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Israel Accepts ‘Not Good’ Gaza Ceasefire Deal – Netanyahu Advisor

By Svetlana Ekimenko – Sputnik – 02.06.2024

On Friday, the White House called the deal proposed by Israel to Hamas “a road map to an enduring cease-fire and the release of all hostages” that would enable a flood of humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave. Previous ceasefire deals have collapsed.

Israel has accepted the framework new deal to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyah’s chief foreign policy advisor said on Sunday.

The plan, revealed on Friday by US President Joe Biden, was “a deal we agreed to — it’s not a good deal but we dearly want the hostages released, all of them,” Ophir Falk was cited by The Sunday Times as confirming.

He added that, “There are a lot of details to be worked out,” and Israel’s conditions regarding “the release of the hostages and the destruction of Hamas as a genocidal terrorist organization” remain unchanged.

Falk doubled down on the Israeli prime minister’s stance that “there will not be a permanent ceasefire until all our objectives are met.”

Gaza ceasefire mediators the US, Qatar, and Egypt issued a joint statement that called on both Israel and Hamas to finalize an agreement “embodying the principles outlined by President Biden.”

Hamas on Friday said it provisionally welcomed the proposal of US President Joe Biden on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

“The Hamas Islamic Resistance movement welcomes idea of the speech of US President Joe Biden … in his call for a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of occupying forces from the Gaza Strip, the reconstruction [of the Gaza Strip] and the exchange of prisoners,” the movement said.

“Biden’s speech included positive ideas, but we want this to materialize within the framework of a comprehensive agreement that meets our demands,” senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Al Jazeera.

Biden, whose administration has been playing both sides – shipping weapons to its ally Tel Aviv while seemingly engaged in a flurry of mediatory activity – revealed a new comprehensive proposal to wind down the Gaza war.

Israel has offered a “roadmap to an enduring ceasefire and the release of all hostages,” the US president stated in his Friday press conference.

The proposal, transmitted by Qatar to Hamas, embodies three phases. The first phase would last for six weeks and include a temporary ceasefire, full withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza, and the release of a number of hostages by both sides.

A permanent ceasefire to end to all hostilities would be negotiated during the second phase, which could include the release of all remaining hostages and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza if Israel’s security guarantees are satisfied. A major reconstruction plan for Gaza would begin during phase three.

What is seen as a sticking point for realization of the deal is that it implies continued Hamas involvement in the arrangements alongside the mediators. However, at no point has Israel agreed to back down from its goal of eliminating Hamas.

Suffice it to recall the previous ceasefire proposals over the past months, none of which have come to fruition. A February truce mediated to halt fighting by the Islamic holy month of Ramadan that began on March 10 did not materialize.

As for Hamas, it has been insisting that only a permanent ceasefire would ensure the release of all the hostages.

Netanyahu is under pressure from his own coalition government, where both far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich of the Religious Zionism party and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party have indicated that they will resign if the proposed plan to end hostilities without destroying Hamas and returning all the hostages is agreed to. The two have the power to dismantle the governing coalition. At the same time, Benny Gantz’s centrist National Unity party wants the deal to be considered.

While the bargaining continues, an estimated 36,439 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip and 82,627 wounded since October 7, according to the Palestinian enclave’s Health Ministry. The World Health Organization (WHO) stated that practically no health services remain in Rafah after the al-Helal al-Emirati hospital closed.

June 2, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , , | Leave a comment

Horror of attrition will drive IOF out of Gaza: Abu Hamza

Al Mayadeen | June 1, 2024

The spokesperson of the al-Quds Brigades, Abu Hamza, confirmed that the military wing of the Resistance movement continues to confront Israeli occupation forces, stressing that the Resistance remains “in great shape,” and vowing that “the horror of attrition will drive the occupation outside of Gaza.”

In a recorded statement released by al-Quds Brigades on the 239th day of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, Abu Hamza emphasized that the Palestinian Resistance is engaged in an existential battle in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, asserting that victory for the Resistance is inevitable.

Concerning the Israeli captives held by the Resistance in the Gaza Strip, Abu Hamza stressed that the al-Quds Brigades are “fighting a complex security battle to preserve them,” addressing the occupation settlers by saying, “The only way to return the captives is to withdraw from Gaza, conduct an exchange deal, and end the aggression.”

He added that as the occupation persists in its genocidal campaign against Gaza, the return of settlers to the settlements “will not happen until the war on Gaza ends.”

June 1, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , , | Leave a comment

Hamas Welcomes Biden’s Proposal for Ceasefire in Gaza – Statement

Sputnik – 01.06.2024

The Palestinian movement Hamas on Friday welcomed the proposal of US President Joe Biden on the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Earlier in the day, Biden said that Israel has offered Hamas a new three-phase proposal with a roadmap that would lead to an enduring cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip as well as the release of all hostages.

