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Rebuffing US resettlement bid, Russia affirms Palestinians’ right to Gaza

MEMO | January 31, 2025

The Palestinian people, including those in Gaza, have an indisputable right to live on their land, the Kremlin said on Friday in response to US President Donald Trump suggesting the resettlement of Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt and Jordan, Anadolu Agency reports.

“The Gaza Strip is an integral part of the territory of the future Palestinian State, along with East Jerusalem and the West Bank of the Jordan River. The right of the people of Palestine includes the right of the people of Gaza to live on their land, it is indisputable, it should not be questioned,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, told a press briefing in Saransk, Russia, taking a question from Anadolu.

She reaffirmed that Russia’s position on Gaza and its inhabitants remains firm and unchanged.

“We support a comprehensive political resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict based on internationally recognised legal frameworks, including UN General Assembly decisions, UN Security Council resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative. The outcome should be the establishment of an independent Palestinian State within the “1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, coexisting peacefully and securely alongside Israel,” she said.

This approach, rooted in international law and historical justice, is supported by the vast majority of countries, including Arab nations, she said.

“We firmly believe that only implementation of a two-state solution can ensure lasting peace in the Middle East,” she added.

Trump had earlier suggested that Jordan and Egypt, both of which border Gaza, should house displaced Palestinians. “You’re talking about a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing,” he said.

The suggestion drew widespread condemnation.

January 31, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Israel releases 110 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for eight captives

Press TV – January 30, 2025

Israel has released 110 Palestinian prisoners after a temporary delay ordered by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu even as Hamas had released eight captives in the third phase of the prisoner swap.

The prisoners released on Thursday evening included 30 minors, 32 Palestinian who had received life sentences, and 48 others who were serving prison terms of different duration.

Most of them reunited with their families in the occupied West Bank, while 23 of them were sent to Egypt. The prisoners released on Thursday were all men, aged 15 to 69.

The released inmates transported by Red Cross buses to both Palestinian territories were greeted with cheers by thousands of joyful Palestinians.

Zakaria Zubeidi, Mohammed Abu Warda and Mohammed Aradeh were among the high-profile Palestinians released on Thursday.

Israeli drones dropped leaflets on the Gaza Strip warning Palestinians not to hold flags or banners or celebrate the release of prisoners in any way, Al Jazeera reported.

Israeli soldiers often attack crowds that gather near prisons to celebrate the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Earlier Thursday, 12 Palestinians were wounded by Israeli soldiers in Beitunia, near the prison in the West Bank where Palestinian prisoners were due to be released.

Two Palestinians were wounded by live bullets, two by rubber bullets and eight by tear gas, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.

Earlier in the day, Hamas released three Israeli captives, a female soldier and two settlers, plus five Thai nationals, fulfilling its part of the third phase of the prisoner swap, paving the way for Israel to to release 110 Palestinian prisoners, as scheduled.

However, Netanyahu said in a statement that he had ordered a halt to the release of Palestinians until further notice, claiming that the handover of eight captives had been conducted in a “chaotic” condition.

The Israeli premier said the exchange would be delayed until mediators secured guarantees from Hamas of “the safe exit of our hostages in the next rounds.”

Surrounded by masked Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters, the captives made their way through large Palestinian crowds toward the Red Cross vehicles on Thursday without any incident.

Also a day after a second exchange of Israeli captives held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners, Netanyahu ordered Israeli troops to prevent Palestinians from returning to their homes in northern Gaza.

Israel said then Hamas had failed to free a captive who it claimed should have been released, but Hamas denied such an arrangement had ever been agreed.

The holdup left hundreds of thousands of Palestinians stranded behind an Israeli military barrier for two days before being allowed to head to their homes.

Israeli forces fired on the crowds on three occasions, killing two people and wounding nine, including a child, according to al-Awda Hospital, which received the casualties.

Israel has pulled back from several areas of Gaza as part of the ceasefire, which came into effect last Sunday.

The ceasefire is aimed at ending the 15-month Israeli war on Gaza and freeing captives still held in Gaza in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

Over six weeks, Hamas will release 33 Israeli captives – about one-third of those in captivity – in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

In the last two exchanges, Hamas released seven Israeli captives in return for 290 prisoners, nearly all of whom were Palestinians, except for one Jordanian.

