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FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA - FREE PALESTINE
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Special reports: TRIBUTES TO MOTHERS AND CHILDREN Shoroughs' family August 7, 2024: 'My children cry all day from the heat': Life in Gaza’s tent camps... and August 5, 2024: Shorough 'We have nothing left in this world, except our daughter': a young mother on life in Gaza... 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 16 - 13, 2024 More than 40,000 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza... and not to forget 2 baby-twins... but the women aren't going aywhere! and other news that most likely stands between a cease-fire An update concerning the Quatar talks will folow soon

August 13 - 12, 2024 <<Exclusive: Al-Tabin attack 'deliberately timed to cause maximum casualties' Food for thought: which proves more than enough how animalistic the israelis interprete their view on warfare and more actual news

August 12 - 10, 2024 <<AIPAC is growing desperate... and Food for thought: netanyahu following the footsteps of hitler with using the 'scorched earth' tecnique he's feeling his more and more 'walking on hot coals' and more actual news   Click here to go throughout August and earler, 2024

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

Related news: August 2 - July 21, 2024 Is Western journalism as envisioned dead and other stories 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.

 
40.000 plus...
Jinha - Womens News Agency - August 15, 2024
<<More than 40,000 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza
At least 40,005 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since October 10, the Gaza's health ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
News Center- At least 40,005 Palestinians have been killed and 92,401 others injured in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, the Gaza’s health ministry said in a statement on Thursday. At least 40 Palestinians were killed and 107 others injured in Israeli attacks in the last 24 hours, the ministry added. More than 10,000 Palestinian men and women are missing under the rubble in the Gaza Strip, according to the United Nations and the Palestinian Civil Defense.>>
Source:
https://jinhaagency.com/en/actual/more-than-40-000-palestinians-killed-in-israeli-attacks-on-gaza-35537?page=1

Suhair Khader
Jinha - August 16, 2024 - by RAFIF ESLEEM
<<Palestinian women struggle to participate in ceasefire negotiations
The patriarchal mindset prevents Palestinian women from participating in ceasefire negotiations, said Suhair Khader, President of the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees.
Gaza- The attacks of Israel on the Gaza Strip have entered their 11th months, killing and injuring thousands of Palestinians. As the negotiations over a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal continue, women are excluded from the negotiations although the majority of the victims of the war are women and children. Before the war of Israel against the Gaza Strip, women's political participation started to improve; however, it is deteriorating due to the current situation, said Suhair Khader, President of the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees.
'Only two women have participated in the negotiations'
Palestinian women resist on the frontline, she said. "Palestine has many female heroes in history such as Shadia Abu Ghazaleh and Laila Khaled and they are role models for us. However, Palestinian women fail to demand their rights. Only two women (Hanan Ashrawi and Zahira Kamal) have participated in the ceasefire negotiations although the majority of the victims of the war are women and children. Crimes against humanity have been committed in the Gaza Strip; however, civilians are underrepresented in the negotiations."
'Palestinian women are underrepresented in decision-making positions'
Women are excluded from the negotiations, Suhair Khader said, adding, "Women are underrepresented in decision-making positions due to the patriarchal system controlling society. Women's movements and organizations should take a strong stance to increase women's participation in politics, decision-making positions and negotiations." The last elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) were held on 25 January 2006. "For 18 years, Palestine has held no elections for the council, preventing women's political participation," Suhair Khader said. "Feminist unions, organizations and Palestinian women should make great efforts to achieve the right to be represented in politics."
'Israel kills women through war'
Mentioning the importance of awareness-raising activities to change the patriarchal mindset in Palestinian society, Suhair Khader said, "Women should be educated to achieve their economic independence and political rights. Human rights organizations should take immediate action for the effective implementation of UN Resolution 1325. Israel keeps oppressing Palestinian women everywhere, including in the West Bank and Jerusalem by violating human rights. Israel kills women through war."
'Women do not leave their homeland'
Despite all the massacres conducted by Israel in the Gaza Strip, "Women do not leave their homeland," she said. "They keep struggling to survive." >>
Source incl. video:
https://jinhaagency.com/en/actual/palestinian-women-struggle-to-participate-in-ceasefire-negotiations-35540
 


