SPECIAL REPORTS PALESTINE

FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA - FREE PALESTINE
   August wk1 P2 -- August wk1 -- July wk4 P3 --  July wk4 P4/2-- July wk4P4 -- July wk4 P3 --  July wk4 P2 --   Click here for an overview by week in 2024
 

Special reports: TRIBUTES TO MOTHERS AND CHILDREN   Alaa al-Nimer  and daughter Nimah July 28, 2024 "My baby girl was born on the street": A traumatic birth in Gaza   July 22, 2024 Ms. Maram Humaid: "A letter to my son: As you turn one today in Gaza, I feel joy and sorrow" July 12, 2024 Noor Alyacoubi - "I'm fighting to keep my baby alive" and other stories Mothers and children: Boom-And again Boom

Special report: July 12, 2024: Scorched Hospitals - Schools -  Housing - Bodies -- fake or fact?

August 3 - July 31, 2024 Food for thought by Gino d'Artali: "Reading the below may cause 'light' patterns or images that could trigger seizures or cause discomfort for people with a heart".

July 31 - 30, 2024 Food for thought by Gino d'Artali: "One down yes but hundreds of thousands are still 'swimming from the river to the sea' and they'll not be stopped. and more actual news "Tyrants and killers are of all times. And always thinking the highest of themselves. But in the the end they always fall." Mahatma Ghandi   Read the latest news below.

July 30 - 27, 2024 Again and not sopping utill justice is served: "International Court of Justice declared Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory <unlawful> and ruled that Israel is <under an obligation to bring to an end its unlawful presence (...) as rapidly as possible." and more actual news below    Click here to go throughout July and earler, 2024

June 14, 2024 Palestinian-Jordanian journalist Hiba Abu Taha sentenced to one year in prison

Related news: July 11, 2024: Media organizations demand access to Gaza July 2 2024: Arrests of Palestinian journalists since start of Israel-Gaza war   Click here for earlier stories/news

May 23, 2024 In commemoration of Roshdi Sarraj and tribute to Shrouq Al Aila

 
When one hurts or kills a women
one hurts or kills hummanity and is an antrocitie.
Gino d'Artali
and: My mother (1931-1997) always said to me <Mi figlio, non esistono notizie <vecchie> perche puoi imparare qualcosa da qualsiasi notizia.> Translated: <My son, there is no such thing as so called 'old' news because you can learn something from any news.>
Gianna d'Artali.

Al Jazeera - August 3, 2024 - video by Nils Adler and Maziar Motamedi
<<Gaza destruction
This video may contain light patterns or images that could trigger seizures or cause discomfort for people with visual sensitivities.
At least 17 people were killed when two Israeli strikes targeted a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says that Hamas’s political leader Haniyeh was killed by a <short-range> projectile fired from outside his residence and again vows a <severe> response for his assassination. Israeli forces have carried out two air strikes on Tulkarem the occupied West Bank, killing a total of nine Palestinians. Among those killed was Haitham Balidi, a leader of Hamas's military wing in Nablus. The Pentagon says the US military will deploy additional jet fighters and warships to the region amid growing anticipation of possible Iranian retaliation against Israel for the assassination of Haniyeh in Tehran.
At least 39,550 people have been killed and 91,280 wounded in Israel's war on Gaza. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7 and more than 200 were taken captive.>>
Source incl. video:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/8/3/israels-war-on-gaza-live-us-sends-ships-jets-to-region-as-tension-soars


Children killed
Al Jazeera - August 3, 2024 - by Alastair McCready
<<Israel's war on Gaza live: US sends ships, jets to region as tension soars
The Pentagon says the US military will deploy additional jet fighters and warships to the region amid growing anticipation of possible Iranian retaliation against Israel for the assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Thousands of mourners rallied across the Middle East - including in Lebanon, Yemen and Jordan - in tribute to Haniyeh after he was laid to rest in Qatar.
Three children, a woman and an elderly man have been killed in an Israeli bombardment on Gaza City, the Palestinian Civil Defence has said.
The United Nations says nearly two-thirds of all buildings in the Gaza Strip - more than 151,000 structures - have been damaged or destroyed in Israeli attacks since October 7.
At least 39,480 people, including 16,314 children, have been killed and 91,128 wounded in Israel's war on Gaza. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7 and more than 200 were taken captive.>>
Source:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/8/3/israels-war-on-gaza-live-us-sends-ships-jets-to-region-as-tension-soars