A fourth exchange scheduled for Saturday will involve the release of three Israeli men, according to Netanyahu’s office.

January 30, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Subjugation - Torture | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Two prisoners from Gaza announced dead in Israeli detention

Palestinian Information Center – January 29, 2025

GAZA – Palestinian rights groups said on Wednesday that two prisoners from the Gaza Strip were martyred in Israeli jails.

This came in a joint statement released by the Commission of Detainees’ and Ex-Detainees’ Affair, the Palestinian Prisoner Society, and Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association.

The martyred prisoners have been identified as Mohamed al-Asali and Ibrahim Ashour.

Mohamed al-Asali was kidnaped by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) from Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City in March 2024. Later, his family received information that he was in Ashkelon prison before receiving another response to a request about his fate saying he died and then a response claiming that he was still in Ashkelon. The last response from the IOF affirmed that he died on May 17, 2024.

Asali, a father of four kids, did not suffer from any chronic health issues. During the war, all his brothers were martyred and only his father survived. His mother was buried in Ramallah after she passed away as she was having medical treatment in Occupied Jerusalem.

As for Ibrahim Ashour, he was kidnaped on February 14, 2024 from Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, south of Gaza. He also had no health problems before his detention.

The three organizations accused the Israeli occupation of deliberately killing Palestinian detainees and manipulating information about their fate.

The martyrdom of Asali and Ashour has brought to 58 the number of the Palestinian prisoners killed by Israel since its genocidal war on Gaza started in October 2023. 37 of those detainees are from the Gaza Strip.

January 29, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

Dear world: This is what Palestinian unity looks like

Palestinians, displaced by Israel forces, return their houses through Al-Rashid Street on the coastal strip in Gaza City, Gaza on January 27, 2025. [Anadolu Agency]
By Ramzy Baroud | MEMO | January 29, 2025

Even those of us who have long emphasised the importance of the Palestinian people’s voice, experience and collective action in Palestinian history must have been shocked by the cultural revolution resulting from the Israeli war against the people in Gaza. By cultural revolution, I mean the defiant and rebellious narrative evolving in Gaza, where people see themselves as active participants in the popular resistance, not just mere victims of the Israeli war machine.

When the ceasefire was announced on the 471st day of the Israeli genocide, the Palestinians in Gaza rushed onto the streets in celebration. Media outlets reported that they were celebrating the ceasefire, but judging by their chants, songs and symbolisms they were celebrating their collective victory, steadfastness (sumud) and resilience against the powerful Israeli army, which has been and remains supported by the US and other Western countries.

Using basic tools, they hurried to clean their streets, clearing debris to allow the displaced to search for homes. Although their homes were probably destroyed by Israel – 90 per cent of Gaza’s housing units were, according to the United Nations – they were still happy, even if they could only sit on the rubble. Some prayed atop concrete slabs, some sang in large, growing crowds, and others cried but insisted that no power could ever uproot them from Palestine again.

Social media was flooded with Palestinians expressing a mix of emotions, although they were mostly defiant, expressing their resolve not just in political terms, but also in other ways, including humour.

Of course, the bodybuilders returned to their gyms to find them also mostly destroyed. Rather than lament their losses, though, they salvaged machines and resumed training amid collapsed walls and ceilings punctured by Israeli missiles.

There was also a father and son who composed a song in the ahazej style, a traditional Levantine vocalisation.

The son, overjoyed to find his father alive, was reassured by him that they would never abandon their homeland.

As for the children – 14,500 of whom were killed by Israel, according to UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) – they resumed their childhood. They laid claim to destroyed Israeli tanks in Rafah, Beit Hanoun and elsewhere as their new playground equipment.

One teenager pretended to be a scrap metal salesman and yelled, “An Israeli Merkava tank for sale,” as his friends filmed him and laughed. “Make sure you send this video to [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu,” he added before moving on, unfazed.

