Archiv: Blockaden / Belagerungen / blockades / sieges


13.09.2024 - 19:20 [ Jonathan Cook ]

How the war on Gaza exposed Israeli and western fascism

Just one example: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the Palestinians as “Amalek” – a reference to a biblical story well known to every Israeli schoolchild, in which the Israelites are ordered by God to wipe an entire people, including their children and livestock, off the face of the earth.

Anyone engaged on social media will have faced a battery of similarly genocidal statements from mostly anonymous supporters of Israel.

Those genocide cheerleaders recently gained a face – two, in fact. Video clips of two Israelis, podcasting in English under the name “Two Nice Jewish Boys”, have gone viral, showing the pair calling for the extermination of every last Palestinian man, woman and child.

One of the podcasters said that “zero people in Israel” care whether a polio outbreak caused by Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s water, sewage and heath facilities ends up killing babies, noting that Israel’s agreement to a vaccination campaign is driven purely by public relations needs.

In another clip, the podcasters agree that Palestinian hostages in Israeli prisons deserve to be “executed by shoving too large of an object up their butts”.

They also make clear that they would not hesitate to press a genocide button to wipe out the Palestinian people: “If you gave me a button to just erase Gaza – every single living being in Gaza would no longer be living tomorrow – I would press it in a second … And I think most Israelis would. They wouldn’t talk about it like I am, they wouldn’t say ‘I pressed it’, but they would press it.”

13.09.2024 - 19:05 [ United Nations ]

Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri

112. The General Assembly should recognize that:

(a) Every instance of mass starvation is a form of genocide or extermination, and every instance of starving an individual is torture;
(b) The right to be free from hunger means the right to be free from oppression, exploitation and occupation;
(c) The Palestinian people’s right to return to Palestine is a precondition to fulfil their right to food and food sovereignty;
(d) Israel has engaged in an intentional starvation campaign against the Palestinian people which evidences genocide and extermination.

13.09.2024 - 18:40 [ Michael Fakhri / X.com ]

How was Isr. able to starve 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza at unprecedented speed and intensity? I answer this question in my new report. I‘ll be discussing my report with the @UN General Assembly on Friday, October 18.

09.09.2024 - 13:06 [ genocide.news ]

Israel calls Palestinians “human animals” before cutting off fuel, electricity, food and water to Gaza, an open air prison enslaving millions

(October 17, 2023)

In an announcement – watch below – Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told Channel 12 that starving the roughly two million people who live in the Gaza Strip is necessary to ensure Israel’s “existence in the region.”

“It will take many weeks,” Gallant said about the deprivation operation. “There will be steps here that have never been seen before.”

“There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel,” he further added. “We are fighting human animals and we will act accordingly.

08.09.2024 - 14:59 [ Jordan Times ]

PSD says King Hussein Bridge closed by other side

An Israeli military statement was quoted by AFP as saying that the driver „exited the truck and opened fire at Israeli security forces operating at the bridge.“

The driver was shot dead by forces, the military added.
Jordanian Ministry of Interior said that the incident is under investigation.

The King Hussein Bridge crossing is the only international gateway for Palestinians from the West Bank that does not require entering Israel, which has occupied the territory since 1967.

29.08.2024 - 18:00 [ Middle East Eye ]

Electricity and water cut off for 48 hours in Jenin

„The situation is really, really bad. Food in out refrigerators has gone bad so we are forced to leave Jenin and take shelter with relatives outside the city.“

The resident said there was no internet or event the ability to charge phones. „It feels like Gaza‘s conditions,“ they added.

04.05.2024 - 08:12 [ Middle East Eye ]

Egyptian militia leader Organi unveils plans for ‘Sisi City’ at Israel border

Prior to merging it with the newly declared union, Organi led the Union of Sinai Tribes (UST), a pro-government paramilitary group set up in 2015 to support the Egyptian army in its battles against a local offshoot of the Islamic State (IS). The UST’s mission in Sinai has been unclear since the IS-affiliate group known as the Sinai Province was officially defeated in 2022.

The bloody, 10-year campaign in the Sinai has almost completely razed Rafah and uprooted thousands of members of the indigenous Bedouin population, leaving most towns and villages pulverised.