“The Hamas Islamic Resistance movement welcomes idea of the speech of US President Joe Biden … in his call for a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of occupying forces from the Gaza Strip, the reconstruction [of the Gaza Strip] and the exchange of prisoners,” the movement said in a statement.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hopes the new proposal announced by US President Biden will achieve a permanent peace in Gaza, UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

“For months the Secretary-General has been pushing for a ceasefire, full and unfettered humanitarian access, and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held in Gaza. The Secretary-General strongly hopes that this will lead to an agreement by the parties for lasting peace,” Dujarric said on Friday in response to Biden’s announcement.

May 31, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , | Leave a comment

Why Jabalia?

By Tamer Ajrami | MEMO | May 31, 2024

For 20 days now, the occupation army has been committing massacres that have caught the attention of the entire world in Jabalia and the city’s refugee camp.

Everyone is asking what makes this small spot the subject of this continuous destruction. This narrow area, which does not exceed 1.4 square kilometres, holds the highest population density in the world. It is home to 116,000 people and is the largest refugee camp in Palestine.

At the beginning of the current war, the occupation army poured out its anger on Jabalia camp, carrying out four of the most violent and brutal massacres of this war so far.

It later announced victory over Jabalia and began to head south. So why has it returned?

Due to Jabalia’s steadfastness, the occupation army bombed its neighborhoods with dumb bombs, killing hundreds of people in each strike. It went on to starve Palestinians in the north.

And now, Netanyahu’s army is trying a second entry/invasion, perhaps wanting to destroy the camp.

What is happening is a repeat and intensification of what happened long ago, as my father told me. In 1967, Jabalia camp was the site where the first resistance against the occupation began. The occupation went crazy then, wondering how a freedom fighter dared to shoot at a helicopter.

They sent truckloads of soldiers and carried out field executions and the army dropped napalm bombs.

To this day, no one knows how many were killed in that crime, but in the camp, entire families were erased from the civil registry.

And in 1987, the spark of the First Intifada was ignited from Jabalia. After that, everyone started calling it “the revolution camp.”

Among its brave freedom fighters was Hatem Al-Sisi who was the first martyr of the intifada, which extended from 1987 until the Oslo Accords in 1993. The shedding of his blood was the catalyst to the spread of the intifada across the West Bank and Gaza. This inspired my father to name my brother Hatem in his honor. The martyr fell in our neighborhood, near my grandfather’s house.

During the era of the war criminal Ariel Sharon, known as “the bulldozer of Israel”, the occupation’s tanks and planes destroyed Jabalia camp in 2003. The same criminal repeated the attack in 2004. Despite all his attempts, he failed to diminish the resistance, which forced him to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, defeated in 2005.

And today, after 20 years, his successor Netanyahu returns to attack Jabalia camp in multiple assaults. It seems that the desperate Netanyahu has not learned anything from history.

The policy of the “parents die and children forget” will not succeed with Palestinians. In Palestine, parents are martyred and children grow up and do not forget. Rather, they follow the same path as their parents. They call upon the world in all languages, wanting a dignified life and a future for their children.

But the occupation practices genocide against them.

The leaders of the occupation army discuss openly and secretly, shouting and holding conferences all the time; in their minds there is only one question: How do we erase Jabalia camp from the map? Should we drop a nuclear bomb on it, as if 40,000 tonnes of explosives have not quenched their thirst for death.

As if they are asking: “How many tonnes of bombs do we need to drop on them to make them die?”

In 1998, Jabalia camp was visited by then-UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. No other place could make the official understand our cause better.

I was 13 years old then, and I remember participating in the campaign to clean the school that he was visiting and the main street from the market to the school gate. I was a member of my school’s health committee, which Annan visited. I was the diligent student who greeted him in English, proudly saying, “Welcome to Jabalia camp.”

Yes, I am the son of Jabaliya and I am proud to have been born in that crowded spot. And I am saddened by what I am witnessing today.

For seven months, the occupation starved the people of northern Gaza, focusing on Jabalia camp. Perhaps they hoped the people would die of hunger or flee, making it easier to accomplish their mission of destroying the area completely, levelling it as they did to Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahiya and Khan Yunis.

But Jabalia camp remained unbreakable; many were killed, but it stood firm and tall.

Yes, I know that those who remain in the camp are starving, tired and exhausted, but they are steadfast.

As if this steadfastness is a curse, the Israeli occupation’s tanks return to Jabalia as if the war has begun anew. Bombs drop from the sky. 1000lb, 2000lb bombs fall from warplanes aiming to kill more innocent civilians inside homes. Their only fault is that they said: “We will not leave our homes, we will not flee.”

It pains me to hear that the rabid army has now destroyed about 70 per cent of the camp’s landmarks. Its most prominent locations have disappeared.

Today, the news tells us that tanks are besieging the street which has four UNRWA schools; two primary and two elementary. This is the same street that Kofi Annan visited.