This does not mean that Gaza is free of unimaginable pain, which is difficult for the rest of the world to fully comprehend. The emotional and psychological scars of the war will last a lifetime, and many will never recover fully from the trauma. But Palestinians in Gaza know that they cannot afford to grieve in the usual way. So, they emphasise their identity, unity and defiance as ways to overcome grief.

In parallel with its military assault on Gaza since 7 October, 2023, Israel has invested heavily in dividing the Palestinian people and trying to shatter their spirit. In Gaza, it dropped millions of flyers from warplanes on starving refugees, urging them to rebel against Palestinian factions by providing Israel with names of “troublemakers”. The Israeli army offered large rewards for such information, but little was achieved.

These flyers also called for tribal leaders to take control of their areas in exchange for food and protection. To punish those who resisted, Israel systematically killed clan representatives and councillors who tried to distribute aid throughout Gaza, especially in the north where famine was devastating.

Against overwhelming odds, though, Palestinians remained united.

When the ceasefire was declared, they celebrated as one nation. With Gaza destroyed, Israel’s actions obliterated Gaza’s class, regional, ideological and political divisions. Everyone in Gaza became a refugee: the rich, poor, Muslim, Christian, city dwellers and refugee camp residents; all were affected equally.

The unity that remains in Gaza, after one of the most horrific genocides in modern history, should serve as a wake-up call. The narrative that Palestinians are divided and need to “find common ground” has proven false.

With the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank aiding Israel’s war on Jenin and other refugee camps, the old notion of political unity through a merger of the PA and various Palestinian factions is no longer viable. The reality is that the fragmentation of the Palestinian political landscape cannot be solved through mere political agreements or negotiations between factions.

A different kind of unity has already taken root in Gaza and, by extension, across Palestinian communities in occupied Palestine and the rest of the world. This unity is visible in the millions of Palestinians who have demonstrated against the war, chanted for Gaza, cried for Gaza, and developed a new political discourse around it.

This unity does not rely on talking heads on Arabic satellite channels or secret meetings in expensive hotels. It needs no diplomatic talks. Years of endless discussions, “unity documents” and fiery speeches only led to disappointment.

The true unity has already been achieved, felt in the voices of ordinary people who no longer identify as members of factions. They are Gazzawiyya. Palestinians from Gaza, and nothing else.

This is the true unity that must now form the foundation of a new discourse.

January 29, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Solidarity and Activism | , , | Leave a comment

Live from Bethlehem – Jason Jones on the Trump Effect on Gaza

If Americans Knew | January 27, 2025

Eric Metaxas interviews Jason Jones about his thoughts on the Trump effect on the Gaza agreement.

Full video at:    • Live from Bethlehem – Jason Jones on …  

– See Jones’ articles and bio at https://israelpalestinenews.org/trump…

January 28, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Video | , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Egypt’s Parliament rejects plans for Palestinian resettlement after Trump’s call

MEMO | January 27, 2025

The Egyptian Parliament reiterated rejection, on Monday, of any plans aimed at relocating the Palestinian people from their land, warning that such actions pose “a grave threat” to regional security and stability, Anadolu Agency reports.

“We cannot overlook the significant danger posed by the proposals being circulated regarding the relocation of Palestinians from their land,” Parliament Speaker, Hanafi Gebali, told a parliamentary session.

“These ideas completely disregard the well-established fact that the Palestinian cause is not merely a population issue or a geographical dispute, but a cause of a people striving for their legitimate and historical rights.

“Everyone must realise that the Palestinian people are not merely a group seeking shelter. They are a people with a rich history, sacred land and inalienable rights that cannot be erased with time. They will never relinquish these rights, nor will the Arab nation before them,” Gebali affirmed.

The Egyptian Speaker warned that any proposals bypassing Palestinian rights “pose a grave threat to regional security and stability”.

“The only solution for achieving lasting peace is implementing the two-state solution, which ensures the Palestinian people can establish their independent state along the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, while also ensuring the security and stability of the entire region.”

“Egypt, which has sown the seeds of peace in the region for many years, reaffirms today that it will continue to defend the rights of the Palestinian people and firmly reject any attempts to liquidate the Palestinian cause or infringe upon the rights of this great people,” he said.

