Aletho News

ΑΛΗΘΩΣ

Declassified files expose secret Western support for Israeli assassinations

MEMO | May 16, 2025

Newly declassified documents have revealed that Western intelligence services secretly collaborated with Israel’s Mossad in the 1970s, providing critical intelligence that enabled the assassination of Palestinian activists across Europe, without any parliamentary oversight or democratic scrutiny. The revelation has fuelled concerns that similar clandestine intelligence-sharing arrangements are likely facilitating Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza today.

According to a detailed exposé by the Guardian, a covert network known as “Kilowatt”—comprising at least 18 Western intelligence agencies including those of the UK, US, France, and West Germany, was established in 1971 to share sensitive intelligence on Palestinian groups. The information shared included personal details, safe house locations, and vehicle registrations of Palestinian individuals who were subsequently targeted by Mossad hit squads.

Dr Aviva Guttmann, the historian who uncovered the encrypted cables in Swiss archives, confirmed that the intelligence shared was granular and critical to Israel’s covert killings, many of which took place in Paris, Rome, Athens, and Nicosia. “At the very beginning, perhaps officials were unaware of the extrajudicial assassinations, but later, they certainly knew and continued sharing intelligence,” Guttmann told the Guardian.

This covert support, the paper reported, operated entirely beyond the purview of elected officials, and would likely have triggered public outrage had it been exposed at the time. Indeed, some of those assassinated were publicly disputed as innocent, such as Wael Zwaiter, a Palestinian intellectual gunned down in Rome in 1972, whom Israel accused of being linked to the Black September Organisation. Evidence supporting such claims was largely based on intelligence fed through the Kilowatt system.

The revelations, while historical, have sparked urgent comparisons to the present day, where Israel is prosecuting what rights experts and genocide scholars widely describe as an ongoing genocide in Gaza, once again behind a wall of secrecy and political impunity.

Dr Guttmann herself underlined the relevance of these disclosures, warning that the shadowy practices of intelligence-sharing without political oversight remain largely unchanged: “International relations of the secret state are completely off the radar of politicians, parliaments, or the public. Even today, there will be a lot of information being shared about which we know absolutely nothing,” she stressed to the Guardian.

Critics argue that such secrecy underpins the UK’s and other Western states’ complicity in Israel’s Gaza genocide, which since October 2023 has killed over 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children. Despite the International Court of Justice opening a genocide case against Israel, British intelligence cooperation with Israeli agencies continues in the dark, with no democratic accountability or transparency. The UK government has also refused to clarify the purpose of more than 500 Royal Air Force surveillance flights over Gaza, raising fears these may be contributing to targeted killing.

May 16, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Full Spectrum Dominance, War Crimes | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

BBC’s May 14 interview with Gaza aid chief was shameful

By Jonathan Cook | May 14, 2025

There was yet more shameful reporting by BBC News at Ten last night, with international editor Jeremy Bowen the chief culprit this time.

He prefaced an interview with Philippe Lazzarini, head of United Nations refugee agency UNRWA, with an utterly unwarranted disclaimer – as though he was talking to a terrorist, not a leading human rights advocate who has been desperately trying to keep the last aid life-lines open to the people of Gaza as they are being actively starved to death by Israel.

The only time I can remember Bowen prefacing an interview in such apologetic terms was when he interviewed Hamas’ deputy political chief, Khalil al-Hayya, last October.

That was shameful too. But at least on that occasion, Bowen had an excuse: under Britain’s draconian Terrorism Act, saying or doing anything that might be viewed as favouring Hamas can land you with a 14-year prison sentence for supporting terrorism.

But why on earth would Bowen imply that Lazzarini’s remarks – on the intense suffering of Gaza’s population in the third month of a complete Israeli aid blockade – need to be treated with caution, in the same manner as those of a Hamas leader?

For one reason only. Because Israel, quite preposterously and for completely self-serving reasons, claims UNRWA is a front for Hamas. Since January, Israel has outlawed the organisation from operating in the Palestinian territories it continues to illegally occupy. As ever, the BBC is terrified of upsetting the Israelis.

Israel has long wanted UNRWA out of the picture because it is the last significant organisation to uphold the rights of Palestinian refugees enshrined in international law. It is, therefore, a major obstacle to Israel ethnically cleansing Palestinians from what is left of their homeland.

Before airing the interview with Lazzarini, Bowen cautioned: “Israel says he is a liar, and that his organisation has been infiltrated by Hamas. But I felt it was important to talk to him for a number of reasons.

“First off, the British government deals with him, and funds his organisation. Which is the largest dealing with Palestinian refugees. They know a lot of what is going on, so therefore I think it is important to speak to people like him.”

Bowen would never consider prefacing an interview with Benjamin Netanyahu in a similar manner, even though the following would actually be truthful and far more deserved:

“The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister, accusing him of crimes against humanity. But I felt it was important to talk to him for a number of reasons.