Those who remain in Jabalia know what displacement is. They lived as displaced people. They know it means permanent exile. They know another displacement means leaving Palestine and moving to Sinai, which would mean the end of our cause forever. They understand the occupation’s lies.

We see and hear them on television, dying of hunger and thirst, eating grass and animal feed, but they will not leave their land. Among them was my uncle, Abu Taysir Al-Ajrami, the father of three martyrs from the resistance who were martyred at the beginning of the Second Intifada between 2002 and 2003. He appeared on Al Jazeera saying: “We eat animal feed, but we will not leave our land. We die but do not leave.”

Everyone knows that if it weren’t for the steadfastness of Jabalia Camp and the patience of its people and the people of Gaza, Netanyahu’s goals of displacing them to Sinai would have been achieved.

Perhaps this is the reason for Netanyahu and his army’s anger towards Jabalia and its residents.

But, as they rebuilt Jabalia Camp after the first massacre in 1967 and the First Intifada in 1987, the second massacre in 2003, and the third massacre in 2004, Palestinians will rebuild the camp once again after the current massacres.

May 31, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Timeless or most popular, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

Why Israeli Military-Industrial Complex’s Dizzying Gaza War Profits Won’t Last

By Ilya Tsukanov – Sputnik – 30.05.2024

Israel’s defense sector has been making money hand over fist supplying weapons to the military for the war in Gaza, with profits going into the double digits, and order backlogs soaring to more than $50 billion. International affairs and security analysts told Sputnik what will stop Israel from sustaining this bonanza over the long run.

Israeli defense giants have been fruitful in multiplying their profits on the eve of the eight-month anniversary of the war in Gaza, with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Elbit Systems enjoying record bumps in stock prices and profits, nearly $15 billion in combined revenues in 2023, and an order backlog worth a whopping $52.4 billion.

The companies – which manufacture everything from drones and armored vehicles to the offensive and defensive missiles the IDF has used against Gaza fighters, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Yemen’s Houthi militia, expect the good times to continue to roll through 2024, with Elbit reporting Q1 profits of $1.55 billion in an earnings call this week – surpassing in quarterly terms the $6 billion the company raked in last year.

Israel is among the top ten weapons exporters in the world, accounting for nearly 2.5 percent of the global arms market between 2019 and 2023. Top clients include the United States, Britain, continental Europe, Azerbaijan, India and Vietnam, with sophisticated Israeli drones and missiles constituting among the top most sought after export articles.

Tel Aviv scaled back exports abroad from the fourth quarter of 2023 onward as the defense sector reoriented toward domestic needs – buoyed by US military assistance – which enables the Israeli government to spend part of its multibillion dollar American aid packages on weapons made in Israel, and supports joint air and missile defense research (preferences Washington doesn’t extend to any other major ally).

The Gaza campaign is a mixed blessing for Israel’s arms industry, observers have told Sputnik, pointing out that while Israeli defense giants may benefit over the short term from the present spike in orders, Tel Aviv’s diplomatic reputation coming out of the crisis may not be what it was when it entered it.

“I don’t think it’s been the most illustrious military weapons show,” veteran international and military affairs observer and former US Army Lieutenant Colonel Earl Rasmussen told Sputnik, when asked whether Israel’s defense industry has benefited or been damaged by the IDF’s Gaza operations.

“I would think some of their demand may diminish,” Rasmussen said, pointing out that besides the reputation of Israeli weapons, there is the country’s international political reputation to account for.

“In the political sense, Israel has isolated themselves due to what’s going on in Gaza. And also you see that what should have been a very quick entrance in and exit out has now dragged on for seven months, and I don’t know if there’s any end in sight until they level the entire Gaza Strip,” the veteran soldier said.

“Ukraine may still engage with them for military sales…but I would not be surprised if a lot of other foreign militaries and countries interested [in some of Israel’s] really good technology may be more hesitant and may look at other opportunities or competing technology,” given what can only be described as the “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing” taking place in Gaza, Rasmussen said.

Veteran Italian former diplomat and prime ministerial foreign policy advisor Dr. Marco Carnelos concurs with this assessment, telling Sputnik that while militarily, the Gaza campaign may have brought Israel’s military establishment some benefits, politically it has been suicidal.

“Politically speaking I do not see any way in which Israel has been benefiting from waging the war in Gaza. Its top leaders received arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court and a judgement for genocide is pending against Israel at the International Court of Justice,” Carnelos said.

“Militarily speaking [Israel’s] armed forces gained further knowledge and expertise in carrying out urban warfare in Gaza in the [past] seven months, maybe testing new techniques and weapons. It is the same for its foes – who after widespread destruction are still capable of engaging Israeli forces,” the observer said. “The real question remains: was it worth this political debacle to get better military experience? I strongly doubt it. Israel’s deterrent power is probably over and the political and strategic consequences could be huge,” Carnelos added.