On Saturday, US President Donald Trump called to “just clean out” Gaza and resettle Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan, describing the enclave as a “demolition site” after Israel’s genocidal war.

Egypt, Jordan, the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation issued statements and immediately rejecting any call for the displacement or relocation of Palestinians from their land.

Trump’s proposal came a week after a ceasefire agreement took effect in Gaza on 19 January,  suspending Israel’s genocidal war that has killed more than 47,300 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured more than 111,000 since 7 October, 2023.

The Israeli onslaught has left more than 11,000 people missing, with widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of many elderly people and children in one of the worst global humanitarian disasters ever.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November for Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

January 27, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tens of thousands of Palestinians return to north Gaza after one year of displacement

(Photo credit: MEE/Ahmed Aziz)
The Cradle | January 27, 2025

Tens of thousands of Palestinians began returning to the northern Gaza Strip via the Netzarim corridor on 27 January after over a year of displacement and a genocidal Israeli war.

Video footage documented the first moments that the displaced civilians flooded through the Netzarim corridor to return to their homes in the north.

“Vehicles continue to enter via the Netzarim corridor through Salah al-Din Street after undergoing electronic inspection [in accordance with the ceasefire agreement],” Al Jazeera’s correspondent reported on 27 January.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are expected to return for the first time since being displaced at the start of the war in October 2023 and in the months that followed.

“The scenes of the return of the masses of our people to the areas from which they were forced to flee, despite their destroyed homes, confirm the greatness of our people and their steadfastness in their land, despite the depth of the pain and tragedy,” Hamas said in a statement.

Member of the Hamas political bureau Ezzat al-Rishq said the return of Palestinians to their homes “shatters all the dreams and illusions of the occupation in displacing [the Palestinian] people.”

Israel had been blocking the return of the displaced after the second round of prisoner exchanges took place on Saturday – demanding the return of a female Israeli soldier Arbel Yehud as part of the swap and accusing the resistance movement of obstructing the deal. Yehud is being held by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement.

It was agreed over the weekend that she would be released on Thursday in exchange for Israel allowing the return of the displaced to northern Gaza, which, along with other areas in the enclave, was destroyed and ethnically cleansed throughout the war.

Israeli authorities released 200 Palestinians from Israeli prisons on 25 January as part of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas. The resistance movement released four female Israeli soldiers as part of the deal earlier that day.

One hundred fourteen Palestinian prisoners were transferred from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank for release in Ramallah, 16 were returned to Gaza, and 70 were exiled outside Palestine, WAFA news agency reported. Egypt will host them for 48 hours before they are sent to Tunisia, Algeria, and Turkiye – which all agreed to receive them.

January 27, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , , , | Leave a comment

In Lebanon, civilians amass to secure liberation

By Khalil Harb | The Cradle | January 27, 2025

Ignoring a foreign-imposed ceasefire ‘extension,’ southern Lebanese residents are reclaiming their villages from Israeli occupation, exposing the failures of both the invasion and US mediation – and it’s happening in both Gaza and Lebanon at the same time.

The image that Israel sought to project – both to its settlers and to the wider Arab world – of a resistance subdued, a nation defeated, and a broken will crumbled at dawn on 26 January as the 60-day deadline for the implementation of the ceasefire with Hezbollah approached. 

The shattering moment came as the Lebanese people triumphantly returned to their recently occupied villages with unrelenting resolve, putting an end to two months of perceived acquiescence and Israeli ambitions to extend its occupation of the country beyond the truce. 

Scrambling to attach legitimacy to Israel’s continuing violations beyond the ceasefire deadline, the White House issued a very brief statement on Sunday evening, announcing that the agreement would remain in effect until 18 February. 

Within hours, the Lebanese presidency’s X account posted: “There is no truth to the news about Israel informing Lebanon that it will remain at five border points for 15 days.”

Israel’s miscalculated strategy

The occupation state, once again miscalculating the realities on the ground, appeared to have banked on its extensive aggression in southern Lebanon, coupled with a brutal two-month rampage through southern villages under the guise of implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1701, to craft a facade of victory. 