“First off, the British government deals with him, and sends weapons to his military to carry out the crimes he is accused of. As its leader, he obviously knows a lot about what Israel is up to, so therefore I think it is important to speak to someone like him.”

Can you imagine the BBC ever introducing Netanyahu in that way? Of course, you can’t – even though, in journalistic, ethical and legal terms, it would be fully warranted.

But in the case the Lazzarini, there are absolutely no grounds for such a prologue – except to promote an Israeli pro-genocide agenda. Bowen’s remarks suggest he needs to explain why, in the midst of an Israeli-engineered famine in Gaza, the BBC would choose to speak to one of the most knowledgeable public figures about that starvation.

Bowen’s resort to an explanation instantly paints Lazzarini as problematic and controversial. It aligns with, and reinforces, Israel’s entirely bogus conflation of UNRWA and Hamas.

Even were Israel’s claims about UNRWA true of local staff in Gaza – and Israel has supplied precisely no evidence they are, as Lazzarini makes clear in a longer edit of the interview that aired on the BBC’s Six O’Clock News – that would in no way implicate Lazzarini. His remarks in the interview, on the catastrophic suffering of Gaza, are echoed by all aid agencies.

Bowen’s apologetic tone not only served to undercut the power of what Lazzarini was saying, but bolstered Israel’s ridiculous smears of UNRWA. That will have delighted Israel, and given it a little bit more leeway to carry on the starvation of Gaza, even as the first establishment voices tentatively start calling time on the genocide – 19 months too late.

Notice this from Bowen too. He asks Lazzarini: ‘When people look back on what’s been happening in the future, will they see, actually, a big international failure?”

Lazzarini responds: “I think in the coming years we will realise how wrong we have been, how on the wrong side of history we have been. We have, under our watch, let a massive atrocity unfold.”

Bowen jumps in: “Would you include the 7th of October in that?”

Lazzarini answers: “I would definitely include the 7th of October.”

But the set-up from Bowen is entirely unfair. He asks Lazzarini a question about “international failure” in relation to Gaza, and Lazzarini responds about the failure by the West to do anything to stop an atrocity – more properly a genocide – unfold over the past 19 months.

The events of 7 October 2023 are irrelevant to that discussion. There has been no “international failure” to support Israel. The West has armed it to the hilt and prioritised the suffering caused to Israelis by Hamas’ one-day attack over the incomparably greater suffering caused to Palestinians by 19 months of Israel’s slaughter and starvation.

Bowen’s interjected question about 7 October is a nonsense. It is levered in simply to cast further doubt on Lazzarini’s good faith in the hope of placating Israel, or at least providing the BBC with a defence when Israel goes on the offensive against Bowen for speaking to UNRWA.

The atrocities carried out on October 7 occurred in the context of decades of brutal and illegal Israeli military occupation of the Palestinian territories, of settlement expansion and apartheid rule, and of a 16-year siege of Gaza.

The international community was certainly on the “wrong side of history”, but not in the sense Bowen intends or Lazzarini infers from Bowen’s question. The West failed because it did precisely nothing to stop Israel’s brutalisation of the Palestinian people over those many decades – in fact, the West assisted Israel – and thereby guaranteed that Palestinians in Gaza would seek to break out of their concentration camp sooner or later.

Lazzarini’s remarks on the catastrophe in Gaza should be seen as self-evident. But Bowen and the BBC undermined his message by framing him and his organisation as suspect – and all because Israel, a criminal state starving the people of Gaza, has made an entirely unfounded allegation against the organisation trying to stop its crimes against humanity.

This is the same pattern of smears from Israel that has claimed all 36 hospitals in Gaza are Hamas “command and control centres” – again without a shred of evidence – to justify it bombing them all, leaving Gaza’s population without any meaningful health care system as malnutrition and starvation take hold.

Israel struck another hospital yesterday, the European Hospital in Khan Younis, as medics there were waiting to evacuate sick and injured children. The attack killed at least 28 people and injured many more, including a BBC freelance journalist who was conducting an interview there as the missiles hit.

Notably, BBC News at Ten blanked out its journalist’s face, adding: “For his safety, we are not revealing his name.” The BBC did not explain who the journalist needed protecting from, or why.

That is because the BBC rarely mentions that Israel has assassinated more than 200 Palestinian journalists in Gaza, as well as banning all foreign correspondents from entering the enclave, in its attempts to limit news coverage and smear what does come out as Hamas propaganda. Israel understands it is easier to commit genocide in the dark.

You might assume a major news organisation like the BBC would wish to be seen showing at least some solidarity with those being murdered for doing journalism – some of them while working to provide the BBC with news. You would be wrong.

We shouldn’t pretend that it was Bowen’s choice to attach such a disgraceful disclaimer to his interview. We all understand that he is under enormous pressure, both from within the BBC and outside.

