More Deaths in Gaza
Lies and deception by Joe Biden to cover-up Israel’s war crimes must end
BY PHILIP GIRALDI • UNZ REVIEW • APRIL 4, 2024
You know that the Administration of President Joe Biden has reached a new low when it takes the initiative to lie for Israel even when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is accepting some blame for the targeted killing of six foreign national aid workers and a Palestinian translator belonging to Chef Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen humanitarian “feed the hungry” charitable organization. Bear in mind that that the Israeli army has killed without any regrets expressed at least 196 aid and relief workers in its onslaught on all living creatures located in Gaza, as well as nearly every journalist that crosses its path and doctors and medical staff in hospitals attempting to save lives and treat the injured and dying. On this rare occasion, however, Netanyahu realized that the calculated way in which the predominantly foreign victims had been killed with three separate drone strikes directed against three well-marked and easily identifiable World Central Kitchen vehicles following a route pre-approved and declared to be safe by the Israeli army itself would heighten the already legitimate extreme loathing of the Jewish state and all its works worldwide. Make no mistake these seven workers were deliberately targeted, hunted down and murdered. And it was no accident or a case of poor communications as this was all carried out by an Israeli military unit under the direct control of senior officers in a bid to hasten the starvation of the Palestinian population by driving away relief organizations.
Not surprisingly, this disdain for Israeli behavior is even surging in the United States, where polls measuring dislike for Israel’s actions continue to rise and, as Netanyahu knows, total unblinking support from a Biden or a Trump is essential for furtherance of his Palestinian-genocide agenda, a program that also requires a steady stream of dollars and weapons to carry out. Joe Biden, who reportedly is angry with Netanyahyu, only last Sunday, the day before the incident, approved a $15 billion package of new weapons for Israel, including 25 F-35 fighter jets, and additionally the highly controversial 2,000-pound bombs which have been known to kill indiscriminately in Gaza when deployed by the Israeli air force. As has been true over the past six months, the White House acted unilaterally and did not clear the transfer through congressional review, as required by law, claiming that it was an emergency as good friend and close[est] ally Israel urgently needs the weapons.
President Biden apparently did realize that the deaths in Gaza, which made him feel “outraged and heartbroken,” following so soon on the recently concluded siege and devastation of the last remaining major hospital in the enclave Al-Shifa, might be a political problem for him. Preliminary reports from the hospital, which was completely destroyed, suggest that over 1,500 Palestinians may have been killed, injured, or are reported missing as a result of the massacre. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller nevertheless asserted that the slaughter at the medical center was legitimate as “There were Hamas fighters hiding in Al-Shifa Hospital. Do not believe that this attack was on the hospital. The attack was on the Hamas fighters that are hiding inside a hospital.” Other Administration figures have claimed that the deaths in both the hospital and among the aid workers were not “deliberate,” which is, of course a lie as it was orders through the Israeli chain of command that initiated the killing in both instances. White House spokesman Karine Jean-Pierre also added her profound but utterly predictable insights into who was to blame, “So look, Hamas should not be operating out of hospitals, we have said that over and over again, and putting civilians at risk.”
And to be sure, while destroying the hospital was an exciting change of pace for the world’s “most moral army” as its snipers summarily executed doctors and patients, as it picked off children looking for food when they crossed into unposted “kill zones,” and as its engineers used bulldozers to bury alive prisoners who were shackled and could not move, it did represent a problem vis-à-vis the international perception of Israel. So Netanyahu, understanding that a little fence mending was in order for PR reasons, quickly admitted that there had been something of a “mistake” made leading to the killing of the seven aid workers which was “tragic” while the army itself is engaged in a desperate cover-up, describing the incident, as a “grave mistake… that followed a misidentification, at night, during the war, in a very complex condition. It shouldn’t have happened.” Per Netanyahu’s official statement on the incident “This happens in war. We are conducting a thorough inquiry and are in contact with the governments. We will do everything to prevent a recurrence.”
