Israel’s creation and exploitation of Palestinian human shields
By Ramona Wadi | MEMO | August 17, 2024
How many times have Israeli officials justified massacring Palestinian civilians because Hamas uses them as human shields? Israeli media has now reported the opposite – the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) using Palestinian civilians as human shields in areas slated for incursion. “It is better that they explode and not the soldiers,” an Israeli soldier was told by an IDF commander. According to testimonies given to Haaretz by soldiers, senior IDF staff are aware of the practice.
In Israeli narratives of Palestinian human shields, the context is completely stripped away. There is no mention of the fact that Gaza is blockaded, that people have no way out and that a densely populated strip of land is home to both civilians and the resistance movement, including their weapons. Israel using the term “human shields” to describe Hamas’s limitations in terms of resistance in Gaza is not only misleading, but also completely wrong. It is Israeli colonial violence that has created Palestinian human shields.
After creating Palestinian human shields, Israel found a way to use them. First, to build its narrative justifying each aggression against Gaza. In the genocide, Israel used Palestinian human shields to save the lives of soldiers tasked with killing Palestinians in Gaza.
While Israel’s colonial narrative deems Hamas a terror group, it is interesting to note how the Israeli media specified that the human shields used by the IDF “are not terror suspects”. The phrase itself speaks volumes about Israel’s genocidal intent and action in Gaza – every Palestinian is a target, not just Hamas. Palestinian civilians, Israeli media reported: “Are detained specifically to be sent into buildings and tunnels that troops believe may be booby-trapped.” Briefly, the IDF will explore any avenue to kill Palestinians in one way or another, and human shields make for convenient collateral damage for Israel, which doesn’t even need to justify its atrocities, not even in genocide, thanks to the impunity the international community bestowed upon the settler-colonial entity.
“These are just reports at this point,” US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel stated in reply to reporters’ questions about Israel using Palestinian civilians as human shields. Yet the Haaretz report quotes Israeli soldiers confirming the IDF’s knowledge, which points to a practice legitimised by Israeli military officials.
Patel, however, found it pertinent to mention the Israeli propaganda, which states Hamas uses civilian infrastructure to operate from, as well as using civilians as human shields. “That is not hyperbole,” he added. There has never been greater hyperbole than Israel’s colonial narratives unless we are speaking about the US that disseminates hyperbole as truth.
Just a day prior to Haaretz’s report, Ynet News ran an article justifying Israel’s killing of civilians taking shelter in schools by blaming Hamas for using the premises and, therefore, civilians as human shields, quoting IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari. “Israel views civilian casualties as a tragedy, while Hamas sees them as a strategy,” Hagari stated.
Israel’s use of Palestinian human shields as part of its military strategy clearly contradicts Hagari’s words and Netanyahu’s narrative. The only tragedy for Israel is the exposure of its crimes. Although with allies such as the US, which constructs its own definitions of what constitutes truth and hyperbole, tragedy is quickly exploited for PR opportunities, while Palestinian civilians – human shields created by Israel – decay in the genocide the world has learnt to accept.
Gaza Ceasefire Talks in Doha Concluded: New Proposal Said to Be on Table
Al-Manar | August 16, 2024
Two days of negotiations in Doha failed to end Gaza woe caused by a Zionist genocidal war ongoing for the 315th consecutive day despite the various political statements and media reports which claim a remarkable progress in this regard.
Political and security officials representing Qatar, Egypt, US and ‘Israel’ met amid the absence of Hamas representatives in order to mull a US truce proposal.
The U.S. presented a new bridging proposal to Israel and Hamas on Friday in an effort to close the remaining gaps in the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, the U.S., Qatar and Egypt claimed in a joint statement.
US President Joe Biden told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday that “we are closer to a deal than we have ever been,” adding he doesn’t want “to jinx” it but “we might have something there.” Biden said, “we are not there yet but we are closer than we were three days ago.”
Biden also spoke on the phone with the Emir of Qatar and the President of Egypt on Friday about the deal.
The U.S., Qatar and Egypt said in the statement that the talks over the last two days in Doha “were serious and constructive and were conducted in a positive atmosphere.”
“The U.S. with support from Egypt and Qatar, presented to both parties a bridging proposal that is consistent with the principles laid out by President Biden on May 31, 2024 and Security Council Resolution No. 2735,” they said.