BBC executives have appointed and protected Raffi Berg, a man who publicly counts a former senior figure in Israel’s spy agency Mossad as a friend, to oversee the corporation’s Middle East coverage.

And as the late Greg Philo reported in his 2011 book More Bad News from Israel, a BBC News editor told him at that time: “We wait in fear for the telephone call from the Israelis”. Things are far, far worse 14 years on.

Excuses won’t wash any longer. We are 19 months into a genocide. Helping Israel to launder its crimes is to become complicit in them. No journalist should be allowing themselves to be pressured into this kind of moral and professional failure.

May 14, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Mainstream Media, Warmongering, War Crimes | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Netanyahu: Israel is destroying Gaza so Palestinians are forced to leave

MEMO | May 14, 2025

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told members of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee on Sunday that Tel Aviv is “destroying more and more houses [in Gaza] so the Palestinians will have nowhere to return,” according to quotes from the session leaked to the media.

“The only obvious result will be Gazans choosing to emigrate outside of the Strip,” Netanyahu continued, adding that Israel’s “main problem is finding countries to take them in.”

“I know I will disappoint some people here, but we are not talking about Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip right now,” Netanyahu told lawmakers.

According to partial transcripts from the meeting leaked to the Israeli Maariv newspaper, Member of the Knesset Limor Son Har-Melech replied: “Bring the Jews of the United States [to settle Gaza]. That way, we can kill two birds with one stone.”

Netanyahu also claimed that the US “remains interested in the plan to take over the Strip’s administration” but the Times of Israel quoted sources familiar with the matter as saying that the Trump administration has put minimal effort into actually advancing Trump’s Gaza takeover plan since it was announced in early February following the massive pushback it received from Arab allies.

The Israeli military has destroyed most of the Gaza Strip during the ongoing military operations, displacing 1.9 million Palestinians multiple times within the Strip, amid deteriorating humanitarian conditions.

Israel has also imposed a complete blockade on the Strip, preventing the entry of food, water, fuel, medicines and all humanitarian aid since early March, exacerbating the suffering of the besieged population.

May 14, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Israeli massacre at Gaza hospital leaves at least 28 killed, 70 injured

Al Mayadeen | May 13, 2025

In a new escalation of its ongoing war on Gaza, the Israeli occupation military committed a massacre at the Gaza European Hospital on Tuesday evening, targeting the facility and its surroundings in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, with a series of intensive airstrikes.

Al Mayadeen’s correspondent reported that the Israeli airstrikes struck multiple sections of the hospital, including the entrance to the emergency department, the courtyard between the maintenance and anthropology departments, and areas adjacent to two shelter centers: Ehsan al-Agha and Jenin.

The attack caused extensive destruction and resulted in multiple fatalities and injuries, with bodies still trapped under the rubble.

Gaza Civil Defense: At least 28 killed, 70 injured

According to Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal, the bodies of 28 martyrs were recovered from the area around the Gaza European Hospital, which had come under fire belts by the Israeli military. He added that more than 70 people were injured, many of them seriously.

The hospital was reportedly hit with at least six missiles, leading to the collapse of several facilities and severe structural damage. Following the attack, Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, declared a state of maximum emergency, unable to cope with the influx of casualties or take on the burden of patients transferred from the now-disabled hospital.

Medical teams were forced to evacuate the wounded and patients from the Gaza European Hospital to Nasser Medical Complex, as the infrastructure of the former could no longer support medical operations.

The actual death toll is expected to be higher as rescue operations remain obstructed by continuous air raids.

In the early hours of Tuesday, Israeli occupation forces bombed the burn unit of Nasser Medical Hospital, killing several Palestinians, including renowned journalist Hassan Eslaih, whose powerful and unflinching photography has brought global attention to the harrowing massacres committed since the outset of the Israeli genocide.

Palestinian Resistance denies claims about targeted leader

In response to Israeli media reports suggesting that a Palestinian Resistance leader was present at the hospital site, a senior figure in the Resistance affirmed that such claims were untrue.

“Loser Netanyahu is trying to please the Zionist right by claiming that he is achieving success in Gaza,” the senior figure indicated.

Civil Defense condemns Israeli targeting of rescue teams

Gaza’s Civil Defense confirmed that its teams remain unable to access the site of the massacre due to heavy and continuous Israeli shelling. Attempts to retrieve the remaining bodies scattered around the Gaza European Hospital have been thwarted by the Israeli occupation’s deliberate targeting of rescuers.

In a statement, the Civil Defense condemned the attack on its personnel as they attempted to evacuate civilians from a bombed residential building near the customs checkpoint in eastern Khan Younis. The same building was bombed again by Israeli forces while the rescue operation was underway, injuring two crew members and forcing the team to retreat without being able to save trapped civilians.

Continued Israeli raids on Khan Younis, Gaza City

Simultaneously, Israeli strikes continued across other parts of Khan Younis. Two civilians were killed and others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a tent near the Asdaa Gate, west of the city. Another round of airstrikes hit Aabasan al-Kabira, east of Khan Younis.