During this time, villages south of the Litani River – spared military occupation during the war thanks to the fierce resistance – were ravaged through relentless bombing and destruction right up until the deadline. Tel Aviv seemed confident this violence, shielded by the ceasefire agreement, would entrench its control and bolster its narrative of dominance – a narrative it had deceived itself into believing. 

The arrogance of Israel’s leadership, from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to his far-right political allies and opposition leaders, underestimated the resilience of the Lebanese. The illusion that the war and its aftermath had crushed the will of the southern villagers or forced new terms upon Hezbollah was put to an unanticipated test.

During Lebanon’s observance of the ceasefire – marked by the deployment of its army south of the Litani and Hezbollah’s adherence to truce terms – Israel misread this restraint as weakness. Toward the end of the truce period, Israeli leaders openly discussed prolonged occupation of southern Lebanon, citing security concerns for northern settlers who had yet to return home. 

What Israel did not foresee was the convergence of two historical moments: the Lebanese reclaiming their villages and Palestinians in Gaza defying displacement by returning northward from the strip. This dual movement after two ceasefire agreements, powered by an unyielding indigenous attachment to the land despite a genocidal campaign against its natives, exposed the failure of Israeli calculations and those of its allies in the west and West Asia. 

A ceasefire undermined by violations 

The recklessness of the US-led armistice committee, chaired by US General Jasper Jeffers, compounded the situation. By treating Israel’s numerous violations of the ceasefire lightly, the committee allowed Tel Aviv to interpret the agreement as it pleased. 

Under this pretext, Israeli forces executed airstrikes, demolished entire residential neighborhoods, and bulldozed agricultural and forest areas, electrical network lines, water wells, and numerous roads. The occupation army uprooted infrastructure and disrupted civilian life in southern Lebanon at a scale rivaling the destruction during the 15-month war itself. 

According to estimates by Lebanese authorities, there were over 800 violations during the ceasefire, yet the armistice committee offered no meaningful condemnation. Civilians attempting to return home were targeted indiscriminately; as of Sunday night, the Lebanese Ministry of Health recorded 24 more martyrs and over 134 wounded across 21 southern villages, many of them women and children, in addition to the nearly 100 lives lost since the ceasefire began.

Complicit silence of ‘mediators’ 

Israel’s actions, enabled by international complicity, emboldened it to extend its occupation and deepen the suffering of the Lebanese. Meanwhile, General Jeffers, tasked with overseeing the ceasefire and implementing Resolution 1701, remained a bystander to these crimes. 

His silence showed, yet again, Washington’s inherent bias, which – far from being a neutral mediator – has historically aligned with Tel Aviv’s interests. This raises a pertinent question: can the US genuinely claim impartiality in Lebanon’s political and security affairs?

A political source close to the resistance in Lebanon, speaking to The Cradle, says this bias risks destabilizing the country and rendering the truce meaningless.

The resistance, represented by Hezbollah, set things straight with its statement last Thursday, which warned against “a continued violation of Lebanese sovereignty.” 

Hezbollah insisted that these violations must be dealt with “by the state using all means and methods guaranteed by international conventions … to reclaim the land.”

“While we will follow the developments of the situation, which are supposed to culminate in a complete withdrawal in the coming days, we will not accept any violation of the agreement and commitments, and any attempt to evade them under flimsy pretexts.”

Hezbollah’s warnings realized 

Sunday’s events confirmed Hezbollah’s warnings. As civilians re-entered their villages en masse, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) followed, deploying in areas where Israeli troops were reluctant to surrender. This mass mobilization dismantled Israel’s scorched-earth strategy, which sought to make the region uninhabitable and reconstruction efforts near impossible. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, desperate to balance internal political pressures and its failed Gaza offensive, miscalculated again. Instead of breaking the Lebanese spirit, it was met with a formidable display of unity and defiance.

In exchange for the Lebanese commitment to implement the requirements of the ceasefire, Hezbollah parliamentary representative Ali Fayyad says that this was met with “Israeli treachery, international complicity, and indifference.”

A source close to the resistance also tells The Cradle that the presence of Israeli occupation forces on even a single inch of Lebanese territory serves as a justification for continued resistance.