France 25 - August 3, 2024 - by: NEWS WIRES
<<US sends fighter jets to Mideast as Iran says Hamas chief killed by 'projectile'
The U.S. will send a fighter jet squadron to the Middle East, the Pentagon said on Friday, beefing up its military presence to help defend Israel from possible attacks by Iran and its proxies. The move comes as Iran's Revolutionary Guards said a Hamas chief killed in Tehran this week was targeted by a <short-range projectile>. The U.S. Defense Department will move a fighter jet squadron to the Middle East and maintain an aircraft carrier in the region, the Pentagon said Friday, as President Joe Biden made good on his promise to beef up the American military presence to help defend Israel from possible attacks by Iran and its proxies and safeguard U.S. troops. In a statement, the department said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also ordered additional ballistic missile defense-capable cruisers and destroyers to the European and Middle East regions and is taking steps to send more land-based ballistic missile defense weapons there.
The shifts come as U.S. leaders worry about escalating violence in the Middle East in response to recent attacks by Israel on Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, which triggered threats of retaliation.>>
Read more incl. video here:
https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20240803-us-send-fighter-jet-squadon-mideast-fears-regional-war-israel-iran-hamas-hezbollah

France 25 - August 3, 2024 - By: NEWS WIRES
<<Live: US, UK urge citizens to leave Lebanon amid fears of wider conflict in Middle East
The US and UK on Saturday issued warnings to citizens in Lebanon to leave the country immediately amid growing fears of a regional war in the Middle East, triggered by the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday. Iran claimed Saturday that Israel killed Haniyeh with a <short-range projectile> launched near Tehran. Follow our liveblog for the latest developments.
Summary:
The US Saturday urged citizens in Lebanon to leave on "any ticket available" amid growing fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East following the death of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh. The UK issued a similar warning to British nationals, telling them to "leave now". Iran's Revolutionary Guards Saturday said that Israel killed Haniyeh using a <short-range projectile> launched from outside of his accommodation in Tehran, contradicting reports earlier in the week that Haniyeh had been killed by a bomb planted months before. Haniyeh was buried Friday at cemetery in Lusail, north of the Qatari capital. The US on Friday said it will send a fighter jet squadron to the Middle East, boosting its military presence in the region to help defend Israel from potential retaliation by Iran and its proxies. Haniyeh's assassination has left US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators scrambling to salvage talks for a ceasefire deal in Gaza after nearly 10 months of war.
At least 39,550 Palestinians have been killed and 91,280 injured in Israel's war in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. The Hamas-led October 7 attacks resulted in the deaths of more than 1,190 people, mostly civilians, according to official Israeli figures. Some 250 people were taken hostage, with about 120 remaining in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Many have been declared dead by Israeli authorities.>>
Source incl. video:
https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20240803-%F0%9F%94%B4-live-us-uk-urge-citizens-leave-lebanon-fears-wider-conflict-middle-east-israel-hamas-iran-hezbollah

France 25 - August 3, 2024
<<Nine killed in two Israeli West Bank air strikes
Tulkarem (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians in separate air strikes in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, the Palestinian press agency Wafa reported, while the Israeli military said it had <eliminated terrorist cells>. Five people were killed in an Israeli drone strike in the Tulkarem area, Wafa reported, while the Israeli military said it struck <five terrorists> on their way to carry out an attack. According to Wafa, the drone fired two missiles at a vehicle which caught fire, killing five men. The director of the Thabet Thabet Hospital in Tulkarem said in a statement that "five martyrs" had arrived at the facility after "an Israeli drone strike on a Palestinian vehicle close to the village of Zeita". <The Israeli police are currently conducting a counterterrorism activity in the area of Tulkarem,> the military said in a statement. A witness at the scene of the strike told AFP: "I live less than 50 metres (yards) from here. We came (after) the sound of an explosion and saw a vehicle on fire" on the road towards Zeita, to the north of Tulkarem. "Next to it, we saw a body lying on the road. Inside the vehicle, there were three charred bodies, from what we were able to see, completely burnt," said the witness named Nasser, who declined to have his last name published. The Israeli military quickly sealed off the area, Wafa reported. In a second air strike, hours later in the Tulkarem area, Wafa reported that four Palestinians were killed. The military confirmed the aerial strike, saying <an additional terrorist cell was eliminated> as part of the ongoing counterterrorism activity there.
During the operation there was an encounter between troops and militants, after which Israeli soldiers called in an air strike, killing the four, the military said. Alongside the Israel-Hamas war that began last October in the Gaza Strip, violence has intensified in the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967.
At least 603 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops and settlers in the West Bank since October 7, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry figures.
At least 17 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed by Palestinian attacks in the West Bank over the same period, according to official Israeli figures.
Excluding east Jerusalem, some 490,000 Israeli settlers now live in the West Bank alongside some three million Palestinians.
2024 AFP>>
Source:
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20240803-palestinian-sources-say-israel-drone-strike-kills-5-in-west-bank