Israel’s deterrent capabilities and reputation in the eyes of the world have taken a beating over the course of the Gaza crisis, with Hamas proving able to hold its own through seven plus months of intense Israeli bombardment and ground operations across the bombed out ruins of the 365 square kilometer strip of land, the IDF and its US and European allies proving unable to stop Yemen’s Houthi militia from essentially shutting down the Red Sea to Israeli-linked shipping, and Israel and Hezbollah engaging in months of deadly skirmishes along the Lebanese border.

But perhaps nowhere were the limits of Israeli (and by extension NATO) power demonstrated more thoroughly than during Iran’s April 14 drone and missile barrage targeting Israel. The Islamic Republic managed to land multiple projectiles at the Negev Desert air base the IDF used to strike Iran’s Embassy compound in Damascus on April 1, as well as an intelligence collection facility in northern Israel, despite advance warning and Israeli defenses being shored up by military assets belonging to the US, the UK and Jordan. For the first time since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Israel’s adversaries were able to demonstrate that the Jewish state – while a regional military powerhouse, is certainly not invincible.

May 30, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Militarism, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

Protests and demonstrations around the world condemn the Israeli massacres in Gaza

Palestinian Information Center – May 29, 2024

European and Arab cities and capitals on Tuesday witnessed solidarity protests, marches, and vigils with the Gaza Strip, condemning the ongoing Israeli massacres against the displaced in Rafah in the south of the enclave.

The protesters demanded an end to the war and the punishment of the Israeli officials responsible for the genocide in Gaza, and also called for a halt to supplying Israel with the weapons it uses to kill women and children and destroy residential buildings in the enclave.

In Britain, thousands of supporters of Palestine demonstrated in the streets of the British capital London, condemning the continued Israeli massacres in the city of Rafah.

The protesters rallying in the vicinity of Downing Street, the official residence and office of the prime minister, called on the British government to condemn the Israeli aggression and stop arms exports to Tel Aviv. They raised banners condemning the continued aggression on Gaza and demanding an immediate ceasefire.

Dozens of protesters blocked the entrance to the Israeli arms factory belonging to the “Elbit” company in the British village of Chineham, in support of Gaza and condemning the crimes of genocide.

In Belgium, the Belgian police dispersed protesters in the capital Brussels with water cannons as they tried to reach the Israeli embassy as part of a protest against the bombardment of Rafah.

In Ireland, Palestinian, Arab and Irish activists supporting the Palestinian cause demonstrated in front of the Irish Parliament in Dublin, coinciding with the Irish government’s recognition of the State of Palestine.

The protesters raised the Palestinian flags and banners in support of Palestinian rights in front of the parliament garden, which witnessed the raising of the Palestinian flag for the first time.

In France, thousands of people demonstrated on Tuesday evening in Paris for the second day in a row, protesting the Israeli massacres in Rafah.

The place de la République in the center of the capital was crowded with people, and Palestinian flags were placed on the statue in the center, with a large banner reading “Stop the Genocide”.

In Norway, a demonstration was held in front of the Norwegian Parliament building to celebrate the government’s recognition of the State of Palestine, and to demand the withdrawal of Norwegian investments from Israel and pressure for an immediate and sustainable ceasefire.

The demonstrators raised Palestinian flags and banners calling for an immediate ceasefire, and banners accusing Israel of committing a war of extermination. The demonstrators called for the punishment of those responsible for the genocide in Gaza.

In the Netherlands, dozens of supporters of Palestine held a silent protest in front of the city hall in Utrecht, to condemn the burning of tents and the killing of civilian children and women in Tel Sultan, west of Rafah.

The protesters laid on the ground in front of the building to represent the scene of the victims’ deaths in Gaza, raising Palestinian flags and chanting slogans condemning the Dutch government’s support for Israel since the beginning of the aggression, and calling for the protection of Rafah.

In Canada, the city of Toronto witnessed a massive demonstration on Monday evening to condemn the massacre of the tents committed by the Israeli army in the Palestinian city of Rafah.

The activists marched through the streets of the city, chanting slogans condemning the ongoing Israeli crimes, and calling for an end to the ongoing genocide in Gaza and a ceasefire.

In Mexico, pro-Palestinian supporters held a protest demonstration in front of the Israeli embassy in Mexico City, condemning the Israeli massacre in Rafah and rejecting the continued aggression on Gaza.

Many of the demonstrators tried to storm the embassy building and pelted it with stones, amid clashes with the Mexican police.

In Jordan, hundreds of Jordanians demonstrated around the Israeli embassy west of the capital Amman, condemning the ongoing genocide in Gaza against the besieged civilian population.

The protesters chanted slogans supporting the Palestinian resistance, calling for the need to deliver humanitarian and medical aid.

They also condemned normalization with Israel and called on the Jordanian government and Arab governments to end all diplomatic and economic agreements with Israel.