04.05.2024 - 07:55 [ Middle East Eye ]

Egypt detains ten pro-Palestine protesters on charges of ‚spreading fake news‘

(04.04.2024)

Wednesday’s demonstration was held in front of the Journalists‘ Syndicate in Cairo, where dozens of journalists and activists gathered to protest against the ongoing Israeli onslaught on Gaza.

Activists shared videos of one of the protesters chanting against business tycoon and government ally Ibrahim al-Organi, whose companies have been charging Palestinians thousands of dollars to exit Gaza.

01.05.2024 - 08:37 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

Police Violence as Thousands in Tel Aviv Demand End of War and Deal with Hamas

Thousands protested in Tel Aviv on Monday night, April 29, in a rally that later descended into clashes with police forces, arrests, and police violence toward protesters and relatives of hostages. The rally reached the King George Street near of the ruling Likud party’s headquarters, where police used a water cannon and mounted cops to disperse the protest.

Cops shoved Ilana Gritzewsky, Matan Zangauker’s partner who was kidnapped on October 7 and released in the November deal. Early protesters blocked the army headquarters entrance at Begin Street and Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan, addressed Netanyahu, saying he had to choose between bringing the hostages home and keeping intact his government over the objections of racist ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who vehemently oppose a hostage deal that would require a ceasefire. Einav Zangauker told Ynet that cops had pushed her to the ground at the Likud headquarters and that the police used excessive force and sent in disproportionate forces to disperse the crowd, in what she called “stepped-up violence.”

29.04.2024 - 09:31 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

רבבות הפגינו ברחבי הארץ נגד הממשלה ולהשבת החטופים; אלפים בנצרת קראו לשים קץ למלחמה ולכיבוש

רבבות הפגינו אמש (מוצ“ש) נגד הממשלה ולמען השבת החטופים בתל אביב, ירושלים, קיסריה, חיפה, באר שבע ועשרות מוקדים נוספים. בשעות הבוקר נערכה בצרת הפגנת אלפים נגד המלחמה והכיבוש ולציון ה-1 במאי. ההפגנה המרכזית בקריאה לבחירות נערכה בצומת קפלן בתל אביב ובמקביל התקיימה ברחבת מוזיאון תל אביב העצרת השבועית של מטה משפחות החטופים. בנוסף התקיימה הפגנה של בני משפחות חטופים נגד ממשלת הימין מול שער בגין בקריה.

בסיום ההפגנה בתל אביב עשרות מוחים יצאו לצעדה לכיוון גשר יהודית, והמשטרה חסמה מיוזמתה את איילון דרום. מטה משפחות החטופים מסר כי אילה מצגר, כלתו של החטוף יורם מצגר, עוכבה לחקירה לאחר שהדליקה לפיד בהפגנה. מאוחר יותר מפגינים, בהם בני משפחה של חטופים, חסמו את איילון צפון סמוך למחלף קק“ל והדליקו כתובת אש עם המילה „חלאס“ במקום. מהמשטרה נמסר כי שבעה מפגינים נעצרו.

29.04.2024 - 09:15 [ ABC.net.au ]

VIDEO: Thousands block Tel Aviv streets to protest Netanyahu government

Protesters demonstrated against the government‘s inability to retrieve the remaining hostages, demanding an election.

28.04.2024 - 07:35 [ Devex.com ]

Exclusive: USAID officials say Israel breached US directive on Gaza aid

Israel is in violation of a White House directive requiring recipients of American military assistance to comply with international humanitarian law and permit the unimpeded delivery of U.S.-funded humanitarian support, USAID officials concluded in a confidential United States paper reviewed by Devex.

The findings earlier this month follow the Feb. 8 issuance of a national security memo from the White House instructing U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to “obtain credible and reliable written assurances” from U.S. weapons recipients that they will abide by international humanitarian law, and report those findings to the White House and Congress. In Israel’s case, it would only apply to offensive weapons.

17.04.2024 - 08:05 [ UnicornRiot.ninja ]

Amazon Blocked, Wells Fargo Windows Smashed on Day of Action for Palestine in Minnesota

Pro-Palestine activists blockaded an Amazon distribution center in the northwestern Minneapolis suburb of Maple Grove as part of A15 Action, a global day of action against Israel’s war on Gaza. In a separate action in the Twin Cities, a Wells Fargo Bank branch in South Minneapolis was vandalized and had its windows broken.

