Tag: Israel

  • From maggots to the devil: All you need to know about Netanyahu’s US visit

    From maggots to the devil: All you need to know about Netanyahu’s US visit

    July 24, 2024, was another day that will go down in history.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was enthusiastically welcomed at the United States Capitol to address Congress for the fourth time.

    But this time, things were different.

    On the streets of America, a large number of protestors swarmed in, carrying Palestinian flags, asserting their disapproval of the US state for hosting a man who has been deemed a war criminal by anti-genocide advocates worldwide.

    Some protestors also reportedly released maggots and mealworms at the Watergate Hotel where PM Netanyahu, Israeli Mossad agents, and the Secret Service were to stay.

    Back in May this year, Prosecutor Karim Khan at the International Criminal Court (ICC) called for arrest warrants for the Israeli PM and his associates for committing “war crimes and crimes against humanity” in Gaza.

    As of yet, at least 39,145 people have been killed and 90,257 injured in Gaza since October 7 — the day when Israel began its deadly operations in the besieged strip, using Hamas’ attacks as justification for the bloodshed witnessed worldwide.

    Are all Congress members supportive of Netanyahu?

    More than 50 members reportedly boycotted or skipped the address, close to the 58 members who chose to abstain from attending Netanyahu’s 2015 speech.

    Among the members are Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Ilhan Omar, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Bernie Sanders, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Punjabi-Hindu descendant Rep. Ro Khanna.

    Pelosi criticised PM Netanyahu’s presentation in the House Chamber as “by far the worst presentation of any foreign dignitary invited and honored with the privilege of addressing the Congress of the United States.”

    However, Rashida Tlaib, member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan, attended the Israeli PM’s speech for all the right reasons.

    Among the audience who gave Netanyahu a standing ovation on every claim, Tlaib stood out as the only hero in the room, wearing her Palestinian flag pin and a keffiyeh, holding a sign that read “guilty of genocide” on one side and “war criminal” on the other.

    Who is Rashida Tlaib?

    Tlaib was born in the US to Palestinian parents — both of whom came from Palestine “for a better life,” she said in a post on social media.

    She is the eldest daughter of 14 kids who earned her bachelor’s in political science and Juris Doctor from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 2004. Rashida Tlaib then entered the Michigan state bar in 2007.

    In 2022, she was re-elected to the U.S. Congress as one of the first two Muslim women (along with Ilhan Omar) and the first Palestinian woman.

    “I will never back down in speaking truth to power”, she posted on X following PM Netanyahu’s speech.

    “The apartheid government of Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians. Palestinians will not be erased. Solidarity with all those outside of these walls in the streets protesting and exercising their right to dissent.”

    https://x.com/RashidaTlaib/status/1816200931848950184

    What did PM Netanyahu say?

    • “Like December 7th, 1941, and September 11th, 2001, October 7th is a day that will forever live in infamy.”
    • “For the forces of civilization to triumph, America and Israel must stand together. Because when we stand together, something very simple happens. We win. They lose.

      And my friends, I came to assure you today of one thing: we will win.”

    • ‘I thank President Biden for his heartful support for Israel after the savage attack on October 7th. He rightly called Hamas “sheer evil.”’ President Biden and I have known each other for over forty years. I want to thank him for half a century of friendship to Israel and for being, as he says, a proud Zionist. Actually, he says, a proud Irish American Zionist.
    • “…the Muslim soldiers of the IDF fought alongside their Jewish, Druze, Christian and other comrades in arms with tremendous bravery.”
    • “As the Bible says, “עם כלביא יקום” —they shall rise like lions. They’ve risen like lions, the lions of Judah, the lions of Israel.”
    • “These protesters chant “From the river to the sea.” But many don’t have a clue what river and what sea they’re talking about.”
    • “For nearly four thousand years, the land of Israel has been the homeland of the Jewish people. It’s always been our home; it will always be our home.”
    • “Now, just as malicious lies were levelled for centuries at the Jewish people, malicious lies are now being levelled at the Jewish state.”
    • “The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has shamefully accused Israel of deliberately starving the people of Gaza. This is utter complete nonsense. It’s a complete fabrication.”
    • “The vast majority of Americans have not fallen for this Hamas propaganda. They continue to support Israel, and I want to say: Thank you America, and thank you, senators and house members who continue to support us, continue to support Israel, continue to support the truth and see through the lies.”
    • “If you remember one thing, one thing from this speech, remember this: Our enemies are your enemies, our fight is your fight, and our victory will be your victory.”
    • “The new alliance I envision would be a natural extension of the groundbreaking Abraham Accords. Those Accords saw peace forged between Israel and four Arab countries, and they were supported by Republican and Democrats alike.

