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  August wk3 P3 -- August wk3 bis2 -- August wk3bis -- August wk3 P4 -- August wk3 P3 -- August wk3 P2 -- August wk3 -- August 2 P2 -- August wk2 -- August wk1 P2 -- August wk1 --  Click here for an overview by week in 2024
 

Special reports: TRIBUTES TO MOTHERS AND CHILDREN Shoroughs' family August 12, 2024: 'Part of me is missing': How Israel's war on Gaza tears spouses apart earlier stories: 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 25 - 22, 2024 Food for thought/question: What is not spoken of weighs the heaviest. Or does it? Read the latest news below. Gino d'Artali

August 22 - 20, 2024 "Democrats fund the genocide of Palestinians" and "Genocide Joe's legacy: The Butcher of Gaza." Demontrators at the Democratic National Convention, USA and more actual news

Additional stories of utmost interest: August 20, 2024: <<Palestinians are being dehumanised to justify occupation and genocide... and August 18, 2024 <<Solidarity with Palestine must be about decolonisation, not just ceasefire... 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 12, 2024 Israel's "blatant act of intimidation and incitement" August 2 - July 21, 2024 Is Western journalism as envisioned dead and other stories   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.

Food for thought/question: What is not spoken of
weighs the heaviest.
Or does it? Read the latest news below.
Gino d'Artali

Al Jazeera - August 25, 2024 - By Nils Adler and - Umut Uras
<<Israel's war on Gaza live: Dozen Palestinians killed amid ceasefire talks
PIC
A young boy with a bandage around his head is comforted by an older man
Israel's military launched air raids across southern Lebanon and Hezbollah carried out a large drone and rocket attack.
The escalation came as the Reuters news agency reported no sign of progress in mediated talks for a ceasefire in Gaza. Citing a Palestinian official, it said a Hamas delegation that was in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, has departed the city.>>
Read more here:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/8/25/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israel-bombards-gaza-on-eve-of-high-level-talks

Al Jazeera - August 24, 2024 - By Justin Salhani
<<Is the playing field level for Hamas, Israel in the ceasefire talks?
A delegation from the Palestinian group Hamas has landed in Cairo on Saturday evening to "listen to the results of negotiations thus far" between mediators - Egypt, Qatar and the United States - and Israel. Observers are reluctant to call this a hopeful sign as conviction grows that Gaza ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel are on the verge of collapse.
Negotiations of some form or another have been ongoing practically since October 7, the day Israel launched a war on Gaza that has killed more than 40,000 people and destroyed most of the Strip - ostensibly in retribution for a Hamas-led attack on Israel that killed 1,139 people and took more than 200 captive.
An agreement had seemed close in May when the US said it had a draft proposal approved by all parties and endorsed by the UN Security Council on June 10.
Eleventh-hour failures
Hamas agreed to the proposal, emphasising that it wanted the Israeli army out of Gaza, the return of people to their north Gaza homes that they had been driven out of, international engagement to rebuild Gaza, and the release of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Israeli officials kept making statements indicating that the war on Gaza must continue - and the Israeli army invaded Rafah. Yet the US maintained that Israel had accepted the proposal and the stumbling block was Hamas, which was holding up all progress.
With a ceasefire agreement seemingly in arm's reach, it disappeared.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu maintained his rhetoric of continuing to fight until <Hamas is completely defeated in Gaza>, a goal long called out as unrealistic by parties on both sides. He eventually also presented new demands: that Israel remain in the Philadelphi Corridor abutting Egypt's Sinai, checkpoints be set up to <vet> people trying to go back to their homes in north Gaza, and that full lists be provided of all living captives Hamas intends to release. Senior Israeli officials said Netanyahu's demands would sabotage the talks, and the mediators refused to pass them on to Hamas. Egypt has refused Israel's demand that it be allowed to remain in the Philadelpi Corridor, which would violate the Camp David Accords between the two.
Blinken's rhetoric
The US proposal followed past drafts, sticking to a three-phase process that would release all captives in Gaza in exchange for prisoners held by Israel, achieving a <sustainable calm> to lead to a full ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, the reconstruction of the Strip, and the eventual opening of crossings. <We had a proposal that [US President Biden] laid out in late May which was fairly detailed and passed at the UN Security Council as a resolution [with] global support,> Matt Duss, the executive vice president at the Center for International Policy in Washington, DC, said. <Yet, we've seen various rounds of new conditions added by Netanyahu who, despite Biden saying Israel supports it, made it very clear that he didn't.> Netanyahu was criticised by Israeli negotiators for undermining talks after a local broadcaster reported comments he made about Israel not leaving the Philadelphi or Netzarim Corridor - which the Israeli army created to separate north and south Gaza - <under any circumstances>. US officials have been in the region trying to work out sticking points in recent days with a <bridging proposal> that reportedly includes withdrawal plans. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, however, would not say if the proposal includes the Israeli army fully withdrawing from Gaza as earlier proposals mentioned. But he maintained his earlier assessment as to who was holding things up. <In a very constructive meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu today, he confirmed to me that Israel supports the bridging proposal,> Blinken said to reporters after a two-and-a-half-hour meeting with Netanyahu on Monday. <The next important step is for Hamas to say 'yes'.>
Blinken's claims were rejected by Hamas, who maintained that they wanted to stick to the agreed-upon deal.
"The Israelis have retreated from issues included in Biden's proposal. Netanyahu's talk about agreeing to an updated proposal indicates that the US administration has failed to convince him to accept the previous agreement," Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan told Al Jazeera on Monday. And while Blinken has held firm in public that Netanyahu agrees to the deal, Israeli media have reported things playing out differently behind the scenes.
US backing Netanyahu 'for inexplicable reasons'
The Biden administration’s continued support for Netanyahu, despite his reported obstinance, has left many analysts baffled. "We're in this surreal situation where both Hamas and Israeli security officials are saying Netanyahu is the one blocking Biden’s ceasefire proposal," Mohamad Bazzi, director of Near Eastern Studies at New York University, told Al Jazeera. "We also see that Netanyahu publicly rejected key elements of the ceasefire as Blinken has described the deal ... but at same time both [US President Joseph] Biden and Blinken insist that Netanyahu supports the current deal and Hamas is the stumbling block."
"So we end up with the US administration covering for Netanyahu for inexplicable reasons."
While Israel's stated objective for the talks is retrieving captives held in Gaza, Netanyahu's reported sabotage of talks has some questioning if he is genuinely interested in a deal.
Some 109 captives remain in Gaza, according to Israeli government estimates, and US officials believe half of them to still be alive. Families who have loved ones missing in Gaza have been protesting regularly and calling on their government to save the captives.
"There's a very strong argument that Netanyahu doesn't want a ceasefire at this point," Bazzi said. "In many ways, why should he when the US won't impose any cost on him for being the biggest obstacle to a ceasefire?"
'Doomed'
Biden and his administration have criticised Netanyahu in the past. In April, Biden said Netanyahu was making a mistake in his handling of the war in Gaza. Then in early June, Biden suggested Netanyahu was prolonging the war for personal and political gain. Despite the criticisms, the Biden administration has refused to condition their support of Netanyahu's government. "Biden has two very important levers, the primary being the holding or conditioning of military aid and the second is the political cover at the UN Security Council and other international bodies... and he doesn't seem to use them.," Bazzi said. The failure to hold Netanyahu and Israel to account has led to questions over the US’s accountability over the destruction of Gaza. "Biden is completely complicit in this war that wouldn't have been possible in the first place, ... without full US support and cover," Gilbert Achcar, professor of development studies and international relations at SOAS University of London, said.
"These negotiations were doomed to fail from the start... it's basically a waste of time," Achcar said. "The function is more for the Biden administration to try to show that it is doing something. But I think they know quite well that it’s leading nowhere because the gap between what Netanyahu wants and what Hamas requests is too wide to be overcome."
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA>>
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/24/is-the-field-level-for-hamas-israel-in-the-ceasefire-talks