17.04.2024 - 07:55 [ Mastodon ]

#a15action

(search results)

17.04.2024 - 07:47 [ Middle East Eye ]

Aerial footage from ABC7 News shows pro-Palestine protesters shutting down Highway 101 on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, blocking traffic and calling for a ceasefire in Gaza on Monday. Protesters could be seen carrying banners reading, “Stop the World for Gaza” and “End the siege on Gaza now.”

According to the California Highway Patrol, protesters used their vehicles to chain themselves, resulting in approximately 20 arrests. Lanes began reopening shortly after noon.

17.04.2024 - 07:42 [ Fox5dc.com ]

‘A15’ Pro-Palestine protests disrupt traffic in multiple cities across US

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators blocked roadways in Illinois, California, New York and Oregon on Monday, temporarily shutting down travel into Chicago O‘Hare International Airport, onto the Golden Gate and Brooklyn bridges and on a busy West Coast highway.

On Sunday, Sky News Australia reported that a global anti-Israel protest had been planned for Monday, but in an effort to cause maximum disruption, the activists refused to disclose protest locations.

17.04.2024 - 05:52 [ Yahoo ]

Gaza war protesters attack ‚arteries of capitalism‘

(15.04.2024)

Pro-Palestine group A15 Action called on supporters to blockade „the arteries of capitalism“ as part of Monday‘s action, saying „the global economy is complicit in genocide“.

A15 Action said the protests were in retaliation for the federal government‘s actions since Israel declared war on Hamas in Gaza.

10.04.2024 - 09:34 [ zentralplus.ch ]

Biden fordert Waffenruhe in Gaza

Biden forderte, dass Israel zu einem Waffenstillstand aufrufe, um den vollständigen Zugang zu Nahrungsmitteln und Medikamenten im Gazastreifen zu ermöglichen.

Derweil treibt Israel sein Vorhaben für eine Bodenoffensive in der Stadt Rafah im Süden Gazas offenbar voran.

10.04.2024 - 09:12 [ David Hearst / Middle East Eye ]

For the defenders of Israel‘s war on Gaza, the game is up

Staunch allies calling themselves friends of Israel are beginning to realise they are also friends of the murderers of western aid workers, friends of genocide and friends of fascism

10.04.2024 - 09:01 [ CNN ]

Biden criticizes Netanyahu’s approach to war with Hamas as mistake

“What I’m calling for is for the Israelis to just call for a ceasefire, allow for the next six, eight weeks total access to all food and medicine going into the country. I’ve spoken with everyone from the Saudis to the Jordanians to the Egyptians. They’re prepared to move in. They’re prepared to move this food in. And I think there’s no excuse to not provide for the medical and the food needs of those people. It should be done now,” Biden said in the interview.

The comments came in the lead up to ..

08.04.2024 - 00:10 [ Times of Israel ]

Netanyahu plans for Israel to stay in Gaza for 10 years

(06.03.2024)

Israel needs to start getting used to the number 10. That’s the number of years Israel will probably stay in the Gaza Strip, according to the current thinking emanating from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

The estimates are that it will take one or two years for the first stage of the war — eradicating Hamas — to be complete, and another eight years for an alternate government to stabilize, if it does at all.

08.04.2024 - 00:05 [ Times of Israel ]

Gantz: War against Hamas could last an entire generation, hostages must remain top priority

(28.01.2024)

War cabinet minister Benny Gantz tells residents of the evacuated southern communities that the war against Hamas could last “a year, a decade, or even an entire generation,” and acknowledges the urgent need to ensure the release of the hostages still held in Gaza, Channel 12 reports.