In Yemen, protesters organized rallies and marches condemning the Israeli massacres in Rafah, according to the Saba news agency.

Hundreds of students participated in marches in the governorates of Sanaa, Amran and Hajjah, in support and solidarity with the resistance in Gaza and in solidarity with the oppressed Palestinian people.

In Morocco, hundreds of Moroccans, including human rights activists, organized a rally in front of the Parliament building in the capital Rabat, in solidarity with Gaza and condemning the recent massacres in Rafah.

Through banners calling to “Stop the Rafah Massacres”, the participating protesters expressed their rejection of Israel’s defiance of all international conventions and rulings of the International Court of Justice through its continued massacres in Rafah, calling on international institutions to activate their mechanisms to deter it.

Many Moroccan cities, including Tangier, are witnessing similar protest marches, at an almost daily pace, in solidarity with the Palestinian people and rejecting normalization.

May 29, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Solidarity and Activism, War Crimes | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The war is lost, so why is Netanyahu still killing civilians in Rafah?

By Ramzy Baroud | MEMO | May 29, 2024

Just hours after Israel carried out a gruesome massacre of displaced Palestinians in the Tel Al-Sultan area west of Rafah in the Gaza Strip on 26 May, it carried out yet another massacre in the Al-Mawasi area. The first is now known as the “Tents Massacre”. It took place shortly after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) finally issued a stern demand that, “Israel must immediately halt its military offensive and any other action in Rafah which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”

The killing of 50 Palestinians in their own displacement tents was the answer given by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his extremist government to the ICJ and the rest of the international community. The successive Israeli massacres in Rafah demonstrate the degree of intransigence of Israel’s genocidal regime.

Netanyahu and his Minister of Defence, Yoav Gallant, who could both be on the official “wanted” list of the International Criminal Court (ICC) within weeks, could easily have chosen a different path, even for mere political manoeuvring. They could, for example, have delayed their Rafah operation or changed strategies, just to avoid further ICJ rulings on the matter. Instead, they went for the most arrogant and cowardly of choices: killing civilians.

Their 2000lb bunker-busting bombs dismembered and beheaded children as they lay beside their mothers in makeshift camps that have no water, no electricity and no food. While the Israeli army offered the world a clearly concocted version of what happened, blaming “militants” and such, Netanyahu’s office described the attack as a mistake.

Both versions, of course, were lies. The Israeli army possesses some of the most advanced surveillance technology in the world, thanks to US generosity and continued support. It could easily have distinguished between a Palestinian Resistance operational area and a refugee camp filled with children and women.

If the attack was indeed a mistake, what explains the other massacres that followed, also in Rafah and in nearby Mawasi, which killed and maimed scores of refugees? And what is the logic behind the killing and wounding of nearly 130,000 Palestinians since the start of the war on 7 October, the majority of whom were women and children?

The Tents Massacre was neither a mistake, nor can it be blamed on imaginary militants operating from inside displaced refugees’ tents. Nevertheless, Netanyahu did have his own logic. For a start, he wanted to send a direct message to let the ICJ know that Israel is not perturbed by its direct order to end the Rafah operation. The intended audience of this message was not necessarily the ICJ judges, but the international community, which remains, despite its solidarity rhetoric, ineffectual in influencing the duration, direction or nature of the Israeli war.

Netanyahu also wanted to score cheap political points against his rivals in his War Cabinet, by presenting himself as the bold Israeli leader who is standing up to the whole world. He has stated over and over again that “[the Jewish people] will stand alone.”

The Israeli leader must also have been informed that more Israeli soldiers had been captured by the Palestinian Resistance. The latter’s statement about this on 25 May was issued just one day before Netanyahu attacked Rafah. From a military point of view, the capturing of more soldiers who were sent to Gaza supposedly to free other Israeli captives should have been a “game over” moment.

The Gaza Resistance hasn’t released any more information since the initial, brief statement by Al-Qassam military spokesman, Abu Obeida. Hamas is known for releasing information to the public when it is strategically most opportune to do so, as was the case in its announcement that it is holding Israeli Colonel Asaf Hamami, who Israel declared to be dead last December.

Netanyahu and his army are trying desperately to pre-empt the angry reaction in Israeli society about the capture of soldiers by keeping the news focused on Rafah. He knows that such massacres widen his circle of support among his extreme far-right constituency.

Moreover, the timing of the massacre was also a message to the US, the mediators (Egypt and Qatar), Hamas and even members of the War Cabinet who are keen on ending the war through a truce agreement. Media reports have spoken about a potential breakthrough in talks, starting in Paris before moving to Doha, which showed some willingness on the part of Israel to link the release of prisoners to a permanent truce.

Such an agreement would be considered a defeat from Netanyahu’s point of view, and would certainly usher in the end of his political career. Hence, he simply lashed out against the refugees of Rafah with the hope of disrupting any potential deal in Doha.