Mai Younis
Jinha - Womens News Agency - August 15, 2024
<<Mai Younis released after more than 10 months in Israeli prison
Mai Younis, a Palestinian activist arrested by Israeli forces, has been released after serving 10 months in prison for supporting Gaza in her social media posts.
News Center- Mai Younis, a Palestinian activist, was released from the Israeli Damon prison on Wednesday after serving 10 months in prison for supporting Gaza in her social media posts. Mai Younis was arrested on October 22, 2023, several days after Israel started a war on the Gaza Strip, on charges of <promoting and encouraging incitement> for expressing her support to Gaza on social media platforms. She was sentenced to 12 months in prison but then an Israeli court reduced her sentence to 10 months.>>
Source:
https://jinhaagency.com/en/actual/mai-younis-released-after-more-than-10-months-in-israeli-prison-35536

Al Jazeera - August 15, 2024 - By Al Jazeera Staff
<<Palestinian leader Abbas tells Turkish parliament he will go to Gaza
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has promised to go to the besieged Gaza Strip, saying he will stand by the Palestinian people even if it costs him his life. Speaking to Turkey's Grand National Assembly on Thursday as the Palestinian death toll from the Israeli war on Gaza surpassed 40,000, Abbas decried the "silence of the international community" in the face of atrocities committed by Israel. "I have decided to head to the Gaza Strip along with all the brothers from the Palestinian leadership," Abbas said. "I will work with all my power so that all of us are standing with our people to stop this barbaric aggression even if that would cost us our life. Our life is not more valuable than that of the smallest child in Gaza."
It was not clear when or how Abbas would head to Gaza.
The Palestinian territory is under a suffocating Israeli blockade. The Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, the gateway between Egypt and Gaza, has been under Israeli control for months. "It's either victory or martyrdom," Abbas, 88, told Turkish lawmakers. Abbas and his aides have been critical of Hamas, a rival to his Fatah movement. But there have been ongoing efforts to bring the two sides together to achieve Palestinian unity.
Last month, Fatah and Hamas representatives met in Beijing for reconciliation talks. Abbas also called for unity and patience after the killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in late July, calling the assassination a "cowardly act".
Hamas has been in control of Gaza since 2005 while the Palestinian Authority administers limited self-rule in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
"Gaza is an integral part of the unified Palestinian state. There will be no state in Gaza alone. The Palestinian people will not be broken and will never surrender," Abbas said on Thursday. "We will rebuild Gaza and heal the wounds of our people with the support of the Arab and Islamic nations and global allies, within the framework of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital." The Palestinian president thanked his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for what he called principled and courageous support for the Palestinian people. He also called for accountability for Israel's abuses in Gaza, where the Israeli military has displaced nearly the entire population and turned large parts of the territory into rubble.
"The murderers and war criminals will not escape punishment, and we will continue our struggle and fight to achieve justice in Palestine," he said.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA>>
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/15/palestinian-leader-abbas-tells-turkish-parliament-he-will-go-to-gaza