National Security Adviser John Kirby, who has taken on the role of chief liar for the Biden regime, was “outraged” by the deaths while adding that “this incident is emblematic of a larger problem,” though he failed to describe just what that problem might be apart from the fact that Israel likes to kill people, including or perhaps particularly foreign charity workers as the clear intention is to let the Palestinians starve to death. Kirby also repeated the lie that the murders by Israel were “not deliberate” and insisted there would be no cutting back on aid to Israel in spite of the mishap, observing that the US would continue to support the Israel military as it has since Hamas “started the war” through its attacks last October. “They’re still under a viable threat of Hamas. We’re still going to make sure they can defend themselves and the 7th of October doesn’t happen again.” Admiral John stopped just short of “let’s kill them all so they will never do anything naughty again”, but fortunately there are some Republicans standing around willing to take up John’s call to arms more literally.
I have noted previously that it is the Republicans who are seeking to become Israel’s new best friends largely in hopes of diverting their way the many millions of dollars that Jewish donors will likely be spending on the upcoming national elections. Leading Jewish groups headed by no less than the formidable and untouchable American Israel Political Action Committee (AIPAC) are already well advanced on raising hundreds of millions of dollars as a war chest to defeat any and all congressional candidates who are soft or critical on the issue of Israel. In the 2020 congressional election AIPAC boasted how it had endorsed and supported through its Super PAC 198 House and Senate candidates, including 131 incumbents, all of whom won reelection.
Republican Congressman Tim Walberg of Michigan takes the prize for echoing the calls being made by some Israeli politicians to use nuclear weapons on the Palestinians, though he is now claiming that that was not his intent. He said “I don’t think any of our aid that goes to Israel to support our greatest ally, arguably maybe in the world, to defeat Hamas and Iran and Russia, and probably North Korea’s in there, and China, too, with them helping Hamas — we shouldn’t be spending a dime on humanitarian aid. It should be like Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Get it over quick. The same should be in Ukraine. Defeat Putin quick.” First of all, anyone who calls Israel “our greatest ally” is an idiot since it is actually our greatest liability, unless Walberg is referring to the apparent mutually supportive relationship to carry out the genocide of entire nations that we dislike. One has to wonder who the Democrats put up to run against someone like Walberg who apparently does not have two brain cells to rub together.
Another Republican Congressman Representative Andy Ogles of Tennessee has put it more bluntly by calling on Israel to “… kill them all… Everybody in Hamas,” while others including Donald Trump have urged the Israeli government to “finish the job.” And then there is GOP Senator Rick Scott of Florida who said on Sunday that it is imperative that Israel goes into Rafah to “destroy” the Palestinian militant group Hamas. “Number one, [Israel] needs American support; they have to go into Rafah to destroy Hamas,” Scott said during a completely predictable interview on “Fox News Sunday.” Scott, who is being spoken of as a possible GOP vice presidential candidate, has just returned from a trip to Israel, where he met with Israeli Netanyahu and assured him of unlimited US support in his war to get rid of the 1.5 million or so pesky Palestinians starving and awaiting their fate in Gaza.
But my prize for Congress’s ugliest critter in the metaphorical sense has to go to Brian Mast of Florida who recently appeared in the Congressional Office Buildings wearing his Israeli army uniform. He represents a heavily Jewish district in Florida – whose governor Ron DeSantis has boasted to be the most pro-Israel state in the US. He explained his gesture on Twitter, writing that “As the only member to serve with both the United States Army and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), I will always stand with Israel.” Interestingly, one might interpret “always stand with Israel” as including when it is contrary to US interests. Mast reportedly served in the US Army in Afghanistan and then did a tour as a volunteer with the IDF. He is believed to be a Christian Zionist and some have wondered how he got a security clearance, but hey when something like 70% of the top-level folks in the Biden Cabinet are Jewish and many are suspected of having dual loyalty or perhaps singular loyalty to Israel, who’s asking?
Philip M. Giraldi, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a 501(c)3 tax deductible educational foundation (Federal ID Number #52-1739023) that seeks a more interests-based U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Website is councilforthenationalinterest.org, address is P.O. Box 2157, Purcellville VA 20134 and its email is inform@cnionline.org.
Deploying spies on campus in the US: The ‘Israel on Campus Coalition’
By David Miller | Al Mayadeen | April 4, 2024
Listen to Nancy Pelosi at the end of January this year: “What we have to do is to try and stop the suffering in Gaza. This is about women and children, people who don’t have a place to go. So let’s address that. But for them to call for a ceasefire is Mr Putin’s message… Make no mistake. This is directly connected to what he would like to see.”
“I think some of these protestors are spontaneous and organic and sincere. Some, I think, are connected to Russia and I say that having looked at this for a long time.”