07.04.2024 - 23:14 [ United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) / UN Menschenrechtsrat ]

Human Rights Council Adopts Five Resolutions, including a Text Calling for an Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza, Urging States to Prevent the Continued Forcible Transfer of Palestinians Within or From Gaza, and Calling on States to Cease the Sale or Transfer of Arms to Israel

In a resolution (A/HRC/55/L.30) on the Human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and the obligation to ensure accountability and justice, adopted by a vote of 28 in favour, 6 against and 13 abstentions (as orally revised), the Council demands that Israel, the occupying power, end its occupation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem; also demands that Israel immediately lift its blockade on the Gaza Strip and all other forms of collective punishment; calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, for immediate emergency humanitarian access and assistance, and for the urgent restoration of basic necessities to the Palestinian population in Gaza; calls upon all States to take immediate action to prevent the continued forcible transfer of Palestinians within or from Gaza; calls upon all States to cease the sale, transfer and diversion of arms, munitions and other military equipment to Israel; urges all States to continue to provide emergency assistance to the Palestinian people and calls upon all States to ensure that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East receives predictable sustained and sufficient funding to fulfil its mandate; invites the General Assembly to recommend that the Government of Switzerland promptly convene the Conference of High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Convention on measures to enforce the Convention in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem; requests the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel to report on both the direct and indirect transfer or sale of arms, munitions, parts, components and dual use items to Israel, the occupying power, and to analyse the legal consequences of these transfers, and to present its report to the Council at its fifty-ninth session; requests the Secretary-General to ensure the availability of all additional resources, including through voluntary resources, necessary to enable the Commission of Inquiry to carry out its mandate; requests the Office of the High Commissioner to deploy the additional necessary personnel, expertise and logistics to the occupied Palestinian territory country office to document and pursue accountability for violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law committed in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem; and requests the High Commissioner for Human Rights to report on the implementation of the present resolution to the Council at its fifty-eighth session, to be followed by an interactive dialogue; and decides to remain seized of the matter.

The results of the vote are as follows:

In favour (28): Algeria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Burundi, Chile, China, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Eritrea, Finland, Gambia, Ghana, Honduras, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives, Morocco, Qatar, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, and Viet Nam.

Against(6): Argentina, Bulgaria, Germany, Malawi, Paraguay and United States.

Abstentions (13): Albania, Benin, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, France, Georgia, India, Japan, Lithuania, Montenegro, Netherlands, and Romania.

07.04.2024 - 23:06 [ United Nations ]

Gaza: Human Rights Council resolution urges arms embargo on Israel

(05.04.2024)

The UN’s top human rights body adopted a resolution on Friday condemning the alleged “use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in Gaza”, while also calling for an arms embargo on Israel.

07.04.2024 - 22:45 [ United Nations ]

Israel’s Genocide Must Not Go Unpunished, Speakers Say as Civil Society Organizations Conference Working on Question of Palestine Concludes

(03.04.2024)

Calling Israel “an extension of European colonialism”, Ahmed Abofoul, a Legal Expert at Al-Haq, said that South Africa’s case before the International Court of Justice represents the Global South’s impatience with Western hypocrisy. He criticized the West’s relentless campaign of distorting international law to support their stance — an example is the right to self-defence. There is no doubt that an occupying Power does not have the right to self-defence against the people it is occupying, as those people, according to international humanitarian law, have the right to self-defence. The West’s complicity has made Gaza “not only a graveyard of children but a graveyard of international law”, he asserted. On the UNRWA accusations, he observed that Western democracies moved fast to suspend funding without waiting for evidence, only to discover later that Israel was lying.

07.04.2024 - 22:28 [ NewArab.com ]

Gaza onslaught ‚betrayal of humanity‘, UN humanitarian chief says, after six months of Israel war

In a statement on the eve of the six-month anniversary of the war, Martin Griffiths, the outgoing under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief, called for a „collective determination that there be a reckoning for this betrayal of humanity.“

„Each day, this war claims more civilian victims,“ said Griffiths, who will leave his post at the end of June due to health reasons.

„Every second that it continues sows the seeds of a future so deeply obscured by this relentless conflict.“

06.04.2024 - 20:57 [ Washington Post ]

Global pressure grows on U.S. and Germany to stop arming Israel

(05.04.2024)

Calls for an international arms embargo on Israel gained backing from Algeria to Vietnam in a vote at the United Nations’ top human rights body Friday, adding to a movement that has seen several European nations pause the sale of weapons and key U.S. allies such as Britain and France debate it.

But so far, the movement lacks the clear support of two countries that supply almost all imported weapons to Israel: the United States and Germany. Both voted against the nonbinding resolution at the U.N. Human Rights Council this week.