BBC - August 2, 2024
<<Al Jazeera rebuffs Israeli claim killed journalist was Hamas operative
An Al Jazeera correspondent and a cameraman were killed in an Israeli air strike
Al Jazeera has strongly rejected the Israeli military’s claim that its correspondent killed in an air strike in Gaza this week was a Hamas operative who participated in the 7 October attacks. Harrowing video shared on social media showed Ismail al-Ghoul's decapitated body after he was targeted in his car in Gaza City on Wednesday. His cameraman, Rami al-Rifi, and a boy passing on a bicycle, Khalid Shawa, were also killed. While regional news this week has been dominated by other high-profile assassinations, many Palestinians have also focused on the killing of the locally prominent journalist. In a statement on Thursday, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) described Ismail al-Ghoul as a <Hamas military wing operative and Nukhba terrorist> - the assertion being he was part of an elite unit in the armed group. It alleged that as part of his role he <instructed other operatives on how to record operations and was actively involved in recording and publicising attacks against IDF troops>. The IDF did not include Rami al-Rifi in its statement.
Al Jazeera called the accusation against its staff member "baseless" and said it "highlights Israel's long history of fabrications and false evidence used to cover up its heinous crimes". Ismail's brother Jihad also told the BBC that his late sibling was strictly a civilian "portraying the suffering of the Palestinian people inside Gaza City to the outside world". Based in Gaza City, the reporter had become a regular face on the Qatar-based TV channel, which is a popular news source in the region but has faced intense criticism from Israeli authorities. As Friday prayers in Gaza were dedicated to the late Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in the Iranian capital Tehran, some Palestinians said they were also thinking about those who had been killed closer to home.
Hamas leader Haniyeh buried in Qatar
"I am truly heartbroken about Ismail [al-Ghoul]," commented Maha Sarsak, who has been displaced from Shujaiyeh to the centre of the strip. "I was keeping up on the news in the north through him on social media. We didn't always have a TV, but we could hear his voice on the radio." Journalists in Gaza laid down their flak jackets at one gathering to honour al-Ghoul and al-Rifi this week. A friend of the pair said: "They hadn't been sleeping for days nor eating. They had even lost a lot of weight."
Al Jazeera Ismail al-GhoulAl Jazeera
Ismail al-Ghoul and his cameraman had been gathering reaction to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh's killing when the Israeli military killed them
Ismail al-Ghoul covered Israel's raid of Shifa Hospital in March and was arrested by the IDF at the site - but released after 12 hours without charge. Al Jazeera claimed this "debunks and refutes their false claim of his affiliation with any organisation". The two Al Jazeera journalists' last assignment had been gathering reaction to news of Haniyeh's death. Their car was targeted close to the Hamas leader's destroyed house in Shati Camp, an urban refugee camp. Israel has blocked international journalists from entering the Palestinian territory during the war, except on limited and highly controlled visits with the Israeli military. Prior to the closure of its Rafah border crossing with Gaza, Egypt also prevented reporters from entering.
Over 10 months, many networks, including the BBC, have relied on local Palestinian staff for their on-the-ground news coverage and taken on new employees or freelancers. Al Jazeera said that Ismail al-Ghoul had been working for the channel since November. It said that he had endured "hardships" during the war including losing his father and brother. Other cameramen spoke of how al-Rifi had used his technical expertise to help them with their filming. After images of a dead Khaled al-Shawa, the boy killed in the strike, were widely publicised, the boy's mother put out a message on social media pleading for him to be remembered too. "My son is not an unidentified martyr," she said. "We must say the names of our martyrs. They should not talk about us as numbers."
Colleagues attended a vigil for al-Ghoul
Al Jazeera, which broadcasts in English and Arabic, has recently seen a series of attacks against its staff in Gaza and their families. In late October, Wael Dahdouh, the network's well-known bureau chief, was reporting when he received word on-air that his wife, daughter, a son, and grandchild were killed in an Israeli airstrike. In December, he was injured in an attack that also killed another Al Jazeera cameraman, Samer Abudaqa.
In January, a strike killed Mr Dahdouh's son, Hamza, and Mustafa Thuria, a video stringer, while they were working for Al Jazeera. The IDF later alleged the men were <members of Gaza-based terrorist organizations>. Al Jazeera has previously fiercely denied Israel's claims and accused it of systematically targeting its employees. The network has also condemned the decision by Israel's government in May to ban its broadcast in the country on accusations it harms national security. Last month, the ban was extended by the Tel Aviv District Court. The United Nations has called for a full investigation and accountability for the killings of the Al Jazeera journalists and others, saying that journalists everywhere must be protected.
There are differing tallies of the number of media workers killed since the unprecedented, deadly Hamas-led attacks on Israel that prompted the war in Gaza. However, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, the latest deaths in Gaza bring the number of journalists killed to 113, including 108 Palestinians, three Lebanese and two Israelis who were killed during the 7 October assault.>>
Source incl. video:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1rwr8lj9jro