Le Monde - August 15, 2024 - By Arnaud Leparmentier (New York (United States) correspondent)
<<Columbia University President Nemat Shafik resigns, exhausted by Gaza war's repercussions on campus
In the spring, the New York institution became the epicenter of pro-Palestinian student protests in the United States. Accused of being too repressive by some and too weak by others, she decided to leave her post.
And that makes three: After Harvard's Claudine Gay and the University of Pennsylvania's Elizabeth Magill, it was Nemat Shafik's turn to tender her resignation as president of Columbia University, on Wednesday, August 14. The three recently appointed women did not survive the pro-Palestinian outpouring from students and some faculty on their campuses and the backlash from resolutely pro-Israeli major donors and the Republican Party. Shafik, 61, stepped down immediately. "This period has taken a considerable toll on my family, as it has for others in our community," explained Shafik, who goes by the nickname "Minouche," in a letter to the Columbia academic community. "Over the summer, I have been able to reflect and have decided that my moving on at this point would best enable Columbia to traverse the challenges ahead." She added that she had accepted a position with the British foreign secretary to lead an evaluation of the government's approach to international development. "Minouche has contributed so much to the Columbia community in an extraordinarily challenging time," the school's board co-chairs wrote in a statement, adding, "While we are disappointed to see her leave us, we understand and respect her decision." Republican Representative for New York Elise Stefanik, who led the Congressional hearings on universities' handling of pro-Palestinian protests, was jubilant on X on Wednesday evening. <THREE DOWN, so many to go. As I have said consistently since her catastrophic testimony at the Education and Workforce Committee hearing, Columbia University's President Minouche Shafik's failed presidency was untenable and that is was only a matter of time before her forced resignation. After failing to protect Jewish students and negotiating with pro Hamas terrorists, this forced resignation is long overdue. We will continue to demand moral clarity, condemnation of antisemitism, protection of Jewish students and faculty, and stronger leadership from American higher education institutions,> wrote Stefanik.
Accused of breaking a taboo
It all happened in April, at the height of the Gaza solidarity movement on campuses. Shafik was put to the test at a hearing conducted in the House of Representatives by Trump-supporting Stefanik, following in the footsteps of her Harvard and Pennsylvania colleagues, in December 2023. Anxious not to repeat the mistakes of her peers, Shafik gave pledges. Asked by Stefanik whether calling for the genocide of the Jews violated their university's bylaws, the Harvard and Penn presidents had replied that it <depended on the context.> Shafik, determined not to make her colleagues' mistake, asserted that "yes," it violates it.>>
Read more here:
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/08/15/columbia-university-president-nemat-shafik-resigns-exhausted-by-gaza-war-s-repercussions-on-campus_6715834_4.html

Al Jazeera - August 14, 2024
<<Israeli military kills four in drone attack in occupied West Bank
The drone strike in Tammun followed a raid on a home in the city of Tubas that killed one person. The Israeli military has killed one Palestinian in a dawn raid in the occupied West Bank city of Tubas before launching an air attack on the nearby town of Tammun that killed four people. The army entered Tubas at dawn on Wednesday and raided the home of Fayez Fawaz Abu Amer, shooting and killing the man, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa. In a statement, the Israeli military said it launched a <counterterrorism operation>, during which it <eliminated one terrorist> and <hit others during an exchange of fire>. It said its troops had <arrested wanted suspects and located and confiscated weapons>. Reporting from Tubas, Al Jazeera's Nida Ibrahim said the confrontations later extended to Tammun, southeast of Tubas, where a drone struck a group of men and killed four of them. "The governor of Tubas said the Israeli forces took the bodies with them, which is part of Israel's policy of withholding the bodies of Palestinians it deems responsible for attacks," Ibrahim said. Footage shared on a Palestinian social media account, verified by Al Jazeera's fact-checking agency Sanad, appeared to show Israeli troops dragging one of the bodies on the road before slinging it into the back of a military vehicle.
The Israeli army said it had <carried out air strikes on several armed terrorists> in the city. Clashes were also taking place on the ground, Al Jazeera's Ibrahim said, as shots and loud explosions could be heard in the area. The Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian group Hamas, said in a statement it was fighting Israeli forces. The Palestinian Red Crescent said it was being prevented from reaching the location as the military had blocked roads. Ibrahim said the raids follow a recent shooting that killed one person near the illegal Israeli settlement of Mahola in the Jordan Valley. "Israeli forces have carried out raids in several Palestinian villages following the shooting," Ibrahim said.
Drone attacks in the occupied West Bank have become increasingly common in recent months. Israeli forces backed by drone attacks killed 11 Palestinians in clashes around Jenin earlier this month. Drones have also been used to target Palestinians in the Nur Shams refugee camp, next to the city of Tulkarem.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES>>
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/14/israeli-military-kills-four-in-drone-attack-in-occupied-west-bank