Elsewhere, Civil Defense teams reported recovering 10 bodies and 16 injured civilians from the Afghan family home, targeted by Israeli warplanes near the customs checkpoint in eastern Khan Younis.

In Gaza City, Israeli shelling was concentrated on eastern neighborhoods, including al-Shujaiya, al-Zaytun, al-Tuffah, and the area near al-Shawa Square, resulting in additional casualties and widespread destruction.

Gaza death toll surpasses 52,900

The Gaza Ministry of Health announced earlier on Tuesday that the death toll from the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza since October 7, 2023, has now exceeded 52,900 martyrs, with more than 119,700 injured. Since March 18 alone, over 2,700 have been martyred and more than 7,600 wounded.

Hundreds of bodies remain under the rubble and in the streets, unreachable due to relentless Israeli attacks and debris blocking access.

Ambulance and Civil Defense teams face immense challenges in responding, as they themselves are targeted in what officials describe as a systematic effort to paralyze rescue efforts.

May 13, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

Hamas releases captive soldier Edan Alexander amid Gaza truce efforts

Al-Mayadeen | May 12, 2025

The military wing of Hamas, Al-Qassam Brigades, released Israeli soldier and American captive Edan Alexander to the International Committee of the Red Cross on Monday in northern Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

The release coincided with the arrival of US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff at the Re’im military base, where Alexander was reportedly being transferred. Israeli media reported that Alexander is expected to travel to Qatar on Wednesday for a meeting with US President Donald Trump.

Alexander’s release leaves 58 captives still held in the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli reports. Of those, 23 are believed to be alive.

Serious talks yield results

In an official statement, Hamas said that Alexander’s release followed communications with the US administration and falls within broader mediation efforts aimed at achieving a ceasefire, opening crossings, and facilitating humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The movement highlighted its high level of flexibility and willingness to engage, stating that “serious and responsible negotiations lead to results in the release of prisoners.”

Hamas also warned that the continued aggression by the Israeli occupation prolongs the suffering of the captives and risks their lives.

The group reaffirmed its readiness to immediately begin negotiations aimed at reaching a comprehensive and sustainable ceasefire agreement, calling for the full withdrawal of the occupation’s forces, the lifting of the blockade, a prisoner exchange, and the reconstruction of Gaza.

In its statement, Hamas urged the US administration to intensify its efforts to end the war on Gaza.

US sidelines ‘Israel’

The United States has overtaken the Israeli regime in leading negotiations related to Iran, Ansar Allah, and most recently, the case of Israeli soldier and American captive Idan Alexander, according to Israeli Channel 13.

Citing a US official, Channel 13 reported that following Alexander’s release, immediate negotiations are expected to begin to reach a comprehensive agreement. The fate of other captives held in Gaza is now reportedly in the hands of US President Donald Trump, as both Hamas and “Israel” await Washington’s next steps.

Israeli media also reported that the US is actively working to recover the remains of four American captives believed to have been killed during the war.

Netanyahu claims Edan Alexander’s release achieved through ‘military pressure’

The anticipated release of a US-Israeli captive by Hamas would not lead to a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip or the release of Palestinian prisoners, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Monday.

Negotiations for a broader deal to secure the release of all Israeli captives in Gaza would proceed, Netanyahu stated, but would do so “under fire, during preparations for an intensification of the fighting,” according to a statement issued by his office.

Hamas announced on Sunday that it would release Edan Alexander, a US-Israeli soldier held in Gaza, as it confirmed direct talks with the United States toward a potential ceasefire in the war-torn Palestinian territory.

Abu Obeida, the spokesperson of Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades, confirmed that the group has decided to release the 21-year-old Israeli soldier on Monday, without providing further details concerning the process.

May 12, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Gaza casualty figures mask a much bigger horror, new study shows

Al Mayadeen | May 11, 2025

The true Gaza death toll since the start of “Israel’s” aggression in October 2023 may be significantly higher than current official estimates, according to a new analysis published in The Lancet.

The study suggests that between 77,000 and 109,000 people may have been killed, far exceeding the Gaza Health Ministry’s figures.

As of May 5, 2025, the Gaza Health Ministry reported 52,615 killings resulting from Israeli airstrikes, shelling, and the collapse of Gaza’s health system.

The Ministry’s data are compiled from two primary sources: hospitals across Gaza and an online form that allows families to report killings, often in areas inaccessible due to continued attacks.

The Lancet Gaza study reviewed three separate datasets: hospital records, online civilian death submissions, and a third, independently compiled list based on social media obituaries and death announcements. Researchers then analyzed the degree of overlap between the lists to determine whether deaths were being fully captured.

What they found was stark: limited overlap among the datasets suggested substantial underreporting. In some demographic categories, each list contained different names, implying that even combined, they might not fully reflect the real war casualties in Gaza.