BBC - August 2, 2024
<<Killing of Hamas leader 'doesn't help' ceasefire talks, says Biden
The US has said it was not involved in the assassination of Hamas's political leader. US President Joe Biden has said that the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh <doesn't help> talks over a potential ceasefire in Gaza. Haniyeh was killed during a visit to Iran's capital, Tehran, on Wednesday. Iran and its allies have blamed Israel, although Israel is yet to comment on his death. Haniyeh was Hamas's most senior official and was highly involved in ceasefire and hostage release talks from his base in Qatar. Mr Biden said he was <very concerned> about rising tensions in the Middle East. <We have the basis for a ceasefire. He [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] should move on it and they [Hamas] should move on it now.> Israel and Hamas recently resumed tentative, indirect talks to try to reach a ceasefire in the war in Gaza, though there have been conflicting accounts of progress. At the end of May, Mr Biden outlined what he said were the terms of an Israeli ceasefire proposal. This has become the basis for on-off indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel since then, with Qatar, Egypt and the US acting as mediators. Earlier this week, Israel and Hamas accused each other of obstructing progress. Hamas said Israel had introduced new conditions, while Mr Netanyahu's office said Hamas had demanded 29 changes to the proposal.
The war began in October when Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 others back to Gaza as hostages. The attack triggered a massive Israeli military response, which has killed at least 39,480 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry. Mr Biden's comments were his first on Haniyeh's assassination since the Hamas chief was killed. The US president spoke to journalists at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, ahead of welcoming home American citizens as part of a prisoner exchange with Russia. He said he had spoken to Mr Netanyahu earlier on Thursday and had promised to protect Israel <against all threats from Iran>, which has vowed to retaliate. Iran is Hamas's most important backer and is an arch-foe of Israel.
Iran vows revenge after Hamas leader assassinated in Tehran
What does Haniyeh's killing mean for Gaza ceasefire?
Talks for a ceasefire in Gaza have been going on for months but a deal remains out of reach. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the assassination, but Mr Netanyahu said after the killing that Israel had delivered <crushing blows> to Iran's proxy groups in recent days. Haniyeh's assassination came at a time of soaring tensions in the Middle East. On Saturday, 12 children and young people were killed after a strike on a football field in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Israel blamed Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement and vowed <severe> retaliation, though Hezbollah has denied involvement. On Tuesday, hours before the killing of Haniyeh, Israel killed senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr, who it said was behind the attack on the Golan Heights, in a targeted air strike in Beirut.>>
Source:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cql8ly2g10no