      I have a name for this new alliance. I think we should call it: The Abraham Alliance.”

    https://x.com/RashidaTlaib/status/1816200931848950184
  • Amid Gaza genocide, Israel aims to send Lebanon “back to Stone Age”

    Amid Gaza genocide, Israel aims to send Lebanon “back to Stone Age”

    Israel launched air strikes on Gaza Thursday after warning Hezbollah, Hamas’s ally in Lebanon, to avoid a large-scale war that would send the neighbouring country “back to the Stone Age”.

    Defence Minister Yoav Gallant made the comment during a visit to Washington, where he discussed the Gaza war, long-running efforts toward a truce, and ways to avoid a wider regional conflagration.

    As cross-border tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have risen, Gallant stressed that “we do not want war, but we are preparing for every scenario”.

    Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant during his visit to Washington this weekDrew ANGERER

    “Hezbollah understands very well that we can inflict massive damage in Lebanon if a war is launched,” he said of the fighter group.

    Israel and Hezbollah have traded near daily cross-border fire since October 7.

    But tensions have surged since Israel said this month that its Lebanon war plans are ready, sparking threats from Hezbollah that, in the event of all-out war, none of Israel would be safe.

    US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Gallant this week that a war with Hezbollah could have “terrible consequences for the Middle East” and urged a diplomatic solution.

    A Palestinian boy sits on a war-damaged road at al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on June 26, 2024Eyad BABA

    UN humanitarian coordinator Martin Griffiths warned that Lebanon was “the flashpoint beyond all flashpoints” and that a full war would be “potentially apocalyptic”.

    Germany has joined Canada in advising its citizens in Lebanon to leave the country, reiterating warnings first issued shortly after October 7.

    In the latest clashes on Wednesday, Lebanese media reported about 10 Israeli strikes near the border, while Hezbollah claimed six attacks against Israeli military positions.

    A US official said Washington was engaged in “fairly intensive conversations” with Israel, Lebanon and other actors and believed that no side sought a “major escalation”.

    Meanwhile, the Gaza war at the heart of regional tensions ground on, despite comments Sunday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the “intense phase” of the assault on Gaza was nearing an end.

    An Israeli Air Force F-16 Jet fighter aircraft flies over the border area between northern Israel and southern LebanonJACK GUEZ

    Israeli air strikes overnight and early Thursday killed at least five people in Gaza City, said Gaza’s civil defence agency and Al-Mamdani hospital medics.

    One person was killed when a warplane bombed a house in Beit Lahia, paramedics said.

    Heavy fighting, artillery shelling and helicopter fire were reported Thursday around northern Gaza’s Shujayia market, as well as approaching Israeli ground vehicles.

    Hamas’ press office in Gaza reported “a significant displacement of residents” there and said people “are fleeing to areas of refuge in Gaza City that are already overcrowded”.

    An anonymous witness told AFP the situation was “very difficult and frightening in Shujayia after the arrival of occupation (Israeli) vehicles and air fire.”

    “Residents are running through the streets in terror… a number of wounded and martyrs lie in the streets.”

    A handout picture released by the Jordanian army shows humanitarian aid being airdropped from a military aircraft over southern Gaza on June 25, 2024-

    Shelling also targeted Gaza City, sending plumes of smoke into the sky, and Israeli forces blew up several buildings in far-southern Rafah, witnesses said.

    The Israeli military also said it had “attacked terrorists who were in a school complex in Khan Yunis” in the south, where the civil defence agency said it had recovered several bodies.

    US officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, have voiced hope a Gaza ceasefire could also lead to a reduction in hostilities on the Lebanese border.

    However, months of talks towards a truce and hostage release deal have so far failed as Israel has rejected Hamas’ demands for a permanent end to fighting and full troop withdrawal.

    Israel has killed at least 37,765 people, also mostly civilians, according to data from Gaza’s health ministry.

    This handout picture released by the Israeli army on June 25, 2024 shows an Israeli army tracked vehicle during operations in the Gaza Strip-

    The war and siege have triggered a dire humanitarian crisis, with Gaza hospitals struggling to function and food, drinking water and other essentials hard to come by.