It was for the same reason that his troops opened fire at Egyptian soldiers at the Rafah Crossing, killing one, possibly two, and wounding more. Egypt has been an important mediator in the truce talks. Attacking the mediator is not only humiliating for the Egyptian government, but for the army and Egyptian people as well.

Although Netanyahu has no strategy for the war itself, he has a strategy for prolonging his own political survival. It is predicated on mixing the political cards, ensuring chaos and carrying out constant massacres against civilians, all safe in the knowledge that Washington will always remain on his side no matter what. The Israeli leader is just buying time, though. Israel’s top generals and military experts and analysts know that the war has been lost and that prolonging it will not, in any way, alter its predictable outcomes.

May 29, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

US-supplied GBU-39 bombs used in Israeli attack on Rafah camps: CNN

Al Mayadeen | May 29, 2024

The origin of the weapon used in the Rafah airstrike three days ago was the United States, a report published by CNN revealed. The revelation makes the US government a prime suspect in facilitating the war crime, especially as the US officials refuse to condemn the action.

According to CNN, an analysis of the video from the scene and a review by explosive weapons experts has determined that the origin of the weapon put to use by Israeli occupation forces is in fact the United States.

This is not the first time that US-supplied weapons have been used to commit acts of genocide against the Palestinian population and target internationally protected organizations, as Washington is the primary supplier of explosives, bombs, missiles, and various types of munitions to the Israeli military.

It is worth noting that the US has also supplied the Israeli regime with 328 fighter aircraft, which have been used to commit the bulk of war crimes and instances of violations of international law in Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria in the past eight months.

In Rafah, the strike, which consisted of two guided munition bombs, eventually led to a fire breaking out, killing at least 45 and injuring 200 others, most of whom were women and children.

Moreover, the strike occurred after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered the Israeli regime to halt its military attack on the city.

What was the bomb used by ‘Israel’?

It also says that from a video shared on social media, it was able to detect the tail of a US-made and supplied GBU-39 small-diameter bomb (SDB), which has a warhead composed of around 17 kg of ATX 757 explosive material. ATX 757 is 1.65 times more powerful than TNT, and it is thought that at least two GBU-39s were launched at the campsite. The last assumption is based on the remarks of the Israeli occupation forces spokesperson, Rear Admiral David Hagari, who said that the Air Force used two small bombs with a 17 kg warhead each.

Although the GBU-39 is meant to be used in highly precise strikes for important point targets, the bomb is usually used to target military-grade vehicles and aircraft, due to its highly explosive warhead and bunker-busting capabilities, meaning that it is likely to cause casualties in densely populated areas.

Weapons expert Chris Cobb-Smith confirmed this to CNN, as he said that “using any munition, even of this size, will always incur risks in a densely populated area.”

Despite multiple weapons experts identifying the weapon as the GBU-39 bombs and serial numbers on remnants of the bomb in the crime scene matching the claim, the United States Department of Defense said that it could not confirm the origin or type of munition used in the attack.

“In terms of this particular strike, I just don’t have more information for you,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters.

May 29, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

Beware Benjamin Netanyahu’s ICC indictment

By Kit Klarenberg | Al Mayadeen | May 26, 2024

Many were understandably exhilarated when on May 20th, International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan issued a statement outlining why he was seeking international arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Security Minister Yoav Gallant, for “crimes against humanity” committed in Gaza since “at least” October 8th 2023.

To anyone who has been spectating the Gaza genocide in the wake of that fateful day, the roll-call of heinous charges leveled at Netanyahu and Gallant will hardly have been surprising. To have the details so forcefully spelled out by an international legal body was nonetheless astonishing. “Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare; willfully causing great suffering; willful killing; murder; intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population; extermination; persecution; inhumane acts.” The list goes on, and on.

Khan charged that these “crimes against humanity” were “committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the Palestinian civilian population, pursuant to State policy.” Moreso, these horrors, in the “assessment” of ICC prosecutors, “continue to this day.” The statement went on to note Khan’s office had collected extensive evidence, attesting that the Zionist entity “has intentionally and systematically deprived the civilian population in all parts of Gaza of objects indispensable to human survival.”

For the countless millions around the world who have marched, boycotted, or advocated in support of the Palestinian cause, or who have simply implored their elected representatives to take decisive action to halt the systematic, industrial-scale slaughter of the Palestinian people—while Gaza has been crucified—the ICC announcement surely provided some degree of relief. Yet, it must be remembered that “international justice” is at best a comforting fable, and at worst an outright fraud.

In a televised interview following Netanyahu’s indictment, Khan made a number of startling admissions. He revealed that while the ICC built cases against Israeli officials, he was threatened by numerous Western sources – including “elected leaders” – to back off. One “senior official” openly warned him that the Court was “built for Africans and thugs like Putin,” not the West and its allies. The veteran prosecutor stridently countered that the ICC had universal jurisdiction:

“We don’t view it like that. This Court is the legacy of Nuremberg. This Court should be the triumph of law over power and brute force!”