Le Monde - August 2, 2024
<<France tells nationals visiting Iran to leave 'as soon as possible'
The French foreign ministry said there was 'increased risk of a military escalation in the region.'
France on Friday, August 2, urged its nationals visiting Iran to leave immediately, after Tehran accused Israel of killing a leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas on its soil, sparking regional tensions. "Due to the increased risk of a military escalation in the region, visiting French nationals still in Iran are invited to leave as soon as possible," the foreign ministry said. The killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in a pre-dawn attack on Wednesday in Tehran has deepened fears of a regional war. Tehran, as well as the Iran-backed Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah movements, have blamed Israel, which has not commented. Israel has however claimed responsibility for the killing just hours earlier of senior Hezbollah military commander Fouad Shukur in Beirut's southern suburbs. Hundreds of people gathered at a mosque in Qatar on Friday to bid farewell to the slain leader. Haniyeh's killing comes almost 10 months into an Israeli military offensive that has ravaged the Gaza Strip, sparked by an unprecedented Hamas attack on southern Israel.
Le Monde with AFP>>
Source:
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/08/02/france-tells-nationals-visiting-iran-to-leave-as-soon-as-possible_6707721_4.html

Le Monde - August 2, 2024
<<Australia finds lethal Israeli strike on World Central Kitchen convoy result of 'serious failures'
Seven members of World Central Kitchen were killed in Gaza on April 1. An Australian investigation says it was the result of Israeli failures including 'mistaken identification.'
An Israeli strike that killed seven charity workers traveling in a Gaza aid convoy was the result of "serious failures" such as "mistaken identification", an Australian government probe released Friday, August 2, found. Australian national Lalzawmi "Zomi" Frankcom was among a group of seven World Central Kitchen staff killed in April when their aid convoy was mistakenly hit by an Israeli air strike.
The deaths - of an Australian, three Britons, a North American, a Palestinian and a Pole - triggered global outrage and a renewed push to ensure the safety of aid workers in Gaza. Former Australian Air Force chief Mark Binskin was tasked with monitoring Israel's investigation. His declassified report, released Friday, found that three vehicles in the aid convoy were "struck in relatively quick succession" after they were tagged as suspicious. An Israeli surveillance drone flagged the vehicles after noticing some of the charity's security personnel were carrying guns, Binskin found. A "breakdown in situational awareness" and a sense of "confusion" meant Israel mistakenly identified them as armed militants, rather than civilian security.
One of the most significant errors was a failure to read the movement plan previously agreed to between the military and the charity. Israel only discovered the mistake when reports started circulating on social media about one hour later, the report concluded. Aside from the litany of operational failures, Binskin's report found that Israel's subsequent response had been "timely" and "appropriate." Two officers were swiftly stood down and three others were reprimanded, according to the report.
Ceasefire calls
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong urged Israel to apologize, saying Canberra would continue to press for "full accountability" - including potential criminal charges. "The Australian government will persist until proper protections for aid workers are in place," she told reporters. "The best protection for aid workers, and civilians, is a ceasefire." Founded by celebrity chef Jose Andres, US-based charity World Central Kitchen provides food to areas ravaged by humanitarian crises and natural disasters. It was one of only two NGOs spearheading efforts to deliver aid to Gaza by boat from Cyprus. Having paused its Gaza work in the wake of the strike, World Central Kitchen resumed operations in late April.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously admitted that the military had <unintentionally> killed the volunteers.
Le Monde with AFP>>
Source:
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/08/02/australia-finds-lethal-israeli-strike-on-world-central-kitchen-convoy-result-of-serious-failures_6707610_4.html