Al Jazeera - August 14, 2024 - By Edna Mohamed
<<Will the UK's new Labour government halt arms sales to Israel?
Since 2008, the UK has licensed arms exports to Israel worth at least 576 million pounds ($740m).
As the United States clears the way for the sale of $20bn of weapons to Israel, pressure on the United Kingdom to cease such arms sales has stepped up amid reports that some sales could be restricted in the coming months. Between October 7, when Israel's war on Gaza began, and the end of May, the UK granted more than 100 export licences for the sale of weapons and military equipment to Israel, official figures show. The value of these deals has not been revealed. However, between 2008 and the end of 2023, the UK granted export licences for arms deals to Israel worth 576 million pounds ($740m). The total value of arms deals granted in 2023 is estimated at 18.2 million pounds - still far short of the more than 200 million pounds granted in 2017. Pro-Palestine activists have called on the government to cease the sales of arms to Israel as its war on Gaza has killed nearly 40,000 people with thousands more missing and presumed dead under the rubble of buildings. More than 92,000 people have been injured. Despite this, the previous Conservative government, which lost power to Labour in a landslide election in July, decided in May that there was no reason to suspend arms exports. It cited the UK's arms export rules, which state that export licences should not be granted if there is a "clear risk" that they would "facilitate a serious violation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL)", and said there was no evidence of this.
However, since the Labour Party came to power, its stance on the Gaza war has differed from that of its predecessor.
In recent weeks, Israeli and British news outlets have reported that the UK may be about to announce a partial suspension of arms exports to Israel.
Here's what we know so far:
What does the UK supply to Israel?
The government does not provide military aid to Israel but instead issues licences for British companies to sell weapons.
Former Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said in December last year - two months into the war on Gaza – that the UK's exports of military goods to Israel were <relatively small>, amounting to 42 million pounds ($53.2m) in 2022 and 18 million pounds ($22.8m) in 2023.
By comparison, annually, the US gives Israel $3bn in military aid as part of a 10-year agreement. In November, the US passed an additional $14.5bn military aid package for Israel after the war on Gaza broke out on October 7.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimates that US exports amount to 69 percent of Israel's total arms imports.
In Europe, Germany, which is Israel's second-biggest provider of military aid after the US, exported weapons worth 326.5 million euros ($354m) to Israel in 2023, 10 times more than the year before.
F35
What types of weapons does the UK sell to Israel?
The UK's exports include explosive devices, assault rifles and components for F-35 fighter jets.
The Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT)'s research has found that the UK produces "at least 15 percent of the value" of every US-made F-35 combat aircraft. "This includes crucial elements like the rear fuselage, targeting lasers, bomb release mechanisms, and critical electronic systems," the UK-based campaign group said on X in late July. For the 39 F-35s delivered to Israel since 2016, there is "at least £364m worth of UK components, not counting spare parts. The planes still on order, plus ongoing support, will likely be worth as much again", the group added.
What has the UK's new government said about arms exports?