Comparing data: Hospital reports, online submissions, and obituaries

By comparing the three lists, researchers concluded that the actual death toll is likely 46% to 107% higher than the Gaza Health Ministry’s official count. Applying that range to the most recent data suggests that up to 109,000 Palestinians may have been killed since October 7, 2023, equivalent to roughly 4–5% of Gaza’s pre-war population.

The researchers project that the rate of undercounting has likely remained consistent since the end of their initial dataset, which covered up to June 30, 2024. Extending their findings forward, they estimate that the true Gaza death toll lies between 77,000 and 109,000 as of spring 2025.

These findings cast new light on the underreported deaths in Gaza, especially amid ongoing Israeli destruction of health infrastructure and communication networks that further hinder accurate documentation.

Limitations, uncertainties in measuring war casualties

The study also highlights methodological limitations. Some names were later removed from Ministry lists, 3,952 in total, raising questions about the verification process.

Additionally, deaths caused indirectly by the war, such as from the collapse of medical services, may not be fully represented.

“A definitive count of how many have died in this war will be difficult, even after it ends,” the researchers concluded. “And that may still be a long way off.”

May 11, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

Israel’s US-made THAAD fails again as Yemen targets key airport with hypersonic missile

Press TV – May 9, 2025

Yemen’s Armed Forces have again targeted the Israeli regime’s BenGurion airportnear the city of Tel Aviv, with a hypersonic ballistic missile.

The development took place on Friday, spreading chaos across the occupied Palestinian territories and forcing millions of the regime’s illegal settlers to run towards shelters, the forces said in a statement conveyed by spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree.

According to the official, the “qualitative military operation successfully achieved its goal.”

The projectile triggered sirens across Tel Aviv and “more than 200 other locations,” the Israeli regime’s media outlets reported.

The development had the Israeli military scramble to activate its missile systems, including the American-made THAAD air defense system, the regime’s Channel 14 reported.

According to the channel, the missile system, however, failed to intercept the projectile, marking the “second” time that the expensive apparatus was falling short in the face of incoming Yemeni fire.

Various Israeli outlets, meanwhile, reported explosions in eastern Tel Aviv and the holy occupied city of al-Quds, where the THAAD had been activated.

Yemen’s Armed Force have been enforcing a naval blockade on Israeli ships and vessels sailing towards the territories since October 2023. The blockade came in response to the regime’s launching an overwhelmingly deadly war of genocide on the Gaza Strip, and simultaneously escalating its already stringent siege of the Palestinian territory.

Earlier in May, the Yemeni servicemen began imposing a comprehensive aerial blockade on the regime too, warning international airlines to suspend flights to airports in the occupied territories to ensure passenger safety.

Saree said the Friday strike came “within the implementation of the no-fly zone imposed on the criminal Israeli enemy entity.”

“The interception systems failed to intercept it (the missile), halting airport operations for nearly an hour.”

Separately, “The UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) force of the Yemeni Armed Forces carried out a military operation targeting a vital Israeli enemy target in the occupied area of Yaffa,” the official said, referring to an area lying near Tel Aviv.

‘Repeated warning to airlines’

The spokesman asserted that the Yemeni servicemen would not stop short of enforcing the aerial blockade.

“The Armed Forces reiterate their warning to airlines that have not yet complied with the ban, that they must immediately halt their flights to occupied Palestine, as others have done.”

Saree finally reasserted Sana’a’s stance that such operations targeting sensitive and strategic Israeli targets would last until the regime ceased its war on Gaza and ended the siege.

May 9, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Russia supports Egypt’s plan to rebuild Gaza

MEMO | May 9, 2025

Russia fully supports Egypt’s plan to rebuild Gaza, Moscow’s Ambassador to Egypt, Georgiy Borisenko, has said, expressing regret that Western countries have obstructed Russian proposals in the UN Security Council aimed at ending the war in the Strip.

In remarks to Extra News, Borisenko stated that Russia and Egypt are in close coordination within the United Nations. “We are referred to as like-minded countries due to our shared positions on many issues,” he said, pointing to the Middle East situation as a clear example of their alignment.

He emphasised that Russia “fully supports and values” all of Egypt’s efforts to end the conflict in Gaza and believes that hostilities must come to an end as soon as possible.

Borisenko also noted that Moscow supports Egypt’s reconstruction plan for Gaza, which has received backing from all member states of the Arab League.

He further mentioned that Egypt and Russia are jointly working on developing an international agreement on combating cybercrime within the UN framework. He pointed out that both countries are leading contributors to drafting the convention, which is expected to be signed by most countries this year.

The ambassador affirmed that Russia was among the first countries to recognise the independent Palestinian state in 1988 and reiterated Moscow’s long-standing support for the Palestinian cause. “We have always affirmed that the Palestinians must have a sovereign and independent state that lives in peace alongside Israel,” he added.