    USAID officials said Wednesday that just 1,000 of the 7,000 tonnes of aid shipped from Cyprus to Gaza had been distributed, blaming looting and security problems.

    Gaza’s humanitarian crisis is intense, said US doctors and nurses returning from the territory, who reported patients in the few remaining hospitals were dying in large numbers.

    Israeli tanks seen in central Gaza, gunfire heard
    Israeli tanks seen in central Gaza, gunfire heard

    One of the volunteer medics, former US army combat surgeon Adam Hamawy, said he had worked in many war-torn and natural disaster-hit countries in the past 30 years.

    “But the level of civilian casualties that I experienced was beyond anything I’d seen before,” the 54-year-old told AFP.

    “Most of our patients were children under the age of 14,” he said. “This has nothing to do with your political views.”

  • Two American Air Force members to quit as US continues to back Israel

    Two American Air Force members to quit as US continues to back Israel

    Two officers currently serving in the United States Air Force are seeking to quit their military roles and declare themselves conscientious objectors in the light of their opposition to Washington’s backing of the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

    The two people in question are Larry Hebert and Juan Bettancourt who are critical of the US-backed genocide in Gaza that has killed over 37,400 Palestinians, predominantly women and children.

    They have formally requested to be recognized as conscientious objectors as per established military procedures — a status granted to individuals who object to engaging in military activities on moral or ethical grounds.

    Al Jazeera spoke to Hebert who is presently serving as a senior airman in the US Air Force. He pointed out that conscientious objection in the US military has historically been seen during protests against the Vietnam and Iraq wars.

    He intends to raise awareness that active-duty soldiers have the option to choose conscientious objection.

    In an earlier interview with NBC News, Hebert revealed the death of six-year-old Hind Rajab in February was a pivotal moment influencing his decision.

  • 21,000 children missing in Gaza since October 7

    21,000 children missing in Gaza since October 7

    As much as 21,000 children in Gaza are said to have gone missing since October 7, reports Save the Children, a leading humanitarian organisation for children.

    Israel launched fierce military operations against Palestinians following October 7 attacks which have killed at least 37,598 people and injured 86,032 in Gaza, according to Al Jazeera.

    More than 15,000 children have been killed by Israel in the genocide.

    Additionally, at least 3,000 children are reportedly amputated – the largest population of child amputees in the world.

  • Israeli official confirms Netanyahu dissolves war cabinet

    An Israeli government spokesman on Monday said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had dissolved the war cabinet following the resignation earlier this month of centrist leader Benny Gantz.

    David Mencer, spokesman at the prime minister’s office, told reporters the war cabinet was a “prerequisite” for former army chief and defence minister Gantz to join a unity government.

    “So with Mr Gantz leaving government, there is no need for the cabinet. Its duties will be taken over by the security cabinet”, a pre-existing body, on matters regarding the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, he said.

    Israeli media said the move, which was not expected to trigger any major policy shift, was meant to counter pressure from far-right politicians seeking a greater say in decision-making.

    The war cabinet was formed after Gantz had left the opposition to join Netanyahu’s government following Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel.

    Another member of Gantz’ party, also a former military chief, Gadi Eisenkot, had also agreed to join the government on condition that a war cabinet be formed, according to Israeli officials.

    Eisenkot left the war cabinet along with Gantz.

    “It means that the security cabinet will meet more often. The security cabinet is the body responsible for making decisions (related to the war) anyway,” said an Israeli official on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the issue.

    Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, who were all part of the war cabinet, also sit on the security cabinet — which ratifies decisions regarding the war including truce and hostage release negotiations.

    Gantz announced his resignation on June 9 after failing to get Netanyahu to approve a post-war plan for Gaza.

    Israeli media reported that Netanyahu dissolved the war cabinet to avoid including far-right coalition members in the sensitive forum, fearing harm to relations with Western allies such as the United States.

    Mencer declined to answer when asked if Netanyahu’s decision aimed to rebuff his far-right partners and tighten his grip over decision-making.

    National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who are both security cabinet members and opposed to a truce before Hamas is “eliminated”, had put pressure on Netanyahu to add them to the war cabinet.

    Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza has killed at least 37,347 people, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the territory.

  • UN probe accuses Israel of crimes against humanity

    UN probe accuses Israel of crimes against humanity

    A UN investigation concluded on Wednesday that Israel has committed crimes against humanity during the genocide in Gaza, including that of “extermination”, while saying Israeli and Palestinian armed groups have both committed war crimes.