“This proposal builds on areas of agreement over the past week, and bridges remaining gaps in the manner that allows for a swift implementation of the deal.”
A source with knowledge of the talks told Axios : “We got more progress over the last two days than the last six weeks combined.”
Working teams from the U.S., Qatar, Egypt and Israel will continue technical work over the coming days on the details of implementation of the deal, the statement said.
According to the statement, the issues that still need to be concluded are the arrangements for extensive humanitarian provisions to Gaza and the specifics relating to the hostages and Palestinian prisoners who will be released as part of the deal.
Another summit between the senior mediators and negotiators — CIA director Bill Burns, the Qatari prime minister, director of the Israeli Mossad and the Egyptian head of intelligence — will take place in Cairo before the end of next week “with the aim to conclude the deal under the terms put forward today,” the statement said.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to travel to the region on the weekend to continue pushing for a deal, sources briefed on the trip said.
On Sunday, Blinken is expected to land in Israel and meet Prime Minister Netanyahu on Monday, the Israeli Prime Minister’s office said.
Israeli evacuation orders shut 10 wells, worsening water crisis in Gaza
MEMO | August 17, 2024
The new Israeli evacuation orders for areas in eastern Gaza have resulted in the shutdown of 10 water wells, Deir al-Balah Municipality in the central Gaza Strip announced on Saturday, Anadolu reports.
Ismail Sarsour, head of the municipality’s Emergency Committee, told Anadolu : “The new Israeli evacuation orders for eastern Deir al-Balah have effectively taken 10 out of 19 wells out of service.”
“Access to three other wells west of Salah al-Din Street has become hazardous,” Sarsour stated.
He emphasized that the water situation in Deir al-Balah will become extremely dire in the coming days, especially with the shutdown of the eastern wells, which serve as a critical water supply for areas west of Salah al-Din Street, including the city center.
Deir al-Balah is currently home to hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians, particularly in the city center and its western areas.
Residents in the Gaza Strip are already facing significant challenges in accessing potable water, often traveling long distances to secure just a few liters. In various parts of the strip, displaced people are rationing drinking water in fear of future shortages.
According to the Government Media Office in Gaza, the ongoing Israeli war has displaced nearly 2 million people out of a total population of 2.3 million.
The Israeli army issued immediate evacuation orders on Saturday for residents of Deir al-Balah.
On Tuesday, the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) reported that approximately 84% of Gaza’s territory has been under evacuation orders since Oct. 7.
Israel’s continued onslaught on Gaza has drawn international condemnation for violating a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire.
The ongoing war has resulted in over 40,000 Palestinian deaths and has left vast areas of Gaza in ruins, exacerbated by a severe blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.
Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.
Senior UK diplomat resigns over London’s ‘complicity’ in Gaza war crimes
The Cradle | August 17, 2024
Mark Smith, the head of the Africa Programmes and Expertise Department and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO), formally resigned on 16 August, citing London’s continued arms sales to Israel.
In a letter titled “FCDO complicity in War Crimes,” Smith – an expert on the legality of UK arms sales – laments ending his long diplomatic career “in the knowledge that this Department may be complicit in War Crimes.”
“As [a] former penholder on the arms exports licensing assessment in [the Middle East and North Africa Department] MENAD, I am a subject matter expert in the domain of armed sales policy. Each day we witness clear and unquestionable examples of War Crimes and breaches of International Humanitarian Law in Gaza perpetrated by the State of Israel,” Smith writes.
“Senior members of the Israeli government and military have expressed open genocidal intent, Israeli soldiers take videos, deliberately burning destroying, and looting civilian property and openly admit to the rape and torture of prisoners,” the letter continues.
He also highlights that Israel’s wholesale destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure, their continued restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid, plus attacks on ambulances, schools, and hospitals all constitute war crimes.
“There is no justification for the UK’s continued arms sales to Israel yet somehow it continues. I have raised this at every level in the organization including through an official whistle-blowing investigation and received nothing more than ‘thank you we have noted your concerns.’”
Smith also criticizes UK authorities for misrepresenting London’s arms export licensing regimes as “robust and transparent,” saying, “This is the opposite of the truth.”