What is going on here? These are Zionist talking points. As the Palestinians say – every Zionist accusation is a confession. In reality, the only entity with really significant spy networks in the US is the Zionist entity.
The FBI and the CIA know this, but they are either unwilling or unable to investigate Israeli espionage networks operating freely in universities, businesses, and government facilities across the United States.
One well-known spy network is the Anti-Defamation League. Created in 1913, it has been spying on Arab Americans since before the creation of the Zionist entity. Throughout this period, the ADL has also closely collaborated with the FBI. Today, the ADL is doing more than attempting to repress free speech on Palestine; it is attempting to have ordinary pro-Palestine activism declared to be “terrorism”.
What they are trying to do is to use a vaguely worded law, which they lobbied for, to entrap Palestine solidarity activism as falling under a legal definition of material support for “terrorism”.
In late October, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and another Zionist group published an open letter urging universities to investigate Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) under the material support statute introduced in 1996.
In addition to accusing SJP of supporting Hamas, they were also, the ADL claimed, “voicing an increasingly radical call for confronting and ‘dismantling’ Zionism on U.S. college campuses.”
Material support for “terrorism” can include giving advice or other speech so long as it is at the behest or in coordination with the “terrorist” group.
But there is also an attempt by the ADL and its allies to claim that routine pro-Palestine activism should be legally understood as support for “terrorism”. They are working to blur the line between independent advocacy, which is allowed, and coordination, which could be terrorism.
It is of little comfort that there is no public evidence any SJP student members coordinated with Hamas or any other armed group. The case law construing the material support statute’s punishment of advocacy is so underdeveloped that there is considerable room for investigative overreach by the FBI.
The line between independent advocacy and material support as speech in coordination with a listed “terrorist” group “remains unelaborated”.
Of course, the ADL is one of the few non-government groups that trains federal law enforcement on counterterrorism. It can use the gap to advance its overreaching conception of the material support statute.
To fight back, all campus groups and university management need to declare that no independent campus speech, no matter how incendiary, serves as a legitimate basis for a material support investigation.
Another group, the Israel on Campus Coalition has been spying on pro-Palestine students for years.
It is linked to Israeli intelligence and strategically targets individual students or faculty on campus in order the “crush” the movement.
ICC was created by Hillel International and the Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation in 2002 to promote “Israel” advocacy on campus.
The money came from the business Charles who at that stage had a “major interest in Bank Hapoalim, Israel’s largest bank, and has extensive interests in oil, real estate, banking and shipping in the US.”
Today, Hillel and the ICC maintain close organizational ties. The ICC continues to provide Hillel professionals with “Israel” advocacy training and support.
Hillel has taken on a more extreme form of Zionism in recent years, sparking a rebellion by some student members who are critical of some aspects of Zionism.
They called their challenge Open Hillel, which says it “promotes pluralism and open discourse on Israel-Palestine in Jewish communities on campus and beyond. We aim to eliminate Hillel International’s Standards of Partnership for Israel Activities, which exclude individuals and groups from the Jewish community on campus on the basis of their views on Israel.” But even calling for a debate on Zionism was too much for the ICC, which engaged in spying on the Jewish student group.
The spy operation is closely co-ordinated with the Zionist regime as was revealed by The Lobby USA.
Here is Lila Greenberg, formerly of AIPAC:
“The ICC pools resources from all of the campus organizations. So that they’re tapped in on all angles.”
According to Jacob Baime, currently the ICC’s chief executive officer, “We built up this massive national political campaign to crush [pro-Palestine activism].”
“It’s modeled on General Stanley McCrystal’s counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq. We’ve copied a lot from that strategy … And one of the pieces was this Operations and Intelligence Brief.”
This is then passed on to the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs.
Baime confirmed that ICC “coordinates with” and “communicates with” the Ministry.
Once collected, data from the ICC’s web of campus spies and high-tech Israeli surveillance equipment then flow to the Anti-Defamation League.
The ADL, is in itself closely in touch with Zionist intelligence agencies but also uses the data to weaponize anti-Semitism in its reports on BDS and Palestine activism.
Among its other activities, the ICC offered to pay any pro-“Israel” student $250 to attend the sparsely attended damp squib of the March for Israel in November 2023 in Washington DC.
Make no mistake, the Zionist regime has agents on campus all over the United States. Everyone must be removed.