BBC - July 31, 2024 - By Robert Greenall
<<What does Haniyeh's killing mean for Gaza ceasefire?
We're beginning to get some idea of how Ismail Haniyeh was killed. Early indications suggest that he and his bodyguards died when a rocket hit the house where he was staying in Tehran. All eyes will inevitably fall on Israel, which vowed to hunt down and punish all Hamas leaders following the brutal attacks of 7 October, in which around 1,200 Israelis and foreigners were killed. Israel typically does not comment on its operations abroad, but this attack may have followed the same pattern as an Israeli operation which targeted Iranian air defences around its nuclear facility in Natanz on 19 April. Israeli jets are believed to have fired rockets from outside Iranian airspace. But while details of the attack slowly emerge, its political consequences are also coming into focus. The most obvious is the likely damage to fragile efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza. Ismail Haniyeh may not have been in charge of day-to-day events on the ground in Gaza - that is the domain of the military commander Yahya Sinwar - but as the Hamas leader in exile he was a critical interlocutor in negotiations brokered by Qatar, the US and Egypt. American officials had recently suggested that ceasefire negotiations might soon succeed, although a meeting in Rome last weekend did not result in a breakthrough. But it is extremely hard to see how any progress can be made in the immediate wake of the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh.
Why now?
All of which begs the question: If this was, as everyone assumes, an Israeli operation, why was it carried out? Beyond the desire to exact revenge on anyone associated with Hamas, what was Israel hoping to achieve? Turkey's foreign ministry has already summed up the likely reaction of many in the region. <It has been revealed once again that the government of [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu has no intention of achieving peace,> it said in a statement. In Ramallah, headquarters of the Palestinian Authority, news of Haniyeh's death has been greeted with dismay.
"It's opening the door of hell," Sabri Saidam, deputy secretary general of the Central Committee of the ruling party, Fatah, told the BBC. Mr Saidam said he was feeling a mixture of shock and anger. "Not only did I feel that Israel was targeting the life of Ismail Haniyeh," he said, "but rather the life of any settlement in the region. Israel has killed all hopes and aspirations for an end to hostilities." Fatah and Hamas have long been rivals, sometimes bloody rivals. But Mr Saidam strongly rejected the suggestion that Fatah might benefit from the death of the Hamas leader. "There's never been in Palestinian politics a feeling that leadership by elimination is the way forward," he said. "If anything, it creates more resentment and more friction."
A strike has been called in Ramallah and across the West Bank.
Shops are closed and a protest march being held which could be an awkward moment for the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah. The most recent opinion poll showed that Ismael Haniyeh was considerably more popular than the elderly Palestinian President, Mahmud Abbas. The timing of Haniyeh's killing suggests this was a wider part of Israel's threatened retaliation for the Hezbollah rocket attack that killed 12 Druze children and young people in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday - retaliation that included the killing of a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut on Tuesday.
Israel had warned that its response would be harsh.
Israeli officials regularly point out that Iran is the nexus for the so-called <arc of resistance> in the Middle East, which includes Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and the West Bank, and the Houthis in Yemen. After dealing a blow to Hezbollah in Beirut (and recently to the Houthis in Hodeidah), killing the Hamas leader in Iran sends an emphatic, chilling message, to the militant groups and their Iranian backers: Israel can and will come after you, wherever you are.>>
Source incl. video:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clly4v4l13vo


2 journalists killed in Gaza

Jinha - Womens News Agency - August 1, 2024
<<2 journalists killed in Israeli attack on Gaza
Al Jazeera Arabic journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and his cameraman Rami al-Rifi have been killed in an Israeli air attack on the Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera reported on Wednesday.
News Center- Death toll in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since October 7,2023 has kept rising. The Israeli military has shelled a vehicle at the entrance to the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, killing at least eight people and injuring others, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on Thursday.
Israeli airstrike on Gaza kills two journalists
Al Jazeera Arabic journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and his cameraman Rami al-Rifi have been killed in an Israeli air attack on the Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera reported on Wednesday. The reporters were killed when their car was hit on Wednesday in the Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, according to Al Jazeera.
The number of journalists killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7, 2023, has risen to 165, the Government Media Office in Gaza said in a statement on Wednesday.
UN condemns the killing of journalists
At the daily press briefing on Wednesday, UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric emphasised the need for protecting journalists. "These and other similar incidents must be fully and transparently investigated and there must be accountability. We, of course, condemn the killing of any and all journalists." >>
Source:
https://jinhaagency.com/en/actual/2-journalists-killed-in-israeli-attack-on-gaza-35467

