joe Biden to press for a ceasefire in the besieged Gaza Strip. In their letter published online and signed by former employees of Biden’s 2020 campaign, as well as the Democratic National Committee and state-level Democratic Party organizations, they pointed out, “We were and continue to be horrified by the devastating Hamas attack against Israeli civilians on October 7.” The group of staffers, calling themselves Biden Alumni for Peace and Justice, wrote:

“You must call for a ceasefire, hostage exchange, and de-escalation, and take concrete steps to address the conditions of occupation, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing at the root of the horrific violence we are witnessing now.”

November 15, 2023 Posted by | Militarism, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

Israel: What We Are Doing in Gaza, We Can Do in Beirut

By Kyle Anzalone | The Libertarian Institute | November 14, 2023

The Israeli Defense Minister threatened to launch a war in Lebanon that would resemble the military operations in Gaza. Israeli forces have waged a brutal assault and blockade of the enclave. Tel Aviv’s bombing has killed over 11,000 Palestinian civilians, including 4,000 children. The White House is concerned that if Israel goes to war in Lebanon, it will provoke a wider conflict involving the US.

On Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, said, “What we are doing in Gaza, we can do in Beirut.” After Tel Aviv began military operations in Gaza last month, Hezbollah and the Israeli military began exchanging fire along the border. Scores of people have been killed, including soldiers and civilians on each side. An Israeli strike caused the death of a Lebanese journalist.

Gallant’s threat to model operations in Lebanon after those in Gaza is concerning due to the brutality of the Israeli operations. At least 11,000 people have already been killed, with thousands more believed dead under the rubble. Israeli forces have also laid siege to hospitals and bombed other shelters housing displaced Palestinians.

Tel Aviv has caused a massive humanitarian catastrophe for the 2.3 million residents of the strip. Israel cut fuel, water, food, and medical aid to the enclave. Tel Aviv has refused requests from Western nations to bring aid directly from Israel into Gaza. Tel Aviv is enforcing a tedious inspection regime of all aid trucks entering Gaza through the Egyptian crossing, causing delays.

Several Israeli officials have boasted that the operations in Gaza amount to an ethnic cleansing campagin. Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter said, “It is first and almost an operational event. We have a huge number of fighters of our own that have to operate in a densely populated area. We need to reduce the number of residents.” He continued, “This is going to result in some sort of Nakba. [This is] a Gaza Nakba 2023, that’s how it’ll end.”

In Washington, officials are concerned that Tel Aviv will drag the US into a conflict in Lebanon. Axios reported Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin “expressed concern” to Gallant about fighting on the Israel-Lebanon border. The White House requested Austin relay the message due to “growing anxiety” that Israel’s military action is exacerbating tensions on the border.

While the Biden administration has expressed concerns about some of Tel Aviv’s actions in Gaza and Lebanon, Washington is refusing to condition any of the military support it provides to Israel on a reduction of civilian casualties or deescalation.

November 15, 2023 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , | Leave a comment

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