UNSC Ceasefire Resolution 2728 is in Place – Where is its Implementation?
By Hamzah Rifaat | Al Mayadeen | April 4, 2024
Despite the passage of UNSC Resolution 2728 calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, “Israel’s” fascist war machinery continues to wreak havoc on Palestinians through the weaponization of starvation, bombardment of hospitals, killing of aid workers, and arresting worshippers in the holy month of Ramadan at the Al Aqsa Mosque. The far-right, irredentist Netanyahu regime is adamant that ethnic cleansing of Palestinians should continue unabated which explains “Israel” brazenly ignoring the resolution and its central tenets. The question then, arises – how impactful would Resolution 2728 be in terms of yielding tangible results? Can such measures hold a genocidal regime to account?
There is reason for pessimism. Whether it is the International Court of Justice ruling or international pressure on Netanyahu to rescind his regime’s senseless killing spree, “Israel” has conveniently rebuffed any prospect of an end to hostilities that is solely perpetrated by its occupation forces against a battered population. It is hence, worthwhile to examine whether the implications of resolution 2728 would be any different and whether its violation could result in action. The resolution makes three demands – One, an immediate ceasefire in the month of Ramadan respected by all parties leading to a lasting, sustainable ceasefire. Two- the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages; Three- urgently expanding the flow of humanitarian assistance to reinforce the protection of the civilians in the Gaza strip. Tabled by ten non-permanent members of the UNSC and passed unanimously by 14-0 with the United States abstaining, its impact so far has been limited.
None of the three conditions have been met by “Israel”. Bombardments and massacres continue in the holy month of Ramadan, while aid workers are targeted and a hostage deal remains elusive due to hubris from the Netanyahu regime. While it is true that the resolution was passed due to the United States abstaining, and it is considered binding despite American claims to the contrary, it has not resulted in “Israel” mitigating violence or creating the necessary conditions for a ceasefire to take place. For example, Netanyahu has been categorical in stating that the calls for a ceasefire are not contingent on the release of hostages, despite the resolution stating the contrary. Further rebuttals came from US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, who referred to it as ‘non-binding’ and clarified that it does not impose obligatory sanctions and actual requirements on people.
The American and Israeli claims lack credibility but also point at how the resolution may not alleviate the suffering of the Palestinians. According to the President of the Center for International Policy in the United States, Nancy Okail, the resolution is more symbolic rather than substantial in its ability to end the war. Okail’s claims come despite the fact that the UNSC resolutions are considered binding as previously emphasized by Chinese Ambassador to the UN, Zhang Jun, and Deputy UN Spokesperson Farhan Haq. Such academic and scholarly skepticism of the resolution’s potential impact however exists despite the fact that Israeli violations can result in a follow-up resolution from the council which addresses the breach and calls for punitive action in the form of sanctions and the authorization of international intervention.
Here lies the catch, however. A punitive resolution imposing sanctions on “Israel” will not be supported by the Biden administration, rendering the prospect of accountability for genocide elusive. Realpolitik sets in, despite institutions seeking to abide by norms, customs and values enshrined in international law. Such realpolitik allows “Israel” to continue with the status quo given American support which has remained unwavering and ironclad despite recently abstaining from the UNSC vote. “Israel” has also previously gotten away with flouting UN resolutions in the past which includes the UNSC calling Israeli settlements on Palestinian lands illegal, (which was passed with 14 votes and the United States abstaining) and in 2023, when the UNGA passed a non-binding resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire which “Israel” also ignored.
What UN resolutions need to address is the genesis of the issue which is the nature of the Israeli state and its expansionist agenda. There is no letup in settlements on occupied land for example with new plans afoot in the West Bank. There are also calls and actions aimed at eliminationism by far-right demagogues ranging from Bezalel Smotrich to Itamar Ben Gvir. There is also no let up in arms supplies from the United States to “Israel” which is providing ammunition to the genocidal regime amid resisting calls of international accountability. All this comes with a failure to address forced displacement, sexual assault, apartheid and evictions that Palestinians face on a daily basis.
While the UNSC resolution 2728 is a promising development, its implementation will be stymied by Israeli adamancy in maintaining the status quo, unwavering American support, and the genocidal nature of the Netanyahu regime.