France 25 - July 31, 2024 - Video by: Nadia MASSIH
<<Haniyeh killed in the 'heart' of Iran's capital: 'There will most certainly be harsh retaliation'
Ismail Haniyeh was the international face of Hamas, its top leader in exile who kept up the militant group’s ties with allies around the region. At the head of its political hierarchy, he had little military role – but Israel marked him for death after the surprise Oct. 7 attacks. The 62-year-old Haniyeh was killed in an airstrike Wednesday during a visit to one of Hamas' most crucial allies, Iran, after attending the inauguration of its new president. Iran and Hamas both accused Israel, which has not commented on the strike. The assassination would make him the highest-level Hamas official killed by Israel since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks, when militants killed 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages. The devastating Israel-Hamas war that the attacks set off has become the deadliest and longest in the Arab-Israeli conflict. More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to health officials in Gaza. As the EU calls for 'maximum restraint', fearing a full-blown regional conflict, FRANCE 24's Nadia Massih is joined by Tara Kangarlou, Author, Award-Winning Journalist and Professor at Georgetown University.>>
Source incl. video here:
https://www.france24.com/en/video/20240731-haniyeh-killed-in-the-heart-of-iran-s-capital-there-will-most-certainly-be-harsh-retaliation

BBC - July 31, 2024
<<What does Haniyeh's killing mean for Gaza ceasefire?
We're beginning to get some idea of how Ismail Haniyeh was killed. Early indications suggest that he and his bodyguards died when a rocket hit the house where he was staying in Tehran. All eyes will inevitably fall on Israel, which vowed to hunt down and punish all Hamas leaders following the brutal attacks of 7 October, in which around 1,200 Israelis and foreigners were killed. Israel typically does not comment on its operations abroad, but this attack may have followed the same pattern as an Israeli operation which targeted Iranian air defences around its nuclear facility in Natanz on 19 April. Israeli jets are believed to have fired rockets from outside Iranian airspace. But while details of the attack slowly emerge, its political consequences are also coming into focus. The most obvious is the likely damage to fragile efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza. Ismail Haniyeh may not have been in charge of day-to-day events on the ground in Gaza - that is the domain of the military commander Yahya Sinwar - but as the Hamas leader in exile he was a critical interlocutor in negotiations brokered by Qatar, the US and Egypt. American officials had recently suggested that ceasefire negotiations might soon succeed, although a meeting in Rome last weekend did not result in a breakthrough. But it is extremely hard to see how any progress can be made in the immediate wake of the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh.
Why now?
All of which begs the question: If this was, as everyone assumes, an Israeli operation, why was it carried out?
Beyond the desire to exact revenge on anyone associated with Hamas, what was Israel hoping to achieve? Turkey's foreign ministry has already summed up the likely reaction of many in the region. <It has been revealed once again that the government of [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu has no intention of achieving peace,> it said in a statement. In Ramallah, headquarters of the Palestinian Authority, news of Haniyeh's death has been greeted with dismay. "It's opening the door of hell," Sabri Saidam, deputy secretary general of the Central Committee of the ruling party, Fatah, told the BBC. Mr Saidam said he was feeling a mixture of shock and anger. "Not only did I feel that Israel was targeting the life of Ismail Haniyeh," he said, "but rather the life of any settlement in the region. Israel has killed all hopes and aspirations for an end to hostilities."
Fatah and Hamas have long been rivals, sometimes bloody rivals. But Mr Saidam strongly rejected the suggestion that Fatah might benefit from the death of the Hamas leader. "There's never been in Palestinian politics a feeling that leadership by elimination is the way forward," he said. "If anything, it creates more resentment and more friction."
A strike has been called in Ramallah and across the West Bank.
Shops are closed and a protest march being held which could be an awkward moment for the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah. The most recent opinion poll showed that Ismael Haniyeh was considerably more popular than the elderly Palestinian President, Mahmud Abbas. The timing of Haniyeh's killing suggests this was a wider part of Israel’s threatened retaliation for the Hezbollah rocket attack that killed 12 Druze children and young people in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday - retaliation that included the killing of a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut on Tuesday.
Israel had warned that its response would be harsh.
Israeli officials regularly point out that Iran is the nexus for the so-called <arc of resistance> in the Middle East, which includes Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and the West Bank, and the Houthis in Yemen. After dealing a blow to Hezbollah in Beirut (and recently to the Houthis in Hodeidah), killing the Hamas leader in Iran sends an emphatic, chilling message, to the militant groups and their Iranian backers: Israel can and will come after you, wherever you are.>>
Source:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clly4v4l13vo

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