The source elaborates that the Netanyahu government, by attempting to circumvent the truce deadline, is pursuing several interconnected objectives. Chief among them is the strategy to intensify pressure on Beirut, both politically and militarily, with the aim of forcing it into submission to Israeli demands.

Additionally, Israel seeks to establish a so-called “burned zone” along the border, creating a buffer area that would further entrench its occupation. This maneuvering, the source adds, also serves Netanyahu’s domestic agenda. 

By maintaining a foothold in southern Lebanon, he aims to deflect criticism from opposition figures within Israel who are pressuring him to avoid a full withdrawal. Moreover, Netanyahu is using the situation to attempt a rehabilitation of his government’s tattered image. 

After the Gaza ceasefire exposed severe cracks in Israel’s political and military apparatus – especially as Palestinian resistance fighters emerged with renewed confidence and resilience – the embattled Israeli prime minister is desperate to project strength, particularly in the Lebanese context, as a way to recover from these reputational blows.

Unified resistance 

This synchronized resistance across Lebanon and Palestine serves as a reminder of the region’s enduring struggle against occupation. As Israeli commentators acknowledge divisions within US policy circles – some supporting Israel’s attempts to prolong its occupation while others insist on adherence to withdrawal terms – Netanyahu’s agenda remains in disarray. 

Reports of him lobbying President Donald Trump to permit the retention of five military sites in southern Lebanon show his desperation, but the people of Lebanon have already rendered this strategy futile.

The Lebanese resistance, bolstered by the actions of its citizens, has proven yet again that the occupation can and will be challenged. 

Civilians liberated roughly 30 towns on Sunday, paving the way for the Lebanese army’s advance and signaling an unyielding determination to reclaim their sovereignty. While Israel may seek to manipulate international dynamics, the people of Lebanon have drawn a clear line: their land, their will, their victory.

January 27, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Israel Is Blocking 11 American Doctors and Nurses From Leaving Gaza

The group of doctors trapped in Gaza. Photo courtesy of Rahma.
By Prem Thakker | Zeteo | January 25, 2025

Only days into Israel’s ceasefire with Hamas, 11 American doctors and nurses say the Israeli government is blocking them from leaving Gaza and returning to the United States.

The doctors, who entered Gaza on Jan. 9 with authorization and clearance from the Israeli government, were set to leave the enclave on Wednesday. But Israel denied their planned exit, telling the group they couldn’t leave due to an unspecified “incident” at a security checkpoint, affected doctors and a colleague in the US told Zeteo.

It’s unclear what incident Israel was referring to. COGAT, the Israeli agency that coordinates humanitarian aid entering Gaza, did not immediately answer specific questions about the group. One doctor said the only major incident the group was aware of involved Israeli forces firing on Palestinians returning to their homes in Rafah.

The group, part of the humanitarian organization Rahma, is currently stuck in northern Gaza and was also told by Israel they cannot even move to the south to leave the Strip “due to certain operational considerations that are currently in consideration regarding the activities on these days.”

Shehzad Batliwala, one of the trapped doctors, told Zeteo that many in the group are “needed to provide critical care to US citizens and others back home.”

The doctors and nurses hope they can leave in the coming days. After the delay, Batliwala said Israel initially told the group they wouldn’t be able to leave until next Tuesday, but has since suggested they may be able to leave on Sunday. In any case, the doctors and their advocates said they would remain skeptical until they’ve successfully left Gaza.

Another Team Prevented From Entering

At the same time, the doctors say Israel is also preventing another Rahma team of doctors, who are part of a larger convoy of health workers, from entering Gaza. They were also told that an “incident” occurred near the Kerem Shalom crossing on the Gaza-Israel border, leaving it closed for both entry and exit. They were forced to leave Israel and return to Jordan. It’s unclear if and when they may be allowed to enter.

“Denying entry to humanitarian workers, especially during a ceasefire period, makes no sense given the dire healthcare and humanitarian needs on the ground,” Batliwala said. “As someone currently in Gaza, I can confirm that there are patients urgently awaiting follow-up and surgical intervention, none of which is happening due to these restrictions.”