Ahead of the general election on July 4, the then-shadow foreign secretary - now the foreign secretary - David Lammy called on the Conservative government to publish the legal advice it had received about granting export licences to Israel. At the time, the government pushed back and said that the legal advice to ministers was confidential. In a leaked recording to British newspaper The Observer, Alicia Kearns, a Conservative and the then-chair of the House of Commons select committee on foreign affairs, said at a party fundraiser at the end of March that government lawyers had found that Israel had breached IHL, but the government had not announced the findings. Following the attack on a World Central Kitchen (WCK) convoy in Gaza, killing seven aid workers, including three Britons, in April, Kearns told BBC Radio 4 that the UK "has no choice but to suspend arms sales" to Israel. "Legal advice is advisory so the government can choose to reject it, but UK arms export licences require a recipient to comply with international humanitarian law," Kearns said. However, the government at the time still did not suspend arms exports to Israel. Since Lammy became foreign secretary following the July election, he has expressed reluctance to implement a full ban on weapons sales to Israel. Following his visit to Israel and the occupied West Bank in July, Lammy told the House of Commons, during a motion calling for the immediate suspension of export licences for arms to Israel, that Israel was <surrounded by people who would see its annihilation. For those reasons, it would not be right to have a blanket ban between our country and Israel; what is right is for me to consider in the normal way the issues in relation to offensive weapons in Gaza, following the quasi-judicial process that I have outlined.>
Lammy was also pressed by other MPs during the session on July 19 to publish the government's assessment on any IHL breaches since the October 7 Hamas attack, which, despite his own earlier calls, the Labour government has not done.
What do campaigners and legal experts say?
Following the April attack on the WCK convoy, more than 1,000 lawyers and retired judges in the UK sent a letter to the government arguing that the sale of arms to Israel violates international law. In the letter, the lawyers argued that the continued arms exports to Israel "give rise to concerns regarding the United Kingdom’s compliance with its obligation under The Arms Trade Treaty". CAAT, along with advocacy groups the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and War on Want, have also issued a joint statement saying that the delay in ceasing arms exports to Israel is "unconscionable". "The Arms Trade Treaty, to which Britain is a State Party, outlines that a State must not export arms if there is "potential" that they could be used to commit violations of international human rights or humanitarian law," the groups said in their statement. "It is inconceivable that after over 75 years of Israel's regime of military occupation and apartheid, and nearly 10 months of Israel's genocidal assault on Palestinians in Gaza ... that the government's legal advice has adjudged that such a risk does not exist." Campaigners point to the International Court of Justice's July advisory opinion that member states, which include the UK, must "take steps to prevent trade or investment relations that assist in the maintenance of the illegal situation created by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory". Katie Fallon, an Advocacy Manager at CAAT, told Al Jazeera that the case for an "immediate arms embargo has been overwhelming for months. If Labour implements a meaningful suspension of arms exports to Israel, it would be a crucial step towards ending the impunity that Israel has been afforded by the international community to commit the most serious violations, including genocide and crimes against humanity, against Palestinians," she said. Fallon added that a suspension "must include components for F-35 jets that are dropping bombs on Gaza, including 2000-pound bombs".
What changes have the new Labour government made regarding Gaza?
Two weeks after winning the UK general election, the new Labour government announced it was resuming funding to the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA). Lammy said the UK was committed to providing 21 million pounds ($27m) to the agency after it previously cut funding following Israeli accusations, without evidence, that some of the UNRWA’s staff were involved in the October 7 Hamas attack. Shortly after announcing the resumption of funding, the government also said that it was dropping a dispute with the International Criminal Court about whether it has jurisdiction to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES>>
Source:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/14/will-the-uks-new-labour-government-halt-arms-sales-to-israel