A cynic might suggest Khan was simply playing for the cameras. Given his professional history, he is uniquely well-placed to know the fundamentally hegemonic and discriminatory nature of “international justice”. Khan cut his teeth in the field during the late 1990s and early 2000s, as a senior legal advisor to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). It was set up to prosecute political and military officials in the region for war crimes and atrocities committed during Yugoslavia’s catastrophic breakup.

In theory, Bosniak, Croat, and Serb figures were all in the ICTY firing line. In practice, Serbs were targeted to a far greater degree and punished considerably more severely, than any other ethnicity in the former Yugoslavia. Some have argued this is reflective of and proportionate to the crimes committed during the brutal wars of the 1990s. Yet, anti-Serb bias – and a need to diminish the crimes of Washington’s Bosniak and Croat proxies – was hardwired into the Tribunal even before its inception.

A February 1993 CIA memo outlining “Yugoslavia policy options” proposed “establishing a war crimes tribunal”, for the express purpose of “publicizing Serbian atrocities.” It markedly warned against “even treatment of Bosniak transgressions,” which could be perceived regionally, and among US allies, as “tilting in Belgrade’s favor.” So it was that the ICTY was created three months later. It then spent the next 24 years convicting Serbs for grave crimes, up to and including genocide. Frequently, they were jailed for extremely lengthy periods amounting to life imprisonment.

Several of these convictions were secured via the highly controversial doctrine of “Joint Criminal Enterprise”, also derisively known as “Just Convict Everyone”. Under JCE’s terms, defendants can be guilty of crimes that they did not personally commit, approve of, or even know about at the time. By contrast, many Bosniak and Croat military and political figures who were indicted were acquitted or received extremely meager sentences, despite overwhelming evidence directly implicating them in the planning and commission of horrendous crimes against humanity.”

For example, consider Naser Oric, a Bosniak military commander. He had a fearsome reputation for taking no prisoners, torturing, mutilating, and murdering civilians and prisoners of war in the most repulsive ways imaginable. Moreover, he made no secret of this, to the extent of proudly showing Western journalists footage of his butchery. In July 1995, a Toronto Star reporter was given exclusive access to “a shocking video version of what might have been called Naser Oric’s Greatest Hits”:

“There were burning houses, dead bodies, severed heads, and people fleeing. Oric grinned throughout the video, admiring his handiwork. ‘We ambushed them,’ he said. The next sequence of dead bodies had been caused by explosives: ‘We launched those guys to the moon,’ he boasted. When footage of a bullet-marked ghost town appeared without any visible bodies, Oric hastened to announce. ‘We killed 114 Serbs there.’ Later there were celebrations, with singers with wobbly voices chanting his praises.”

General Philippe Morillon, who commanded UN peacekeeping forces in Bosnia in 1992/93, testified at the ICTY trial of Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic, that Oric was responsible for “terrible massacres”, and openly “confessed to killing Bosnian Serbs every night.” Morillon had personally seen a mass grave filled with villagers slain by the Bosniak commander and his soldiers. However, the Tribunal only convicted Oric for failing to prevent the inhumane treatment of prisoners. He received a two-year sentence but was released immediately due to time served.

The sense the ICTY deliberately fudged Oric’s trial to insulate him from justice is ineluctable, and this was widely suspected at the time. A leaked 2006 diplomatic cable records how the head of Belgrade’s Tribunal liaison office, “normally a stalwart defender” of the ICTY, privately complained to US officials it was “becoming increasingly obvious” that Tribunal judgments were “politically driven.” Even local liberals who supported the prosecution of their former leaders were disturbed by the “vastly different treatment of Serb and non-Serb indictees.”

To this day, hardline Bosniak nationalists cite Oric’s ICTY exoneration as proof of his innocence, despite his self-avowed bloodlust. In this context, it must be remembered that the ICC is formally a successor to the Tribunal, and all that implies. Were the Court to ultimately acquit Netanyahu and Gallant of war crimes, the ruling would inevitably be cited ever after as a validation and justification of the Gaza genocide. And no doubt embolden and encourage Zionist entity military and political chiefs to – somehow – even greater savagery.

The unrelenting, perverse profusion of photo and video evidence of Israeli Occupation Forces perpetrating a 21st century Holocaust, combined with so many self-incriminating statements of Zionist entity officials, and intense public attention focused on the ICC as a result of South Africa’s pioneering case against ‘Tel Aviv’, no doubt gave the Court little choice but to indict Netanyahu and Gallant. The question of whether the pair will ever be in the ICC’s dock, let alone convicted for their monstrous deeds, remains an open one.