Although falling well behind Israel’s top suppliers of deadly armament – the US and Germany – the UK granted more than 100 weapon export licenses to Tel Aviv between 7 October and the end of May.
Between 2008 and the end of 2023, London granted export licenses for arms deals to Israel worth 576 million pounds ($740m).
Earlier this month, British news outlets reported that the new Labour government “[appears] to have suspended the processing of arms export licenses for sales to Israel pending the completion of a wider government review into the issue.”
The suspension is reportedly part of a review “of the risk of weapons sales to Israel in light of allegations of breaches of humanitarian law in the Gaza conflict.”
Israel expects US and other allies to help bomb Iran
RT | August 17, 2024
Israel’s Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, has stated that his country expects not only the United States but also its allies, including Britain and France, to assist in offensive operations against Tehran in the event of direct conflict.
Katz made these comments during a meeting with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy and French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourne in Jerusalem on Friday, according to a Hebrew-language statement from his office.
”Israel expects France and Britain to publicly clarify to Iran that it is unacceptable for it to attack Israel, and that if Iran attacks, the US-led coalition will join Israel not only in defense but also in an attack against significant targets in Iran,” the statement said, as cited by the Times of Israel.
Katz reiterated in a post on X that he made it “clear” to his colleagues that they should publicly announce their countries “will stand with Israel not only in defense but also in striking targets in Iran.”
The French and British diplomats downplayed these assertions, with Sejourne telling reporters that it would be “inappropriate” to discuss any “retaliation or preparation for an Israeli retaliation” amid diplomatic efforts to negotiate a deal to end the Gaza war. A joint French-British statement following the meeting also made no mention of any anti-Iran coalitions.
“We have urged Iran and its proxies to stand down the ongoing threats of military attack against Israel. We have also stressed to all parties that the spiral of escalating reprisals must end,” they said in their only reference to Tehran.
The meeting in Jerusalem occurred shortly before the latest round of indirect ceasefire talks ended without breakthroughs, though there were promises to return to the negotiating table next week. The war between Israel and Hamas has dragged on for 10 months since the militant group staged a deadly incursion, resulting in approximately 1,100 deaths and around 200 hostages. The massive Israeli response has claimed over 40,000 Palestinian lives, according to Gaza health officials.
The risk of wider conflict in the Middle East was drastically exacerbated by the assassination of Hamas Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh, who served as the Palestinian armed group’s lead negotiator in indirect talks with Israel. He was killed in Tehran on June 31, hours after attending the inauguration of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Iran promised to inflict a “harsh punishment” on Israel, which has neither acknowledged nor denied any involvement in the killing.
The US has deployed additional warships and a submarine to the Middle East to protect the Jewish state from potential attacks, but it remains unclear whether Washington has agreed to any plans to bomb Iran.
In April, when Iran fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel in retaliation for the bombing of its embassy in Damascus, US fighter jets and warships helped intercept many of the incoming projectiles. However, this was a purely defensive operation, with no direct counterstrike on targets inside Iran.
Norway closes its Palestine office after Israel revokes status of diplomats
Press TV – August 16, 2024
Norway has announced the closure of its Representative Office in al-Ram, Palestine, after Israel’s “extreme” decision to revoke the diplomatic status of several Norwegian diplomats.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said it was an “extreme and unreasonable” decision made by the regime.
“This decision seeks to target the Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority and all those who defend international law, the two-state solution and the Palestinians’ legitimate right to self-determination.”
The minister vowed that his country will continue to support the Palestinian people “with full force.”
“We will do our utmost to ensure that this does not affect our work for Palestine and for a viable Palestinian state. Our commitment will continue with full force.”
He noted that the Israeli decision obviously “has consequences for our work in Palestine.”
“It affects our locally employed staff. Many of them have worked at the representative office for several years. It also affects our diplomats and their families. We are now fully focused on how to safeguard our employees and our work in the best possible way,” Eide said.
Earlier this month, Israel revoked the diplomatic status of eight Norwegian diplomats who had been working in Norway’s representative office to the Palestinian Authority.
Ties between Oslo and Tel Aviv have been deteriorating since Norway recognized the state of Palestine in May.
More than two-thirds of the United Nations, approximately 140 countries, already recognize a Palestinian state.