Freedom Flotilla Coalition to bring aid, international observers to Gaza this month
MEMO | April 3, 2024
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FCC) will sail several ships carrying 5,500 tonnes of humanitarian aid and hundreds of international observers to the besieged Gaza Strip in mid-April, its Spanish chapter Rumbo a Gaza said in a statement today.
Rejecting Israel’s control over the entrance of humanitarian aid, Rumbo a Gaza said it will not allow Israel to inspect the shipments.
“For everyone’s safety and to ensure that aid reaches those who need it, the FFC will be bringing hundreds of international humanitarian observers from many countries and different backgrounds,” the statement said.
The voyage aims to “challenge the current illegal Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip.”
Rumbo a Gaza said it is also sending an emergency mission to help alleviate the “famine in northern Gaza and catastrophic hunger across the Strip as a result of the Israeli government’s deliberate policy to starve the Palestinian people to death.”
The NGO blamed the international community for allowing Israel to control the aid that reaches Gaza, saying it’s like “letting a fox manage a henhouse.” It called for sanctions against Israel and more challenges to its “genocidal policies.”
Rumbo a Gaza said Israel is not complying with the rulings of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered it to stop blocking the entry of humanitarian aid. Israel has long failed to comply “with its responsibilities as an occupying power to ensure the health and well-being of Palestinians,” it added.
“The court’s judgment demands that everyone do their part to stop the ongoing genocide in Gaza … Until our governments take the lead in the urgently needed humanitarian responses, people of conscience and our grassroots organizations must act to stop the genocide in Gaza. When our governments fail, we sail!” said Ismail Moola from a South African organisation that forms part of the FFC.
The organisation’s announcement comes in the wake of Israeli forces killing seven aid workers after striking a World Central Kitchen convoy.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition was formed after the 2010 Freedom Flotilla mission, in which Israeli forces killed ten Turkish civilians and injured 30 others while raiding the flotilla ships in international waters.
The coalition brings together organisations working to end the Israeli blockade of Gaza from countries around the world, including Turkiye, Canada, the US and South Africa.
Israel has killed nearly 33,000 people since it launched its brutal bombing campaign on Gaza in October 2023. The military campaign has led to mass destruction, displacement and man-made famine in Gaza.
Does the Meningococcal Vaccine Used in the U.S. Stop Infection and Transmission of Meningococcal Bacteria?
Your bite-size dose of immunity against vaccine misinformation. Spread the truth.

Injecting Freedom by Aaron Siri | April 2, 2024
Does the meningococcal vaccine (MenACWY) used in the United States stop infection and transmission of meningococcal bacteria?
“Yes” or “No”?
When picking an answer, keep in mind that MenACWY is one of the vaccines mandated to attend secondary school in most U.S. states (and to attend university/college in many states), and the justification for these rights-crushing mandates is to prevent transmission of meningococcal bacteria in the school setting.
According to the CDC, “Rates of meningococcal disease have declined in the United States since the 1990s and remain low today. Much of the decline occurred before the routine use of MenACWY vaccines. … [D]ata suggest MenACWY vaccines have provided protection to those vaccinated, but probably not to the larger, unvaccinated community (population or herd immunity).”
Also consider that according to the CDC, “Protection from MenACWY vaccination wanes in most adolescents within 5 years,” and the CDC does not recommend routine administration of this vaccine for adults. And as for the claimed protection from this vaccine, its clinical trial did not prove it prevented a single case of meningococcal disease (relying instead on antibody levels, not clinical findings).
Screenshots of the relevant portions of the websites linked above (in case they change).
Big Pharma designed WHO’s Global Health Policy from 2000-2009
Corruption and deception, not science, is the foundation of WHO health policy
By Judy Wilyman PhD | Vaccination Decisions | April 1, 2024
“The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth.” – George Orwell, 1984
The history of the GAVI alliance, a board that influences the direction and design of WHO’s global health policies, illustrates how these policies have been directly influenced by industry partners from 2000-2009, and not by an objective board selected by the WHO.
This direct influence was hidden from the public in 2009 when the alliance became known as the Gavi board. At this time its composition and function changed to hide the role that industry had played from 2000-2009 in changing the direction of global health policies to a new focus on vaccine production and global implementation.
History of the Gavi Board:
In 1998 the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) was established by the Head of the World Bank after a meeting with pharmaceutical companies and other agencies. The GAVI alliance was established on the advice of industry because the pharmaceutical companies were claiming that there was no incentive for them to provide vaccines to the developing countries.