A young boy holds the hand of an injured man at the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital after an Israeli attack in Gaza on Jan. 16, 2025. Photo by Abdalrahman T. A. Abusalama/Anadolu via Getty Images

Dr. Adam Hamawy, a US Army combat surgeon veteran – whom Sen. Tammy Duckworth credits with saving her life after she was wounded two decades ago during the Iraq War – is among the convoy of medical professionals trying to enter Gaza. Hamawy, who was also among a team of doctors temporarily barred from leaving Gaza in May, told Zeteo that Israel has “continued to hinder entry and exit of medical and humanitarian workers since the beginning of this genocide.”

The convoy, led by the UN and Rahma, includes some 50 people. At least 14 are American, Hamawy said.

Test for Trump

Israel’s decision to block the groups underscores the fragility of the first phase of a long-awaited ceasefire agreement, the first test for newly-elected President Donald Trump in the region. While the bombs have largely stopped in Gaza, Israeli forces have still continued its killing – particularly in the West Bank. Among the tens of thousands of people Israeli forces have killed, hundreds have been medical workers and volunteers – including American World Central Kitchen worker Jacob Flickinger.

Israel’s actions also renew concerns about the US government’s commitment to ensuring the Israeli government protects Americans in both Gaza and the West Bank. In the last year, the US continued to send billions in US military aid and provide diplomatic cover despite Israel’s actions against US citizens, including the killing of 26-year-old American Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, who was shot dead by an Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank last September.

The State Department and White House did not respond to a request for comment. Zeteo also reached out to the offices of senators representing the states where the doctors trapped in Gaza hail, including Texas’ Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, California’s Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, Florida’s Rick Scott and Ashley Moody, Colorado’s Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, Ohio’s Bernie Moreno, and Arizona’s Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego.

Only Hickenlooper’s office responded, saying they are “in contact with a Colorado doctor in Gaza as well as with the US Embassy.”

January 26, 2025 Posted by | Subjugation - Torture, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

Israel destroys only water desalination plant in northern Gaza

MEMO | January 25, 2025

The Palestinian Water Authority announced that the occupation army destroyed the water desalination plant during its recent ground operations in the northern Gaza Strip.

It issued a statement that for the sixth consecutive day, its technical crews have been working on assessing the damage in northern Gaza resulting from the Israeli aggression. Due to the massive destruction of residential areas, infrastructure, and roads, they have encountered significant difficulties in their access to water and sanitation facilities.

The Water Authority explained that its technical crews were able to reach the seawater desalination plant in northern Gaza and conduct an initial technical assessment of the extent of damage sustained. The assessment revealed serious technical malfunctions in the electrical and electromechanical components of all the plant’s operations stages and units. Moreover, the occupation completely destroyed some of the plant’s main components, which led to the destruction of five seawater supply wells, the plant’s intake pipeline, two power generators, a pump and a return water line, as well as the destruction of the external fences and output pumps.

The Water Authority confirmed that this plant is the only one serving northern Gaza and the Wadi Gaza area, providing clean water to the entire northwestern neighbourhoods of Gaza City with a production capacity of 10,000 cubic metres per day. There are no alternatives to cover this amount, and it is difficult to drill water wells due to the high salinity of the groundwater reservoir with seawater in the city’s western areas.

It also stressed that the damage to the desalination plants worsens the already dire water situation in Gaza, as it is the only safe and reliable source of drinking water for the population.

The Water Authority confirmed that, within the framework of the first phase of its emergency relief work, it will provide and install ten mobile desalination stations in the central and southern areas of the Gaza Strip. The production capacity of these stations will each reach 25 cubic metres per hour to produce 250 cubic metres for ten hours once operation begins.

It is noted that the mobile desalination station installations will provide emergency and urgent solutions to ensure the continuity of drinking water provision for all citizens.

January 25, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

Experts uncover UK’s deep role in Israel’s war on Gaza

MEMO | January 24, 2025

The UK has played a role in Israel’s war on Gaza, while efforts have been taken to suppress media coverage of its actions, speakers at a London seminar told attendees on Wednesday.