Hezbollah reveals massive underground base, reminds Israel retaliation imminent
The Cradle | August 16, 2024
Hezbollah released a video on 16 August showcasing a highly secretive underground facility, which serves as a missile storage and launch site.
The video is titled “Our mountains are our storage sites,” indicating that the underground facility is part of Hezbollah’s large and sophisticated tunnel network built underneath southern Lebanon’s mountainous terrain.
The facility is named Imad-4, after the late Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh, who was assassinated by Israel in 2008.
The video starts by showing motorcycles and trucks equipped with missile launch pads moving through the facility’s long tunnels. Later, one of the trucks is seen positioning to fire missiles out of the facility as a tunnel entrance opens up.
Al Mayadeen said on Friday that the facility’s name, Imad-4, indicates that other sites like it exist.
It sends the message that Hezbollah “is not afraid to go to war, and is prepared for it if [Israel] decides to go too far in escalation and aggression,” the outlet wrote.
It also serves as the “obituary” of Israel’s “battle between wars,” the campaign of airstrikes on Syria which aims to stifle the flow of weapons to Hezbollah.
“The capabilities of the Islamic Resistance, especially missiles, are fully prepared to defend Lebanon … the secrecy of the site allows Hezbollah’s missile capabilities to be immune from any preemptive Israeli strikes,” as well as from Israeli espionage and intelligence warfare, according to Al Mayadeen.
The video is a reminder that “even if the retaliation for the targeting of the southern suburbs and the assassination of martyr Fuad Shukr, and the killing of civilians is delayed for several reasons, it will surely come,” Al Mayadeen went on to say.
In the video, excerpts from speeches by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah are heard. “Our next battle with Israel will span across the entirety of occupied Palestine,” Nasrallah is heard saying in the clip.
Hebrew newspaper Maariv referred to the video as Hezbollah’s “psychological pressure” on Israel.
Israeli journalist for the Ynet news site, Lior Ben Ari, called the video “disturbing” and said it should be “examined in depth.”
“The video revealed an underground facility called “Emad 4” that launches missiles underground, but not only. The video reveals huge tunnels, lit, equipped with computers, which allow motorcycles and trucks to pass easily. Did someone say Philadelphi [Corridor]?” he added sarcastically, referring to Hamas’ tunnel network under the Gaza–Egypt border, seemingly indicating that the Hezbollah facility is much more sophisticated.
Hezbollah is known to have a large and advanced secretive network of tunnels under south Lebanon.
In February, French newspaper Liberation reported that the network is remarkably sophisticated, spanning hundreds of kilometers and even reaching into Syria.
Dr Andreas Krieg, an assistant professor at King’s College London, told The Cradle last month: “There are different types of tunnels: surface-level tunnels used for moving operatives and materials, which can be destroyed from the air; and deeper, concrete-reinforced tunnels that serve as command centers and armories. The deeper tunnels, some up to 60 meters underground, are almost impervious to Israeli airstrikes and were built with support from North Korea and Iran.”
These tunnels constituted a major obstacle for Israel in the 2006 war.
The new video comes as Tel Aviv is in high anticipation over Hezbollah’s promised retaliation to the killing of top commander Fuad Shukr and several civilians, including children, in Beirut late last month – which was followed by the assassination of Hamas chief and lead negotiator Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
The Islamic Republic has also promised to retaliate to Haniyeh’s assassination.
Hezbollah unveils underground Imad 4 missile facility
Al Mayadeen | August 16, 2024
Hezbollah, the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon, has released a new video showcasing a sophisticated underground facility and an extensive tunnel network, complete with missile launchpads.
The video titled “Our Mountains, Our Strongholds” features the Imad 4 facility, which highlights the Resistance’s missile capabilities.
The footage reveals Hezbollah freedom fighters inside a sophisticated underground complex, with visible signs marking the facility as Imad 4, and displaying the Quranic verse: “Prepare against them whatever you can of [military] power.”
The video also shows missile trucks moving from within the facility toward a blast door, preparing them for launch.
In the video excerpts from a speech by Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah were used, during which he asserts that “the resistance is stronger than ever since its inception in the region.”