This meeting led to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation providing the seed funding of $750 million in 1999 and governments then matched this figure to establish an alliance of private-public partnerships in 2000, to fund the vaccination programmes for all countries.
In 2000 the alliance was launched at the World Economic Forum (WEF), not the World Health Organisation (WHO), and it established a working party to work with the WHO to design the International Health Regulations (IHR), yet it was a body established outside of the WHO’s charter.
At this time all stakeholders in the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) were able to directly influence the design of the WHO’s Global Health Policies through this working party (2000-2009), including the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA). They could attend meetings and present information for policy development.
Other stakeholders in the GAVI at this time included the BMGF, the Rockefeller Foundation, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The influence of these stakeholders led to a new focus on vaccine production and implementation in the WHO’s global health policies.
These global policies were presented to countries in the International Health Regulations (IHR) that came into force in June 2007.
This direct influence of all stakeholders changed in 2009 when the GAVI alliance became known as the GAVI board. Its composition was changed to include only four permanent board members – UNICEF, BMGF, the World Bank and WHO – and other partners would be on a part-time basis.
This change to only four permanent board members, one of which was now the WHO, hides the fact that from 2000-2009 all stakeholders were able to directly influence the design of WHO’s global health policies.
The first recorded meeting of the Gavi board on its website is in 2009. It describes the role of the Gavi board as ‘being responsible for strategic direction and policy-making, oversees the operations of the Vaccine Alliance and monitors programme implementation’ .
This alliance of partners, many of whom profit from vaccines, make donations to the Gavi board and still influence global health policies in a more indirect fashion.
The WHO’s IHR are currently being amended with strong influence from this corporate alliance. If the amendments are approved, the draconian directives implemented during the COVID ‘pandemic’ years, will become binding on every WHO member country, whenever the director of the WHO declares another pandemic. This is removing fundamental human rights and objective scientific evidence from global health policies.
It is time for Australians to make our voices heard to ensure that Australia exits the WHO and joins the World Council for Health to protect both human health and fundamental human rights in all public health policies.
[The information above can be referenced from Ch 3 of my PhD 2015]
Important Information:
- Here is the witness statement from ex-Qantas pilot, Captain Graham Hood, describing that lack of evidence for safety and efficacy that was used by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and the Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, to mandate this mRNA genetically-engineered injection (called a ‘vaccine’) in the Australian population – Ex-Qantas Pilot, Graham Hood, provides a witness statement in the Australian parliament.
- Australian Medical Professional Society (AMPS) presents ‘Too Many Dead’ in Australia, but the Australian government will not investigate and the media does not report these facts.
- Study finds the Majority of Patients with Long COVID were Vaccinated
- Epidemic of Fraud
‘Efforts to Sideline UNRWA Doomed to Fail’: Israel’s Plan for Palestinian Aid Agency Raises Alarms
By Oleg Burunov – Sputnik – 01.04.2024
The Jewish state has yet to verify its allegations that UNRWA – the largest aid organization in Gaza which has been supporting Palestinians since 1950 – was purportedly involved in the October 7, 2023 Hamas incursion.
According to The Guardian, Tel Aviv has demanded that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) be dismantled and its responsibilities and staff transferred to a new entity in exchange for allowing more aid into the Gaza Strip.
The newspaper quoted unnamed sources as saying that the proposal was discussed by Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi and UN officials in Israel, and then handed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Under the plan, 300 to 400 UNRWA staff will be transferred either to an existing UN agency, such as the World Food Program (WFP), or to a newly established organization focused on food distribution in Gaza. More UNRWA staff and assets may eventually be transferred, although it remains unclear who would administer the new entity or provide security for its operations.
UNRWA was not involved in the proposal-related talks because of Israel’s reluctance to interact with the agency amid Tel Aviv’s unverified claims that 12 of the agency’s 13,000 Gaza staff participated in the October 7 Hamas incursion.
Tamara Alrifai, the agency’s director of external relations, warned that Israel’s plan would undermine the effective distribution of aid in Gaza, while a number of UN insiders, as well as other aid agencies and human rights organizations, insisted that the proposal actually aims to eliminate UNRWA.