Borisenko highlighted that Russia was the first member of the Security Council to present draft resolutions demanding an end to the war in Gaza, though many were blocked by Western powers.

He concluded by stressing that Moscow continues to exert maximum effort, in coordination with Arab countries at the UN, to help address the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza. He described the situation as “millions of women and children trapped, suffering from hunger and daily bombardment,” and insisted that “all of these tragedies must stop immediately.”

May 9, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Trump’s remarks on Gaza aid meant to justify Israeli policy of starvation: Hamas

Press TV – May 6, 2025

Hamas has rejected the accusation by US President Donald Trump that the Palestinian resistance group makes it impossible for aid to reach Palestinians in Gaza, saying the remarks are meant to justify Israel’s policy of starvation in the besieged territory.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Hamas said the remarks by Trump were “nothing more than a surprising parroting of the lies propagated by Netanyahu’s terrorist regime, which seeks to justify the systematic starvation it is inflicting upon innocent civilians.”

President Trump said on Monday that the US would help provide some food to the people of Gaza, where famine is currently being observed. He accused Hamas of taking all the aid that is brought into the besieged territory.

“We’re gonna help the people of Gaza get some food. People are starving, and we’re gonna help them get some food,” Trump said.

Hamas said the remarks by the US president contradict testimonies from humanitarian organizations operating in Gaza.

“These accusations blatantly contradict United Nations reports, testimonies from humanitarian organizations operating in the Strip, and all on-the-ground evidence, while aligning perfectly with the occupation’s policy of using starvation as a weapon, in clear violation of international law and humanitarian norms.”

The Palestinian movement also urged the Trump administration “to correct its position, cease providing cover for the genocide and starvation policies pursued by the occupation in the Gaza Strip.”

Hamas said it was not enough for Trump to ask Netanyahu to “send some food.”

It also called on the US to pressure Israel to “halt its aggression and open the crossings to allow the entry of all essential life-saving supplies.”

“What is required is a responsible stance that respects international humanitarian law, demands the immediate opening of crossings, ensures the uninterrupted flow of aid and relief, and puts an end to the use of food as a tool of blackmail and pressure in this war.”

Separately, Hamas said Israel’s plans to expand the operation in Gaza meant sacrificing Israeli captives and repeating past failures.

Hamas said the plan showed that the Israeli prime minister was determined to commit further war crimes against civilians in Gaza.

The Palestinian group urged the international community to intensify popular pressure to end the war against Gaza.

In March, after two months of ceasefire, Israel resumed its brutal military offensive in Gaza.

Furthermore, the regime imposed a blockade on all aid supplies, refusing to allow even a single truck carrying humanitarian or commercial goods to enter.

May 6, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Humanitarian response in Gaza ‘on the verge of total collapse’, Red Cross warns

MEMO | May 2, 2025

The humanitarian response in Gaza is on the verge of total collapse, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned today.

“Six weeks of intense hostilities, combined with a complete blockage of aid for two months, have left civilians without the essentials they need to survive,” the aid group said in a statement on its website.

“Civilians in Gaza are facing an overwhelming daily struggle to survive the dangers of hostilities, cope with relentless displacement, and endure the consequences of being deprived of urgent humanitarian assistance,” said Pascal Hundt, ICRC deputy director of operations. “This situation must not—and cannot—be allowed to escalate further.”

Under international humanitarian law, Israel has an obligation to use all means available to ensure that the basic needs of the civilian population under its control are met. However, the occupation state completely sealed the Gaza Strip on 2 March, banning the entry of food, water and medicines, imposing a policy of starvation on the civilian population of over two million Palestinians.

The Red Cross Field Hospital in Gaza is also running dangerously low on food and medical supplies, with some essential medicines and consumables already exhausted, the ICRC said. Hospitals and other medical facilities are reorganising stocks and prioritising supplies to be able to continue lifesaving activities. “Without urgent replenishment, hospitals will struggle to continue providing much-needed medical care to patients,” it added.

The deterioration of the water, sanitation and hygiene situation is also acute. Disruption to water systems — including the closure of water pipelines and destruction of critical sewage trucks — has created an unacceptably high risk of waterborne diseases.

The situation is compounded by repeated attacks impacting the work of healthcare facilities and medical personnel. Last month, 15 medical, civil defence, and humanitarian personnel, including eight medics from the Palestine Red Crescent Society, were brutally killed after Israeli occupation forces opened fire on them as they were responding to an emergency call.

“The ICRC remains committed to serving civilians in Gaza, but the deteriorating security situation is severely limiting the work and movement of ICRC personnel and our partners,” the medical group said.

“Aid must be allowed to enter Gaza. Hostages must be released. Civilians must be protected. Without immediate action, Gaza will descend further into chaos that humanitarian efforts will not be able to mitigate.”

May 2, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

Israel ‘backs down’ from Gaza truce talks, demands to occupy strip until year’s end

The Cradle | May 2, 2025

Egyptian sources told Al Arabiya on 2 May that Israel has backed down from terms for a truce in Gaza agreed upon in recent days, insists on expanding the military operation in the strip, and wants its forces to remain there until the end of the year.