06.04.2024 - 20:16 [ Middle East Eye ]

US says Israel is complying with international law. ‚Complete nonsense’, experts say

„Your – your question presumes, at this very early hour, that it was a deliberate strike, that they knew exactly what they were hitting, that they were hitting aid workers and did it on purpose. And there’s no evidence of that,“ Kirby told the reporter.

„I would also remind you, sir, that we continue to look at incidents as they occur. The State Department has a process in place. And to date, as you and I are speaking, they have not found any incidents where the Israelis have violated international humanitarian law.“

06.04.2024 - 20:08 [ CBS News ]

World Central Kitchen boss José Andrés accuses Israel of „direct attack“ on Gaza aid convoy

(04.04.2024)

This was not just a bad luck situation where, ‚Oops, we dropped a bomb in the wrong place,'“ Andrés told the Reuters news agency, stressing that his team‘s vehicles were clearly marked and „it‘s very clear who we are and what we do.“

„They were targeting us in a deconflicting zone, in an area controlled by IDF. They, knowing that it was our teams moving on that road… with three cars,“ he said, adding that he believed the seven aid workers killed by the strike in Gaza were targeted „systematically, car by car.“

06.04.2024 - 20:02 [ Reuters ]

Who were the World Central Kitchen aid workers killed in Gaza by Israel?

(03.04.2024)

„For her it was the perfect job, she got to serve hot meals to people who were having maybe the lowest point of their lives,“ her friend Bryan Weaver told Reuters.

„She made you feel like you were the only person in the room.
In a statement, her family said Zomi left behind a legacy of compassion, bravery and love.

06.04.2024 - 19:43 [ World Central Kitchen ]

7 WCK team members killed in Gaza

(02.04.2024)

Despite coordinating movements with the IDF, the convoy was hit as it was leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse, where the team had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza on the maritime route.

“This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” said World Central Kitchen CEO Erin Gore.

The seven killed are from Australia, Poland, United Kingdom, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Canada, and Palestine.

30.03.2024 - 21:10 [ EgyptIndependent.com ]

UN says Israel denied 30 percent of aid missions to Northern Gaza in March

“IDF soldiers too often delay or deny convoys from crossing checkpoints, with rejected requests for safe passage, searches, detentions and sometimes violence against aid convoys and awaiting crowds,” it added.

The aid missions included: food distributions, fuel, emergency medical teams movement and delivery of supplies to hospitals; and support for water, sanitation, and hygiene activities, the UN agency said

30.03.2024 - 20:15 [ United Nations Humanitarian Affairs Coordination Office (OCHA) ]

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel | Flash Update #148

– Since 1 March, 30 per cent of humanitarian aid missions to northern Gaza and 10 per cent of missions to southern Gaza were denied access by the Israeli authorities.

– Nearly 40 per cent of school buildings in Gaza have been directly hit, according to an updated assessment of satellite imagery by the Education Cluster.

30.03.2024 - 19:11 [ Atlantic Council ]

Could the US and other states be implicated in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel?

(16.02.2024)

In the case of South Africa v. Israel, two violations in particular have been raised: complicity in genocide and failure to prevent genocide. For complicity, the ICJ has explained that it includes “the provision of means to enable or facilitate the commission of the crime,” such as furnishing “aid or assistance.” The state needs at least to have acted knowing that the perpetrator of the genocide had a special intent, or dolus specialis, “to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such.” The ICJ left open the possibility that the complicit state would also need to share this special intent. However, courts have not required complicit parties to share the special intent in international criminal cases, suggesting that the ICJ might not require it.

30.03.2024 - 19:08 [ Telesur ]

South Africa to Sue US and UK as Complicit in Gaza Genocide

(January 15, 2024)

The United States must now be held accountable for the crimes it committed,‘ says Van Rensburg, who is leading the 47-lawyers team.

“We intend to bring legal proceedings against the U.S. Government based on overwhelming evidence that the U.S. Government has, and is, aiding, abetting and supporting, encouraging or providing material assistance and means to Israel and the Israeli Defense Forces. This conduct by the U.S. Government has enabled and continues to enable Israel to engage in international crimes against the Palestinian people,” the South African lawyers said in a letter sent to US President Joe Biden on January 2.