    The independent Commission of Inquiry’s report is the United Nations’ first in-depth investigation into the events following October 7.

    It found that Israel had committed war crimes, crimes against humanity and violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL).

    The report noted “a widespread or systematic attack directed against the civilian population in Gaza.”

    “The commission found that the crimes against humanity of extermination; murder; gender persecution targeting Palestinian men and boys; forcible transfer; and torture and inhuman and cruel treatment were committed,” it added.

    Israel rejected the conclusions by accusing the UN commission of “systematic anti-Israeli discrimination”.

    Israel intensified its attacks in Gaza after Hamas’s October 7 attack.

    The commission found that in that attack, members of the military wings of Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups and Palestinian civilians committed war crimes, as well as violations and abuses of IHL and IHRL.

    Militants seized 251 hostages, of which 116 remain in Gaza, though the Israeli army says 41 of them are dead.

    The Israeli army launched a devastating offensive on the Gaza Strip that has left more than 37,000 people dead, the majority of them civilians, according to the territory’s health ministry.

    The unprecedented Commission of Inquiry was established by the UN Human Rights Council in May 2021 to investigate alleged violations of IHL and IHRL in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

    Since October 7, the three-member commission has focused on Israeli geocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

    “It is imperative that all those who have committed crimes be held accountable,” said the commission’s chair Navi Pillay, a former UN rights chief and an ex-International Criminal Court judge.

    “Israel must immediately stop its military operations and attacks in Gaza.

    “Hamas and Palestinian armed groups must immediately cease rocket attacks and release all hostages. The taking of hostages constitutes a war crime.”

    ‘War crimes’ in October attack

    The commission concluded that members of Hamas, other Palestinian armed groups and civilians participating in the October 7 attack “deliberately killed, injured, mistreated, took hostages and committed sexual and gender-based violence”.

    These acts were committed against civilians and members of the Israeli security forces.

    “These actions constitute war crimes and violations and abuses of IHL and IHRL,” it said.

    The commission further said it found “significant evidence on the desecration of corpses, including sexualised desecration, decapitations, lacerations, burning, severing of body parts and undressing”.

    “Women were subjected to gender-based violence during the course of their execution or abduction. Women and women’s bodies were used as victory trophies by male perpetrators.”

    Many children who witnessed their relatives being killed were “also filmed for propaganda purposes”, with the commission finding it “particularly egregious that children were targeted for abduction”.

    The report said Israeli authorities “failed to protect civilians in southern Israel on almost every front”.

    Israel’s ‘starvation’ of Gaza

    In their actions in Gaza, the commission found the Israeli authorities “responsible for the war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare, murder or wilful killing, intentionally directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects, forcible transfer, sexual violence, torture and inhuman or cruel treatment, arbitrary detention and outrages upon personal dignity”.

    Starvation will affect the Gaza population, particularly children, “for decades to come”, the report said, while “the siege it imposed… constitutes collective punishment and reprisal against the civilian population, both of which are clear violations of IHL.”

    In the West Bank, the commission found that Israeli forces committed acts of sexual violence, torture and inhuman or cruel treatment and outrages upon personal dignity, “all of which are war crimes”.

    Israel’s government and forces “permitted, fostered and instigated a campaign of settler violence against Palestinian communities” in the territory, the commission added.

    The report is based on interviews with victims and witnesses conducted remotely, and in Turkey and Egypt, and through studying thousands of verified open-source items, satellite imagery and forensic medical reports, the commission said.

    “Israel obstructed the commission’s investigations and prevented its access to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” it added.

    The report is due to be presented to the UN Human Rights Council next week.

    rjm/rlp/lb

    © Agence France-Presse

  • Ceasefire agreement in Gaza coming close at hand?

    Ceasefire agreement in Gaza coming close at hand?

    The UN Security Council gave a green signal to a US-proposed ceasefire plan on Monday aimed at ending the Israeli attacks in Gaza.

    The proposition consists of a three-stage ceasefire and captive-release proposal laid out on May 31 by President Biden, prompting the “parties to fully implement its terms without delay and without condition”.⁠
    ⁠
    As per the plan, Israel will withdraw its military forces from Gaza’s populated areas, Hamas will release the remaining captives and humanitarian aid would be allowed into Gaza “at scale”.⁠

    A temporary ceasefire will be in effect for six weeks at first, with the possibility of extension as negotiators work towards a permanent cessation of hostilities.