Al Jazeera - August 14, 2024
<<Here's what's in the US's $20 billion weapons package to Israel
The Biden administration has approved sending $20B worth of arms to Israel, even as the US publicly calls for restraint in the war on Gaza. Israel has used advanced weaponry to obliterate most of Gaza's infrastructure and kill tens of thousands of Palestinians.>>
View video here:
https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2024/8/14/heres-whats-in-the-uss-20-billion-weapons-package-to-israel

Al Jazeera - August 14, 2024 - by Belen Fernandez Al Jazeera columnist
<<'Less flexible?' Just say it NYT, Israel is sabotaging a ceasefire deal
Israel has been sabotaging efforts for peace since long before the beginning of this latest round of slaughter in Gaza.
Claimed there was only one incident in Rafah where civilians were killed: 6:13 2. Claimed 40,000 aid trucks have gone into Gaza - UN numbers are at around 28,000. And even distributing that aid has been hard because the war, attacks on aid workers, Gaza's security forces. 6:13 3. Claimed Iran sponsoring student protests, other protests - there's no evidence at all 6:15 4. That Israel isn't targeting civilians, throws leaflets etc warning people - The use of dumb bombs, disproportionate deaths of women and children, and the multiple specific instances of people waving white flags being killed; hospitals being attacked; schools bombed... 6:17 5. Hamas could end the war tomorrow - ignores the fact that it is Israel that has repeatedly rebuffed calls for a ceasefire, including UN resolutions. Once in a while, The New York Times has to tell inconvenient truths regarding Israel, the preferred partner in crime of the United States and the recipient of billions upon billions of dollars in American aid and weaponry. However, just because the US newspaper of record has to tell the truth doesn’t mean it has to do so in a straightforward way. There was that time in 2014, for example, that The Times reported on the Israeli missile strike that killed four young boys playing football on the beach in the Gaza Strip. While the text of the article did unflinchingly convey the fact that Israel had slaughtered four children, the headline was rendered preposterously vague: <Boys Drawn to Gaza Beach, and Into Center of Mideast Strife>. Now that the Gaza Strip has become not only the <centre of Mideast Strife> but the site of a straight-up genocide, The Times has once again found itself creatively diluting the news, as in Tuesday's headline: "Israel Was Less Flexible in Recent Gaza Cease-Fire Talks, Documents Show".
Translation: Israel is sabotaging ceasefire efforts in a war that way back in January had already killed one percent of the population of Gaza.
Officially, some 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, although according to a Lancet study the true death toll could exceed 186,000. For its part, the Joe Biden administration has just approved $20bn in additional arms transfers to Israel even as the US claims to be working towards a ceasefire. The New York Times confirms in its roundabout way that, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has relentlessly denied trying to block a deal in Gaza and instead blamed Hamas for the deadlock, unpublished documents seen by the newspaper "make clear that the behind-the-scenes maneuvering by the Netanyahu government has been extensive - and suggest that agreement may be elusive at a new round of negotiations set to begin on Thursday". In July, Israel <relayed a list of new stipulations> to US, Egyptian, and Qatari ceasefire mediators that "added less flexible conditions" to the "set of principles" it had previously provided. Among these new stipulations is that, rather than withdraw its military forces from the Gaza Strip in the event of a ceasefire, Israel would instead remain in control of Gaza’s southern border with Egypt. But what could the Palestinians possibly find objectionable in the casual maintenance of a brutal military occupation? Israel has also revived its insistence on erecting checkpoints where Israeli soldiers will conduct weapons screenings on displaced Palestinians returning to their homes in northern Gaza - a stipulation that is pretty soundly grotesque coming from the party that is currently perpetrating genocide with all manner of weaponry.
In short, it's a simple strategy of moving the goalposts. Whenever it seems that a ceasefire deal might be dangerously within reach, all Netanyahu has to do is throw in a bunch more demands that even members of his own security establishment deem over the top.
In addition to pandering to an Israeli far right for whom the prospect of any pause in mass killing is anathema, Netanyahu has other reasons for wanting to derail negotiations. If the war stops, he'll have to deal with corruption charges and domestic opposition - not to mention that annoying institution known as the International Criminal Court, where the chief prosecutor has applied for an arrest warrant for Netanyahu for alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip. At the end of the day, though, Israel has never been in the business of peace; rather, the entire Israeli enterprise is predicated on the perpetuation of war and killing. One need look no further than Israel’s extensive history of sabotaging not only ceasefire deals but the so-called <peace process> in general - all the while naturally blaming the Palestinians for any and all failures to reach a solution. The year prior to the official Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005, which supposedly ended Israel's occupation of the territory, then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's senior adviser Dov Weisglass gave the Haaretz newspaper the rundown on the deal. <The significance of the disengagement plan> from Gaza, Weisglass told Haaretz, was nothing less than <the freezing of the peace process>. He continued: <And when you freeze that process, you prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, and you prevent a discussion on the refugees, the borders and Jerusalem>. And voila: <Effectively, this whole package called the Palestinian state, with all that it entails, has been removed indefinitely from our agenda... All with a [US] presidential blessing and the ratification of both houses of Congress.> Of course, you can also remove the whole Palestinian state package from the agenda by just killing everyone. And as genocide proceeds apace with the next round of ceasefire negotiations set to kick off on Thursday, The New York Times's suggestion that an <agreement may be elusive> is an understatement, indeed.
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial stance.>>
Source:
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/8/14/less-flexible-just-say-it-nyt-israel-is-sabotaging-a-ceasefire-deal