29.03.2024 - 19:07 [ Nachdenkseiten ]

Von der ethnischen Säuberung zum Völkermord. Die Bundesregierung macht mit.

Der israelische Historiker Ilan Pappe hat den Umgang Israels mit Palästina als ethnische Säuberung bezeichnet. Die Zustände sind nicht besser geworden. Sie sind schlimmer. Dazu und zur Rolle Deutschlands kam ein Leserbrief aus Kanada mit einer treffenden Collage. Siehe unten Abschnitt A. Außerdem in Abschnitt B. eine einschlägige Äußerung des UNICEF-Sprechers James Elder in Gaza.

26.03.2024 - 20:50 [ Washington Post ]

U.S. allows U.N. cease-fire vote, but it’s too late for many in Gaza

We are already halfway through Ramadan, a month-long holy period marked by pronounced grief and suffering in the Palestinian territories. The Israeli campaign in Gaza has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians, including many women and children, forced the overwhelming majority of people in Gaza to flee their homes and plunged more than half of Gaza’s population into a de facto famine. Small children are dying of malnutrition in what U.N. officials describe to be the broadest and most severe food crisis in the world.

24.03.2024 - 21:20 [ SearXNG ]

The World must ask: where is its Court? #ICJ #genocide #Palestine #totalitarism #arbitrariness #accountability

24.03.2024 - 21:00 [ International Court of Justice ]

Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel) – The Republic of South Africa submits an urgent request for the indication of additional provisional measures and the modification of the Court’s prior provisional measures Order and decision

THE HAGUE, 6 March 2024. South Africa today filed an urgent request with the Court for the indication of additional provisional measures and the modification of the Court’s Order of 26 January 2024 and decision of 16 February 2024 in the case concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel).

In its new request, South Africa states that it is “compelled to return to the Court in light of the new facts and changes in the situation in Gaza — particularly the situation of widespread starvation — brought about by the continuing egregious breaches of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide . . . by the State of Israel . . . and its ongoing manifest violations of the provisional measures indicated by this Court on 26 January 2024”. It requests the Court to indicate further provisional measures and/or to modify the provisional measures indicated it its Order of 26 January 2024, pursuant to Article 41 of the Statute of the Court and Article 75, paragraphs 1 and 3, and Article 76, paragraph 1, of the Rules of Court, respectively, “in order urgently to ensure the safety and security of 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, including over a million children”. It urges the Court to do so without holding a hearing, in light of the “extreme urgency of the situation”.

24.03.2024 - 20:24 [ Human Rights Watch ]

Israel Not Complying with World Court Order in Genocide Case

(February 26, 2024)

“The Israeli government is starving Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians, putting them in even more peril than before the World Court’s binding order,” said Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch. “The Israeli government has simply ignored the court’s ruling, and in some ways even intensified its repression, including further blocking lifesaving aid.”

Other countries should use all forms of leverage, including sanctions and embargoes, to press the Israeli government to comply with the court’s binding orders in the genocide case, Human Rights Watch said.

24.03.2024 - 20:06 [ Associated Press ]

Top UN court rejects South African request for urgent measures to safeguard Rafah

(February 16, 2024)

An estimated 1.4 million Palestinians, more than half of Gaza’s population, has crammed into the city, most of them displaced people who fled fighting elsewhere in Gaza.

Israel has said it will evacuate the civilians before attacking, though international aid officials have said there is nowhere to go due to the vast devastation left behind by the offensive.

24.03.2024 - 19:55 [ Reuters ]

World Court stops short of Gaza ceasefire order for Israel

(January 27, 2024)

It asked the court to grant emergency measures to halt the fighting, which Palestinian officials say has killed more than 26,000 Palestinians and displaced the majority of the population in a more than three-month campaign of intensive bombardment.

24.03.2024 - 19:18 [ PRCS (Palestine Red Crescent) / Twitter ]

Urgent: Israeli Occupation vehicles are besieging both Al-Amal Hospital and Al-Naser Hospital amidst very intense shelling and heavy gunfire. Occupation vehicles are currently surrounding Al-Amal Hospital and conducting extensive excavation work around the hospital. All of our teams are in extreme danger at the moment and are completely immobilized. Additionally, they are unable to bury the body of our colleague Amir Abu Aisha within the hospital’s backyard.