The news comes as the Israeli military claimed it sees the return of the 59 captives still held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip as the most important goal of the war, contrary to the position of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said on Thursday that “victory” over the Palestinian resistance movement, not the return of the captives, was the supreme objective.

“The supreme mission that the IDF is dealing with is our moral duty to return the hostages. The second mission is defeating Hamas. We are working to advance both goals, with the return of the hostages being at the top [of the list of priorities],” said a military official who briefed reporters earlier this week.

The occupation forces have been gearing up for an intensified offensive that would see the call-up of a large number of reservists and troops operating in new areas of Gaza, according to the military.

Netanyahu’s remarks on Thursday came as families of the captives held in Gaza accused the premier of sabotaging a potential truce deal and withholding information about the remaining 59 captives.

“There are another up to 24 alive, 59 total, and we want to return the living and the dead,” said Netanyahu, whose wife on Monday said the number of living captives was lower than the official figure cited by her husband.

“It’s a very important goal,” Netanyahu continued, but then added, “The war has a supreme goal, and the supreme goal is victory over our enemies, and this we will achieve.”

The deal’s 42-day first phase expired on 2 March amid Netanyahu’s refusal to negotiate the potential second phase, which would have required a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Israel imposed a new blockade on the strip on 2 March and renewed its attacks on it on 18 March.

The deal’s second phase would have seen Hamas release 24 captives still thought to be alive – all of them current or former Israeli soldiers abducted by Hamas on 7 October 2023.

On 29 April, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declared that Israel would only stop fighting following the partition of Syria and the forced displacement of “hundreds of thousands” of Palestinians from Gaza.

“With God’s help and the valor of your comrades-in-arms who continue to fight even now, we will end this campaign when Syria is dismantled, Hezbollah is severely beaten, Iran is stripped of its nuclear threat, Gaza is cleansed of Hamas and hundreds of thousands of Gazans are on their way out of it to other countries, our hostages are returned, some to their homes and some to the graves of Israel, and the State of Israel is stronger and more prosperous,” the far-right minister told a gathering at the Eli Yeshiva.

Al Jazeera reported that, according to medical sources, at least 22 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on the strip on Friday alone, with one strike on Bureij in central Gaza killing nine members of the same family.

Also on Friday, humanitarian coordinator Amjad Shawa in Gaza warned that more children are likely to die from malnutrition as “the whole strip is starving” due to Israel’s blockade of aid, which began 60 days ago.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 52,418 Palestinians and wounded 118,091, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry. The Gaza Government Media Office updated the death toll to more than 61,700, saying thousands of people missing under the rubble are presumed dead.

May 2, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Deprivation by Design”: Israel Intensifies Mass Killing Campaign in Gaza With Starvation and Daily Strikes

The scale of killing in Gaza is almost impossible to track as the Israeli military bombs and starves Palestinian civilians with impunity

By Rasha Abou jalal and Sharif Abdel Kouddous | Drop Site News | April 30, 2025

GAZA CITY—Three generations of the al-Khour family were wiped out when Israel bombed their family home in the al-Sabra neighborhood in central Gaza at dawn on April 26. The elderly patriarch of the family, Talal al-Khour, his wives, daughters, sons, and grandchildren were all killed in the attack. A total of twenty-two people—including twelve children—perished, their bodies blown apart and buried under the rubble.

“The airstrike occurred at dawn while we were asleep. Suddenly, we woke up to a blast that felt like an earthquake. We rushed into the street and found that the five-story home of the Al-Khour family had turned into a pile of rubble,” Mohammad Al-Ajla, a 37-year-old neighbor who helped retrieve the bodies, told Drop Site News. “As soon as the dust from the strike cleared, neighbors began trying to rescue members of the family. The recovery operation continued for eight straight hours. We saw bodies everywhere. There were children without heads.”

With the help of residents in the area, Civil Defense teams were able to retrieve fifteen of the bodies, which were later buried together in a mass grave. The remaining bodies remain trapped under the debris. Emergency rescue crews were forced to dig through the wreckage with their bare hands as a result of Israel denying the entry of equipment into Gaza and deliberately targeting the little machinery available, according to the Civil Defense spokesperson, Mahmoud Bassal.

“We could hear the cries of the wounded trapped under the rubble, but we were helpless to reach them. Over time, the screaming faded, and we no longer knew whether they were still alive or had been killed,” Bassal told Drop Site. “Many lives could have been saved, but the ongoing blockade and the denial of essential tools eliminated every possible chance for rescue.”

Since Israel resumed its scorched earth bombing campaign on March 18, Gaza has been transformed into a desert of death, in which rubble and ruin form the backdrop for an unceasing campaign of mass killing. The Israeli military has carried out multiple airstrikes and shelling across the enclave on a daily basis, pounding homes, displacement camps, cafes, hospitals, charity kitchens, so-called “humanitarian zones,” and other civilian sites.