Al Mayadeen’s sources revealed that Imad 4 features a state-of-the-art technical system and a secure communication network that links it to the outside world, allowing it to receive launch orders within minutes, adding that the network’s communications are said to be highly encrypted for added security.
The sources also disclosed that the facility is equipped with a comprehensive logistics team, as well as dedicated construction, security, and backup launch teams. These teams operate based on pre-determined coordinates for launching operations.
In addition, the facility, according to exclusive sources, is outfitted with a field hospital and enough supplies to sustain its occupants for a period ranging from eight months to a year.
The same sources also noted that the Resistance maintains larger, more critical facilities designed to accommodate larger and heavier rockets, including precision missiles.
It is worth noting that the video comes shortly after US special envoy Amos Hochstein arrived in Beirut, warning that time is running out to secure a Gaza ceasefire and a deal for the release of Israeli captives, which could also bring an end to the situation on the Lebanese-Palestinian borders.
Concurrently, parties involved in the Doha negotiations are set to continue their meetings on Friday, as the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza nears its 11-month mark.
Why the Israelis are incapable of implementing a ceasefire
By Robert Inlakesh | Al Mayadeen | August 16, 2024
A lot of value has again been placed upon useless ceasefire negotiations supposedly aimed at ending the war in Gaza, despite Hamas having rejected involvement in the hamster wheel process that the US is telling the world represents a serious diplomatic effort. In reality, a regional conflict has already been opened, the pre-October 7 world will never return and the future of the Zionist Entity is to remain in a state of perpetual war.
Let’s be clear, if the US government wanted a ceasefire, it would have already happened or will be announced suddenly. The framework is already there for it, a deal could be implemented and every Israeli held in Gaza would eventually be exchanged for a large sum of Palestinian detainees. We need not go back far to demonstrate that such a ceasefire and prisoner exchange is possible, a smaller truce and prisoner swap occurred in November of last year which proved that Hamas would implement such an agreement. Yet, neither the US nor their Israeli allies seek a meaningful ceasefire and only play with this notion for political purposes.
Eventually there will need to be a ceasefire in Gaza, likely following a large escalation across the West Asia region, but even in the event that this takes place sooner rather than later, the war will continue elsewhere.
The level of genocidal extremism that is present at every level of Israeli society is not ignorable. We are no longer talking about the intelligent politicians, dog whistles and sanitized rhetoric of the past, this is raw and brazen ethno-supremacy. Itamar Ben Gvir is the Israeli Police Minister and Bezalel Smotrich is the entity’s finance minister, they aren’t some kind of fringe elements of the settler movement in the West Bank, they directly control the regime’s policy.
There are no notable Israeli political forces that oppose the war in Gaza and no notable anti-war demonstrations at all from Jewish Israelis, even the 98-Palestinians living in the occupied territories are often too intimidated to dare hold demonstrations, despite their heartache at what is happening in Gaza. The demonstrations that frequently take place against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, are motivated out of concern for the Israeli captives held in Gaza and the soldiers dying at the hands of the resistance, there is no concern for Palestinian civilians.
Western liberals have presented the argument that Israelis are fed up with Netanyahu and that he would be pushed out of power suddenly if there was an election, in order to suggest that somehow there is a voice of reason opposed to the current leadership. This is based upon outdated polls, the latest of which now suggest that the Israeli Premier currently remains the most popular politician and that despite projections that he couldn’t secure a coalition, he would still outperform his opposition. Yet this is irrelevant, as the issue that many Israelis have with Benjamin Netanyahu is not that he is waging a genocidal war that is slaughtering tens of thousands of children. We know this because all the polls suggest that the overwhelming majority of the Zionist public believe that enough or not enough force is being used in the Gaza Strip, while the number of those who believe that too much force has been used remains in the low single digits (percentage wise).
Why point this out? Because the Zionist dream has been broken on every level. We are now well past the idea of an Israeli “deterrence capacity”, let alone expansionism, it has become apparent to anyone with eyes that the Zionist regime has no way of dealing with the threats posed from Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Iran and Iraq, besides opening up a wider regional war. The Zionist regime’s military has failed in the Gaza Strip to defeat the Palestinian resistance and is now left with no way out other than a wider regional war or ceasefire.