    As per the resolution, Israel has agreed to the plan and urged Hamas to also agree to it as well.

    However, Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Netanyahu, have recently vowed to continue the operations until Hamas is completely eradicated, raising doubts about their commitment to the ceasefire agreement.

    Hamas has expressed approval of the resolution and signalled readiness to engage in indirect talks regarding the implementation of the agreement’s principles.

  • Maldives to ban Israeli tourists

    Maldives to ban Israeli tourists

    MALE: The Indian Ocean nation of the Maldives will ban Israelis from the luxury tourist hot spot, the office of the president said on Sunday, announcing a national rally in “solidarity with Palestine”.

    The Maldives, a tiny Islamic republic of more than 1,000 strategically located coral islets, is known for its secluded sandy white beaches, shallow turquoise lagoons, and Robinson Crusoe-style getaways.

    President Mohamed Muizzu has “resolved to impose a ban on Israeli passports,” a spokesman for his office said in a statement, without giving details of when the new law would take effect.

    Muizzu also announced a national fundraising campaign called “Maldivians in Solidarity with Palestine”.

    The Maldives had lifted a previous ban on Israeli tourists in the early 1990s and moved to restore relations in 2010. However, normalisation attempts were scuttled following the toppling of President Mohamed Nasheed in February 2012.

    Opposition parties and government allies in the Maldives have been putting pressure on Muizzu to ban Israelis, as a sign of protest against the Gaza attack.

    Official data showed the number of Israelis visiting the Maldives dropped to 528 in the first four months of this year, down 88 percent compared to the corresponding period last year.

    In response to the ban, an Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman urged citizens to avoid travel to the Maldives.

  • First acknowledge past mistakes, SC writes to British HC

    First acknowledge past mistakes, SC writes to British HC

    The Supreme Court of Pakistan penned a letter to the High Commissioner of the United Kingdom to Pakistan Jane Marriott, defending the top court rulings including stripping the PTI of its symbol while reminding her of past British injustices.

    “The matter was resolved in just 12 days by the Supreme Court, and general elections were held throughout Pakistan on 8 February 2024; a copy of the decision is attached as ‘A’,” read the letter by SC.

    It then went on to defend the SC ruling in which a political party was stripped of its electoral symbol days before the election, “To ensure compliance with this democratic principle the law stipulates that if a political party does not hold intra-party elections, then it would not be eligible for an election symbol.”

    It further criticised the British for its complicity in “violent undemocratic mistakes” such as overthrowing the elected democratic government of Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953, to capture Iranian oil.

    The letter also mentioned the British role in the creation of a settler-colonial state Israel and urged the UK commissioner to acknowledge its past mistakes.

  • ‘Burning children alive can never be justified’; Dua Lipa demands ceasefire

    ‘Burning children alive can never be justified’; Dua Lipa demands ceasefire

    British-Albanian singer Dua Lipa is once again calling for an urgent and permanent ceasefire as Israel’s military actions in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where numerous Palestinian civilians have reportedly lost their lives in recent days. Dua Lipa is once more advocating for an immediate and enduring ceasefire.

    On May 28, the pop star posted an Artists for Ceasefire image with the hashtag “#AllEyesOnRafah” on her Instagram Story, stating, “Burning children alive can never be justified.” The harsh condemnation of Israel followed Israel’s massacre in Rafah where videos showed children decapitated and burnt alive.

    Lipa said, “The whole world is mobilising to stop the Israeli genocide, please show your solidarity with Gaza.”
    She signed an open letter from Artists for Ceasefire, encouraging President Joe Biden to support peace in Gaza, a few weeks after the strikes on October 7. She was among many celebrities who supported the initiative. She freely expressed her thoughts on the fight three months later in her January cover story for Rolling Stone.

    On Monday, 45 people were killed in a fire that started in a tent camp in the Gazan city of Rafah due to an Israeli attack. This led to international protest from leaders around the world, who requested the enforcement of a ICJ ruling to stop Israel’s genocide

    Health officials in Gaza stated that women, children, and the elderly made up more than half of the deceased and that the number of fatalities was probably going to increase due to those who had serious burns.
    Over 45 million users, including local and international celebrities, shared the viral ‘All eyes on Rafah’ story on Instagram.
    At least 36,171 Palestinians have been killed and 81,420 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7.