Organised by the Palestinian Forum in Britain (PFB) and hosted by Zeinab Kamal, the seminar brought together journalists, legal analysts, and human rights advocates in a discussion of how Britain’s military, financial, and diplomatic engagement with the Israeli occupation helped to facilitate Israel’s war on Gaza.

Investigative journalist Matt Kennard highlighted how a D-notice had been issued on 28 October to suppress media coverage of British special forces in Gaza. A leaked New York Times report confirmed that UK spy teams had been gathering intelligence that Israel, as quoted by an Israeli official, “could not collect on its own”. Despite these revelations, however, British media outlets have remained silent and have reinforced what Kennard called “a media blackout”.

Criticising the Labour Government’s decision to partially suspend 30 out of an estimated 350 arms exports licenses to Israel as “window dressing”, Kennard pointed to the huge role the British military was undertaking in Gaza. He noted that 47 per cent of all reconnaissance flights over Gaza were conducted by the UK, twice as many as Israel’s own. He added that the UK’s legal liability has been called into greater question given the stonewalling of parliamentary questions around the nature of Britain’s military surveillance. He stressed that UK intelligence has likely enabled war crimes and called for full legal scrutiny, particularly regarding the SAS’s 15-month unaccounted deployment.

British human rights lawyer and Director of the International Centre for Justice for Palestinians (ICJP), Tayab Ali, explained how diplomatic manoeuvres and arms exports have directly facilitated Israel’s war on Gaza. He condemned Britain’s continued arms sales to Israel despite mounting evidence of war crimes, arguing that these actions demonstrate the UK’s active participation in the war.

Ali denounced the government’s chronic inability to enforce international law, especially regarding accountability mechanisms like the International Criminal Court (ICC) or similar investigations. He urged civil society and advocacy groups to heighten the pressure through legal actions, grassroots mobilisation, sanctions and judicial challenges against Britain’s complicity.

Political activist and researcher Dr. Samer Jaber focused on the financial ties between UK institutions and Israeli banks that fund settlement expansion, emphasising that these financial lifelines are essential to sustaining Israel’s settler-colonial project. Jaber called for immediate legislation to cut off these financial lifelines, asserting that the most effective way to hold Israel accountable is through divestment and economic sanctions.

Director of the British-Palestinian Committee (BPC), Dr. Sara Husseini, placed the discussion in a broader context, noting the increasing repression of pro-Palestinian activism in the UK. She warned of upcoming political moves aimed at normalising Israeli apartheid, including the revival of the Abraham Accords and the bypassing of Palestinian institutions in reconstruction efforts. She called for sustained pressure on UK MPs, the need for Palestinian-led initiatives in policy spaces, and emphasised the importance of building a broad, multi-front movement to challenge the UK’s role.

January 24, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Militarism, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

Hamas: Israel will release over 1,700 Palestinians during truce

MEMO | January 24, 2025

Over 1,700 Palestinians will be released under the terms of the ceasefire deal signed between Hamas and Israel, the head of the Palestinian movement in the West Bank, Zahir Jabarin, said yesterday.

He emphasised that “the agreement is progressing despite some violations by the Zionist occupation. However, thanks to the determination of the resistance, the will of our people, and the leverage the resistance possesses, we are moving in the right direction.”

Jabarin added: “Our prisoners will be released, and it will mark a new beginning for all the Palestinian people. The resistance has succeeded in achieving a significant national deal, ensuring the release of over 1,700 Palestinian prisoners representing all Palestinian factions.”

“Once the prisoners are released on the seventh day, our people will be allowed to move freely from the north to the south [Gaza] and vice versa. Maps and phased plans will initially guide this process until all obstacles on the Netzarim Axis are removed.”

Details of the operations of the Rafah Crossing will be announced in the coming days, he added.

With regards to the occupied West Bank where Israeli occupation forces have intensified their military attacks, Jabarin said: “Our people in the West Bank are unarmed and only have simple tools to resist the occupation, yet they portray our people as heavily armed and attacking these occupiers and criminals, who have been equipped with over 200,000 weapons by the Israeli security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.”

January 24, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , , | Leave a comment