If we look at the state of the Israeli economy, tourism is dead, 46,000 businesses have declared bankruptcy, imports and exports have plummeted, investors are withdrawing, multi-billion dollar projects are falling through, the Port of Eilat has gone bust, the value of the Shekel has fallen and the list goes on. In the north of occupied Palestine, industry is dead, settlements have been evacuated and were/are pummeled with missiles, drones and rockets, while over 100,000 displaced have nowhere to turn.
The Israeli military is exhausted and has scattered its soldiers across the fronts in Gaza, the West Bank and northern occupied Palestine, while they deal with a lack of tanks and armored personnel carriers in the event that war in the north opens up. Their ill-trained, ill-disciplined and overworked soldiers are clearly incapable of fighting the likes of Hezbollah.
All of this is obvious and this weakness has brought out the very worst in Israelis that had already adopted an apartheid ideology. Deep down, they all would like to return to the delusional racist bubble world in which they lived prior to October 7, but it isn’t possible. The world will never forget what has been done and the survivors will never abandon their struggle for self-determination.
The idea that their racist settler colony can exist in prosperity at the expense of the entire region is under threat, an existential threat, and with this, so too is American hegemony. This is why neither Washington nor Tel Aviv will back down from their position of pursuing “victory”. For Benjamin Netanyahu personally, he is surrounded by a coalition of extremist nut jobs that he helped nurture into power, a project that began in 2005. Behind him also is an Israeli public that wants their captives returned and may apply some pressure in that regard, but also wants to see Gaza wiped off of the map for good. So there is no incentive for him to end the war in Gaza from the US or domestically, since the resistance forces across the region are the only ones that can apply real pressure.
If you want a good indication of how the Israeli society thinks, following the declaration by International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, that he was calling for an arrest warrant against the Israeli premier, Netanyahu’s support surged in the polls at the time. Or, look at the fact that it was completely acceptable for the issue of gang-raping a defenseless Palestinian prisoner, who died from his wounds and was held without a charge, to be debated in the Israeli Knesset, with a member of Netanyahu’s Likud Party passionately defending the gang-rapists. One of the gang-rapists was even invited on Israeli television to advocate for the actions committed by him and follow soldiers, despite there being a video that showed the horrifying incident. There were even protests that broke out in favor of 10 soldiers accused of involvement in the case of gang-rape, who Ben-Gvir called heroes, and an Israeli legal representative organisation for four of the accused argued that the gang-rape occurred in self defense.
Whether we look at the Israeli political elite, military, police, intelligence, society or media, we see genocidal mania. This is because their narcissistic supremacist ideology is collapsing before their very eyes, they are beginning to realize that maintaining apartheid is no longer viable.
The opportunity for the Israelis to implement the only solution that would have enabled them to continue their existence has passed. If the Zionist regime was actually serious about the Oslo Accords and simply accepted international law as the consensus for a so-called two-state solution, they could have perhaps proceeded and actually maintained their regime. However, allowing the Palestinian people to gain access to basic human rights in only 22% of historic Palestine was not possible for them under their racist expansionist ideology.
We are now reaching the final phase of this settler colonial project and the Israelis have come to the realization that maintaining their ethno-supremacist regime of absolute privilege will mean exterminating and ethnically cleansing everyone in their way. They are so immersed in their own collective form of narcissism, in which they view themselves as both the victim and hero of the story, that stopping now is impossible. This is also why Israeli society is split down the middle on the question of what kind of ethno-supremacist regime they seek: whether that will be a secular or religious regime going forward.
Therefore, with full US backing they are slowly committing national suicide. This may be a process that is somewhat delayed if a ceasefire is reached in Gaza that prevents the immediate end of the regime by military means, but the war will continue in other ways. The West Bank will likely end up becoming their punching bag until they can again escalate elsewhere and the only promise that can be made to their own people is a future of perpetual war.
Palestinian detainee reveals that Israeli occupation forces used him as a human shield for 40 days
Palestinian Information Center – August 15, 2024
RAMALLAH – The testimony of a Palestinian detainee revealed that Israeli occupation forces (IOF) used him and another prisoner as human shields for 40 days in Gaza.
The Palestinian Prisoner Affairs Authority and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement on Thursday that the IOF forced the Palestinian detainee to wear a military uniform, placed a camera on him, and accompanied him with a drone.