“If we allow this, it is the slippery slope to us being completely managed directly by the Israelis, and the UN directly being complicit in undermining UNRWA, which is not only the biggest aid provider but also the biggest bastion of anti-extremism in Gaza. We would be playing into so many political agendas if we allowed this to happen,” The Guardian quoted an unnamed UN official as saying.
Alrifai, for her part, stressed that if the World Food Program were to start distributing food in Gaza tomorrow, they would use UNRWA trucks and bring food to UNRWA warehouses and then distribute food in or around UNRWA shelters.
“So they’re going to need at a minimum the same infrastructure that we have, including the human resources,” she added.
The same tone was struck by Chris Gunness, a former UNRWA spokesman, who said, “It is outrageous that UN agencies like WFP and senior UN officials are engaging in discussions about dismantling UNRWA.” He recalled that it is the UN General Assembly “which gives UNRWA its mandate and only the general assembly can change it, not the secretary general and certainly not a single member state.”
Martin Griffiths, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, tweeted that “attempts to sideline UNRWA must stop”.
“UNRWA is the backbone of the humanitarian operation in Gaza. Any effort to distribute aid without them is simply doomed to fail. No other agency has the same reach, experience or community trust needed to do the job,” Griffiths pointed out.
Russia’s UN envoy Vassily Nebenzya, for his part, called for a review of the decision to dismiss UNRWA staff and also stressed the need to restore funding to the agency. He was referring to the fact that several countries, including the US, the UK, Germany and Japan, have suspended funding in response to Israeli accusations of UNRWA’s involvement in the Hamas attack.
Al-Shifa Hospital completely destroyed after Israeli forces withdraw
MEMO | April 1, 2024
The Israeli army withdrew from inside the Al-Shifa Hospital and the surrounding areas west of Gaza City early Monday, leaving scores of casualties and extensive destruction in the hospital and its vicinity, Anadolu news agency reported.
The army fully withdrew from inside the hospital and the surrounding neighbourhoods towards areas south of Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood, southwest of Gaza City, witnesses told Anadolu.
The Israeli forces burned all buildings in the hospital resulting in complete cessation of services, the witnesses added.
They also noted that the army destroyed the specialised surgery building and burned the main reception and emergency building.
Israeli forces also burned the buildings of the kidney and maternity wards, mortuary refrigerators, and cancer and burn facilities, and destroyed the outpatient clinic building, according to the witnesses.
According to Palestinian medical sources, the hospital is now completely out of service and the army destroyed all medical equipment in the complex, operation rooms, and intensive care units.
The witnesses reported that scores of scattered bodies were found in the hospital and in the streets surrounding it.
They explained that the army destroyed the makeshift cemetery established by Palestinians in the facility and removed the corpses from it, scattering them in various areas of the hospital.
They further noted that Israeli forces burned and destroyed many homes and residential buildings in the vicinity of the hospital.
The Israeli army raided the hospital, the largest medical facility in the Gaza Strip that houses thousands of patients and displaced people, on 18 March.
Israeli officers admit that most Gaza fatalities classified as ‘terrorists’ are civilians
MEMO | April 1, 2024
Israeli officers and soldiers have admitted that most of the fatalities classified by the army as “terrorists” during its war on the Gaza Strip are actually civilians, a report said Sunday.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz collected testimonies from officers and soldiers who have fought in Gaza during the war, which has been ongoing since Oct. 7, 2023.
“The Israeli army says 9,000 terrorists have been killed since the Gaza war began,” the report said.
Israeli officials and soldiers, however, told Haaretz that “these are often civilians whose only crime was to cross an invisible line drawn by the Israeli army.”
“We were explicitly told that even if a suspect runs into a building with people in it, we should fire at the building and kill the terrorist, even if other people are hurt,” one soldier told the newspaper.
According to the testimonies of the officers and soldiers, the Israeli army fires at anyone entering the “kill zone” it has defined, whether armed or civilians.
A reserve officer said that “in practice, a terrorist is anyone the army has killed in the areas in which its forces operate.”
“They ask you how many, and I give a number based on what we see and understand on the ground, and we move on. It’s not that we invent bodies, but no one can determine with certainty who is a terrorist and who was hit after entering the combat zone of an Israeli force,” he added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing severe criticism within Israel for failing to achieve the goals of the war on Gaza, particularly in eliminating the Palestinian group Hamas and returning Israeli hostages.




If you regard the United States as perhaps flawed but overall a force for good in the world . . .