Until or unless Netanyahu and Gallant are convicted, we cannot place faith in the Court to ensure justice is done in Gaza. Even if the pair are rendered to the Hague for trial, there is no guarantee the ICC will be allowed to convict either, no matter the evidence against them. This is the bleak reality of an “international justice” system created explicitly and exclusively to prosecute “Africans and thugs like Putin”, not Western imperialist warlords, and their overseas proxies, puppets, and pets.

May 27, 2024 Posted by | Progressive Hypocrite, Timeless or most popular, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

Israeli jets open fire on Rafah ‘safe zone,’ killing dozens

The Cradle | May 27, 2024

At least 40 Palestinians were killed on 26 May in Israeli airstrikes on the camps in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah.

The Israeli attack on Sunday evening, which was carried out with over six missiles, left several women and children dead.

“At least 40 were killed and others injured after occupation forces targeted, with at least eight missiles, tents of people sheltering in a displacement camp that was recently established near the UNRWA warehouses northwest of Rafah,” WAFA news agency reported.

According to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, the people inside the tents – mostly women and children – were burned alive as a result of the attack. The area targeted had been designated as a safe zone by Israel and was sheltering thousands of displaced Palestinians.

It was one of several displacement centers targeted by Israeli forces that day, including in the northern city of Jabalia and Nuseirat in central Gaza, with the attacks resulting in the deaths and injuries of over 190 Palestinians on Sunday, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office.

“The Israeli occupation army bombed more than 10 displacement centers within 24 hours, the last of which was committing a horrific massacre in the UNRWA Barkasat center northwest of the Rafah governorate, which claimed the lives of more than 40 martyrs,” it said.

The media office called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) and all international courts to pursue “the war criminals of the Israeli occupation, the war criminals of the Americans, the German war criminals, and all other war criminals involved [in the killing of Palestinians.]”

Israel claimed it hit a Hamas compound in northwestern Rafah’s Tel al-Sultan area and said the strike was carried out “within international law.” It added that it was probing reports that fires spread and caused injuries inside a displacement camp.

The latest massacre in Rafah came two days after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to halt its military offensive in Rafah as part of the ongoing genocide case filed by South Africa.

It also comes as the ICC faces the threat of US sanctions for its recent decision to seek arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

May 27, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

Two Egyptian soldiers martyred in clashes with Israelis: Reports

Al Mayadeen | May 27, 2024

The Israeli Channel 13 reported an extremely unusual incident between the Israeli occupation forces and the Egyptian Army on the border in the Rafah border crossing area, adding that the incident comes at the peak of tensions and noting that the incident may have significant political consequences.

In turn, Israeli Channel 14 stated that Egyptian soldiers fired shots on their own accord at Israeli soldiers along the Rafah crossing and claimed that there were no injuries reported.

Moreover, Israeli media claimed that the Israeli occupation forces responded by firing warning shots, and it was confirmed that the military censorship of the Israeli occupation forces retracted all news about the incident between the Egyptian and Israeli occupation forces at the Rafah crossing.

However, the Israeli KodKod news site said there were no injuries among the Israeli occupation forces but two Egyptian soldiers had been killed in the incident.

The Israeli Ynet newspaper, meanwhile, claimed that only one Egyptian soldier was killed and several others were wounded in the cross-border confrontation.

Al Mayadeen’s correspondent reported that an agreement was reached to form a committee to investigate the incident between the Egyptian army and the Israeli occupation at the Rafah crossing.

The spokesperson of the Israeli occupation forces said an investigation was ongoing regarding the cross-border incident amid contacts with the Egyptian side.

May 27, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , , | Leave a comment

Al-Qassam Brigades: Our fighters captured Israeli soldiers in northern Gaza

Palestinian Information Center – May 26, 2024

GAZA – Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, announced on Saturday the capture of an unspecified number of Israeli soldiers during an operation in Jabalia refugee camp in the north of the Gaza Strip.

“Our fighters were able to carry out a complex operation on Saturday afternoon in the northern Gaza Strip, where they lured an Israeli force into one of the tunnels in Jabalia camp, clashed with it at close range, and killed, captured, and wounded its members,” spokesman for the Brigades Abu Obeida said in a recorded statement broadcast by Al Jazeera satellite channel last night.

“The occupation forces are digging among piles of rubble in search for the remains of some of their prisoners, whom they had previously bombed on purpose, and keep throwing thousands of their soldiers into the alleyways of Jabalia and elsewhere to search for corpses, sacrificing their soldiers for the sake of Netanyahu’s personal machinations and his extremist fascist government’s interests,” Abu Obeida said in his statement.

A separate video clip released by al-Qassam Brigades showed an individual being dragged in a tunnel, purportedly an Israeli soldier, but this has not been yet confirmed.

The video also showcased weapons and equipment seemingly belonging to three Israeli soldiers.

In response, the Israeli occupation army denied the occurrence of an incident where a number of its soldiers were taken prisoners by fighters from al-Qassam Brigades.

May 26, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , | Leave a comment

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