The Authority and the Society confirmed that if the prisoner refused to be used as a human shield, he would be subjected to brutal beatings, deprived of food and basic needs, in addition to being shot and prevented from receiving medical treatment.
The joint statement presented the testimony of the 21-year-old Gaza youth “M.D.,” who was used by the IOF as a human shield for more than 40 days, along with another detainee who was with him.
The same source said that the Palestinian young man, who was working at the Kerm Abu Salem crossing, was subjected to acts of torture, deliberate humiliation and assault, starvation, terrorism and threats, after he and a group of citizens were arrested by the IOF soldiers last June and detained between the Palestinian-Egyptian borders and Rafah.
According to the testimony of the Gaza youth, the IOF used him as a human shield on a daily basis, through several methods, such as placing him at the front of IOF military vehicles, with his hands and feet tied, and forcing him to wear the Israeli military uniform and attaching a camera to his body.
According to the horrifying testimony of the young man, if he refused to go along with the IOF orders, he was subjected to beatings, and added that a drone was used to guide him during his movements. During his detention, the young man confirmed that the IOF soldiers did not provide him with enough food, deprived him of using the bathroom or taking a shower, and this continued throughout his detention period, until he was shot in the chest on the 6th of August, and he remained without treatment for about half an hour.
The Palestinian young man found himself the next day in the Israeli Soroka hospital, where he stayed for 3 days, until he was released on the 9th of August through the Kerm Abu Salem crossing, and he was then transported by ambulance to the Nasser Medical Hospital. The tests showed that the injury caused him a fracture in his chest and another injury in his lung, and he still needs urgent treatment.
For their part, the two bodies concerned with the affairs of Palestinian prisoners considered that the young man from Gaza was exposed to a complex and horrific war crime, starting from his arrest and using him as a human shield throughout this period, and torturing and humiliating him, and then injuring him, and releasing him from the hospital without completing his treatment.
The two bodies once again called on the international human rights institutions to regain their necessary and required role in the face of the ongoing genocide war and the systematic crimes committed by Israel against prisoners and detainees, and to assume their necessary responsibilities, and stressed the need to overcome the horrific state of impotence that surrounds their role, and to go beyond this role that is limited only to monitoring crimes and violations and issuing positions and statements, to a level that leads to holding Israel and its supporters accountable.
International humanitarian law and the 1949 Geneva Convention prohibit armies from using civilians as human shields, and the International Criminal Court considers this a war crime.
Israel has been continuously waging its devastating war on the Gaza Strip for more than 10 months, which has so far resulted in more than 40,000 martyrs and more than 92,000 injuries, mostly women and children, in addition to massive destruction of vital facilities, residential buildings, and an exacerbating famine in the besieged Strip.
Israel continues its war despite two resolutions from the UN Security Council to stop it immediately, and orders from the International Court of Justice to end the invasion of Rafah and take measures to prevent genocide and improve the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Israeli economy in chaos in anticipation of Iran, Hezbollah responses
Al Mayadeen | August 15, 2024
The Israeli occupation’s anticipation of Hezbollah and Iranian response to Israeli assassinations carried out in late July has pushed the regime into “economic chaos”, Israeli media outlets reported.
The economic affairs commentator for Israeli broadcaster Channel 13 underlined that the past two weeks have “exhausted” the Israeli market. Several economic events were canceled in Israeli-occupied territories, while others were reduced due to the state of anxiety experienced among settlers.
Economic activities have also been affected by the operational measures issued by Israeli authorities, in preparation for retaliatory strikes by Hezbollah and Iran.
The Israeli commentator highlighted the significant losses that affected the Israeli tourism sector, largely linked to international flight cancellations to Israeli-occupied airports. An increasing number of Israeli settlers have been stranded in other countries due to the wide-scale cancelation of flights. The possibilities of responses launched by the Axis of Resistance have also impacted hotels and other hospitality and tourism businesses in the northern Israeli-occupied territories, which may be directly affected by future strikes.
The commentator warned that these challenging conditions and operational measures, which are also impacting the medical and energy sectors, could persist well into September.
If the wait continues into next month, the Israeli educational sector will also be severely affected by operational measures, forcing institutions to “maneuver within combat scenarios.”