Al Jazeera - August 14, 2024
<<Palestinian rights group calls for closure of 'Israeli torture camps'
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights says 2,650 Palestinians taken from Gaza since October remain in Israeli custody.
Palestinian detainees are enduring severe physical and psychological torture in Israeli facilities, the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights has said, calling for accountability for the abuses. The prisoners "have been exposed naked to the scorching sun while standing on sharp gravel stones, subjected to verbal abuse, and threatened with rape, death, and bombing, along with threats against their families", it said in a statement on Tuesday. The rights group said that recent testimony and evidence "reveal a level of violence that resounds with the atrocities documented in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib", referring to the United States-run detention facility in Cuba and the prison in Iraq where US soldiers abused detainees.
Al Mezan said that the detainees have also been "deprived of food, water, sleep, and access to sanitation for extended periods, all while facing extremely harsh living conditions".
The group estimated at least 2,650 Palestinians taken from the Gaza Strip after October 7 remain in Israeli custody, including 12 children and two women. Among them, approximately 300 are facing trials, while 2,350 are classified as "unlawful combatants" without a defined detention period or specific charges. Al Mezan said the torture has resulted in several deaths but there was no definitive record of the total number of Palestinians who have died in Israeli custody. The Palestinian Prisoner's Society disclosed the full identities of 22 Palestinians who died as a result of torture or medical negligence. "The targeting of Palestinian residents of Gaza appears to be part of a broader pattern of abuse, consistent with the crime of genocide," according to Al Mezan. The findings echo reports by the United Nations and other rights groups who have denounced the widespread abuse.
Footage recently broadcast by Israel's Channel 12 shed light on the sexual abuse inflicted on Palestinian detainees, drawing international condemnation and confirming numerous witness accounts. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a report last month detailing how Palestinians imprisoned since the October 7 Hamas-led attacks on Israel that triggered the current conflict had faced torture and mistreatment. "Some detainees said dogs were released on them, and others said they were subjected to waterboarding, or that their hands were tied and they were suspended from the ceiling. Some women and men also spoke of sexual and gender-based violence," the report said.
In a report titled Welcome to Hell, Israeli human rights group B'Tselem presented testimonies from 55 Palestinians, including 21 from the Gaza Strip, who had been held in Israeli prisons.
The violations they recounted included "frequent acts of severe, arbitrary violence; sexual assault; humiliation and degradation; deliberate starvation; forced unhygienic conditions; sleep deprivation".
B'Tselem said at least 60 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody since October 7, including about 48 people from Gaza.
It called on the International Criminal Court to investigate "individuals suspected of planning, directing and committing these crimes", saying the probe was not possible inside Israel "since all state systems, including the judiciary, have been mobilised in support of these torture camps".
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA>>
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/14/palestinian-rights-group-calls-for-closure-of-israeli-torture-camps