24.03.2024 - 19:15 [ Middle East Eye ]

Israeli forces demand Palestinians leave Khan Younis hospital ‘naked’ says medical charity

The charity said that Israeli forces had made these demands on Saturday via a drone speaker as it launched smoke bombs to encourage staff to leave the facility.

It added that one of the injured Palestinians left in al-Amal hospital was also shot dead by Israeli forces.

24.03.2024 - 18:57 [ Associated Press ]

Palestinians describe bodies and ambulances crushed in Israel’s ongoing raid around Gaza hospital

Israeli jets on Sunday launched several strikes near the Shifa Hospital, which largely stopped functioning following the November raid. After claiming that Hamas maintained an elaborate command center there, Israeli forces months ago exposed a single tunnel leading to a few underground rooms.

Hardly any aid has been delivered in recent weeks to northern Gaza and Gaza City, where Shifa is located.

24.03.2024 - 18:42 [ Middle East Eye ]

Israel will no longer approve Unrwa food convoys to northern Gaza, says agency‘s chief

In a post on social media platform X, Philippe Lazzarini said Israeli authorities informed the UN of the decision, which he called „outrageous“.

„As of today, Unrwa, the main lifeline for Palestine Refugees, is denied from providing lifesaving assistance to northern Gaza,“ Lazzarini said.

23.03.2024 - 19:45 [ Middle East Eye ]

Israeli fire killed nine people at aid station in Gaza, says health ministry

„At least nine martyrs and dozens injured by Israeli occupation army tank fire and shells. They were waiting for aid trucks at the Kuwait roundabout“ on the outskirts of Gaza City, a health ministry statement said.

Israel‘s military said it was looking into the report.

23.03.2024 - 19:26 [ Middle East Eye ]

Thousands of trucks waiting in North Sinai to enter Gaza, says Sinai governor

North Sinai‘s governor, Mohamed Shousha, said 7,000 aid trucks are waiting to deliver aid into Gaza.

Shousha said in a statement that Israel‘s inspection rules had delayed the flow of aid into Gaza.

23.03.2024 - 19:10 [ United Nations ]

At Rafah border crossing to Gaza, UN’s Guterres calls for immediate ceasefire

“Here from this crossing, we see the heartbreak and heartlessness of it all,” he said, pointing to a long line of blocked relief trucks on one side of the gates and the “long shadow of starvation on the other”.

“That is more than tragic; moral outrage,” he said, adding that “any further onslaught will make everything worse” for Palestinian civilians, hostages and all people of the region.

All this demonstrates that it’s more than time for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and for “an ironclad commitment by Israel for total, unfettered access for humanitarian goods throughout Gaza”, he said, emphasizing that in the Ramadan spirit of compassion, it’s time for the immediate release of all hostages.

He also urged all UN Member States to support the “lifesaving work led by the backbone of all Gaza relief operations, UNRWA”, the UN relief agency for Palestine refugees.

Pledging to continue working with Egypt to streamline the flow of aid, he had a message for Palestinians in Gaza: “you are not alone.”

21.03.2024 - 22:00 [ David Hearst / Middle East Eye ]

War on Gaza: Israel is dragging the US into a future regional war

Netanyahu’s game plan is now clear: prolong the war as long as possible; seal all the land borders, ending with Rafah; and make the sea the only escape route for Palestinians from Gaza.

Behind the hot words of condemnation, Biden and the EU have thus far played into his hands. The infrastructure for just such a plan is being built before our eyes, with Washington’s willing assistance. (…)

The plan for a maritime route to Gaza via Cyprus was initiated by Netanyahu, a senior diplomatic source told The Jerusalem Post. “Netanyahu took the initiative to establish maritime humanitarian aid for the civilian population in the Gaza Strip, in collaboration with the Biden administration,” the source said.

The date when this happened is more important than the identity of the scheme’s author. According to this report, Netanyahu outlined his strategy to Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides on 31 October, just three weeks after the Hamas attack, and revisited the matter with Biden on 19 January.

In other words, the floating pier was not a reaction to impending famine. It was part of the planning that created it.