The scale of the attacks is almost impossible to track. On Wednesday alone, three residential buildings in the Nuseirat refugee camp were bombed; one of the strikes killed six members of one family, including three siblings, all children. In a nearby building, eight people in a single home were killed. In Jabaliya, at least three people from the same family, including two young girls, were killed in Israeli artillery fire. On the coast, west of Gaza City, a fisherman was killed while pulling his boat ashore. In western Khan Younis, an overnight drone strike on a tent killed six people, including children. This is not a comprehensive list and does not even cover a 24-hour period.

Over two days last week, the Israeli military also targeted and bombed over 30 bulldozers and other pieces of heavy machinery. Some of them had been donated during the “ceasefire” to clear rubble, repair critical infrastructure, and rescue people after airstrikes, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The scenes emerging from across Gaza, from Rafah in the south to Beit Hanoun in the north, are staggering in their horror. Children blown apart across rooftops or while riding their bikes; dead bodies strewn across a cafe, some still seated, slumped in their chairs; corpses wrapped in white body bags lined up alongside one another; suicide drones crashing into tents housing sleeping families; screaming parents and wounded children scattered in the streets.

“The massacres do not stop. We are being slaughtered from vein to vein,” Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif said in a social media post.

At least 2,300 Palestinians have been killed over the past six weeks alone—the equivalent of over fifty people killed every day. Over 740 of the dead are children, the Director of the Information Unit at the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Zaher Al-Wahidi, told Drop Site. Since the start of the war, more than 2,180 families have been entirely annihilated—with all members killed—while more than 5,070 families have lost all members except for one surviving individual, according to the Government Media Office.

The relentless assault comes as Israel has imposed a policy of forced starvation on Gaza’s two million residents, sealing off Gaza completely and denying the entry of all food, fuel, medicine and other humanitarian goods since March 2—by far the longest blockade since the beginning of the war. More than 65,000 children in Gaza have been hospitalized with severe malnutrition, according to a statement this week by the Government Media Office.

Israel has made it clear that the intensifying military assault and the ongoing blockade are explicitly aimed at bringing Hamas to its knees. Negotiations for a ceasefire appear deadlocked with Israel scrapping crucial elements of the original three-phase deal signed by Hamas and Israel in January, and now pushing for Hamas to formally surrender, disarm, and exile its leadership as a condition to end the genocide.

Israel’s defense minister has reiterated that the denial of food, medicine, and other aid is being used to collectively punish the Palestinians of Gaza. “No humanitarian aid is about to enter Gaza,” Israel Katz said, announcing that “preventing humanitarian aid from entering Gaza is one of the main pressure levers.”

Using starvation as a weapon of war has had a devastating effect. Last week, the UN warned that Gaza “is now likely facing the worst humanitarian crisis in the 18 months since the escalation of hostilities in October 2023.”

The World Food Program recently announced that it had run out of food. “The situation is at a breaking point,” the organization said in a statement. Food prices have risen by 1,400 percent. With no remaining supplies of flour or fuel, Gaza’s bakeries have stopped functioning and remaining stocks of food are being rapidly depleted. The flour that is available is often insect-infested. Families are increasingly resorting to mixing crushed macaroni with flour to make bread and allocating just one piece of bread per family member per day.

With shortages of cooking gas and firewood, families are forced to burn plastic and other waste to cook the little food they have. People are foraging for wild plants and eating sea turtles that have washed ashore in order to survive. The UN last week said it identified 3,700 children suffering from acute malnutrition in March—now up to 80% from the month before. A total of fifty-three children have died of malnutrition since the war began.

The heads of twelve major aid organizations issued a joint statement last week warning that “Famine is not just a risk, but likely rapidly unfolding in almost all parts of Gaza,” and characterizing the situation in Gaza “one of the worst humanitarian failures of our generation.”

Over the past few weeks, the Israeli military has bombed the al-Ahli Hospital and the Al Durrah Paediatric Hospital, both in Gaza City; the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis and the Kuwaiti Field Hospital in Mawasi; and massacred fifteen emergency workers and first responders. The hospitals that are still standing are barely functioning, with severe shortages of medicine, equipment and doctors.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military continues to squeeze Palestinians onto smaller tracts of land within Gaza. About 70 percent of Gaza has been designated as “no-go” zones or placed under displacement orders. Over the past six weeks, roughly 420,000 Palestinians have been displaced yet again, with no safe place to go.

“This is deprivation by design,” the acting head of office for OCHA, Jonathan Whittall, said in a statement. “Land is being annexed from the north, from the east, from the south of the strip as forces advance… Gaza is being starved, it’s being bombed, it’s being strangled. This looks like the deliberate dismantling of Palestinian life.”

April 30, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

« Previous Entries     Next Entries »