Al Jazeera - August 14, 2024 - by By AJLabs
<<Israel's intensifying attacks on Gaza schools
Israel has hit more than 500 Gaza schools in the past 10 months. Al Jazeera breaks down the deadliest attacks.
Last week more than 100 people were killed after Israel hit a school in Gaza City sheltering displaced Palestinians, as the United Nations accused Israel of intensifying attacks on schools. The targeting of al-Talbin School on Saturday during dawn prayers triggered global outrage. Paramedics at the scene described the carnage as horrific, with "bodies ripped to pieces". Israel claimed that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters were operating from the school - a claim that was rejected by Hamas. Israel has repeatedly attacked Gaza's schools, hospitals and universities, claiming the buildings were used for military purposes without providing any proof. With numerous evacuation orders since the war in Gaza began on October 7, schools have often been used to shelter nearly two million displaced Palestinians in the besieged enclave. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, schools are considered civilian objects and should be protected from attacks. However, within a 10-day period in August, Israeli forces struck five schools in Gaza City, killing more than 179 people and injuring scores more. At least 15 people were killed and more than 29 injured in an Israeli strike on the Dalal al-Mughrabi School on August 1, according to officials. Two days later, strikes on Hamama and al-Huda schools killed 17 and injured more than 60 people. On August 4, at least 30 people were killed and 19 others injured after Israel struck Nassr and Hassan Salameh schools in the Nassr neighbourhood in Gaza City. Israel bombed Abdul Fattah Hamouda and az-Zahra schools, killing 17 and injuring dozens more on August 8. The worst attack in recent weeks was on al-Tabin School, which Al Jazeera's Hind Khoudary said was hit by at least three missile attacks.
The UN's special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, condemned the attack. "Israel is genociding the Palestinians, one neighbourhood at the time, one hospital at the time, one school at the time, one refugee camp at the time, one 'safe zone' at the time. With US and European weapons," she posted on X.
Almost 85 percent of school buildings in Gaza have been damaged, with nearly all schools in North Gaza either being <directly hit> or damaged. This is followed by Gaza City, where more than 90 percent of the schools have been damaged or destroyed. According to data compiled by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), up to July 6, 564 schools in the Gaza Strip have been directly hit or damaged by Israeli attacks.
Are attacks on schools in Gaza increasing?
There has been an increasing trend by Israeli forces of attacking school shelters that are housing thousands of people displaced by the war.
According to the data compiled by UNICEF, from November onwards, the number of directly hit schools increased fivefold as the number of schools hit went from 60 to almost 340.
The total number of children killed during the war has increased to more than 16,500, while the total death toll in Gaza stands at nearly 40,000.
The increased number of attacks on school shelters comes amid global calls for a ceasefire, and regional pressure to end the assault on Gaza, which has been turned into a vast wasteland of rubble. But experts have said continued Israeli attacks across Gaza risk derailing those efforts, with some accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of seeking to sabotage any possible deal to end the war. Additionally, analysts have told Al Jazeera that Israel's military strategically uses disproportionate violence.
"Israel's military has failed both to secure the release of the hostages and to deal a 'death blow' to Hamas," said Tariq Kenney-Shawa, a policy fellow at Al-Shabaka, a Palestinian policy network, who noted "Massive attacks ... give the Israeli government and military something to point to as a 'win' if they result in the death of Hamas leaders and large numbers of civilians because it fits into Israel's wider strategy of deterrence through unparalleled destruction."
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA>>
Source incl. maps:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/14/israels-intensifying-attacks-on-gaza-schools


Newborn babies killed
Al Jazeera - August 13, 2024
<<Israeli strike kills newborn twins as father collected birth certificates
A Palestinian father lost his newborn twins and their mother in an Israeli air strike while he was out collecting their just completed birth certificates.>>
Source incl. video:
https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2024/8/13/israeli-strike-kills-newborn-twins-as-father-collected-birth-certificates

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