France 24 - August 24, 2024 - by NEWS WIRES
<<Police open terror probe after explosion near synagogue in southern France
An explosion outside a synagogue in the southern French town of La Grande-Motte on Saturday morning injured a policeman and damaged at least two vehicles. Authorities are treating the blast as a potential terror attack. Security around Jewish sites was tightened following the early Saturday blast outside the Beth Yaacov synagogue in the seaside resort of La Grande Motte, near the city of Montpellier. A fire was also started at the entrance of the synagogue, but was quickly put out, with two doors damaged, investigators said. President Emmanuel Macron called the incident "an act of terror", adding on X that "the fight against anti-Semitism is a daily fight". Two cars outside the synagogue burst into flames after a gas canister likely exploded inside one of the vehicles, police said. The blast wounded a police officer, police said, without providing any other details.
La Grande Motte's mayor, Stephan Rossignol, said that CCTV had picked up images of an individual setting fire to the cars. The potential suspect seen in the footage was brandishing a Palestinian flag, a source close to the probe added. Another source said that the man was carrying two empty bottles and had a Palestinian flag draped around his waist as left the scene on foot. One of the images also appeared to show him to be armed, possibly with a 9mm pistol, the source added. The explosion comes amid a heightened state of alert in France and other European countries because of the war in Gaza.
'Anti-Semitic act'
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said France's national anti-terror prosecutors had been tasked with probing the incident. <La Grande Motte's synagogue was the target of an attack this morning,> Attal said in a post on X. <An anti-Semitic act. Once again, our Jewish fellow citizens are being targeted.> Earlier, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin called the incident <an obviously criminal act>. He said <all means are being deployed to find the perpetrator>. The police presence outside Jewish sites in France would be increased following the explosion, the minister added. Darmanin and Attal were to travel to the site of the explosion later on Saturday. The blast occurred during Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest that runs from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday, with many attending synagogue services. There was, however, no religious service ongoing at the time of the incident, a police source said. A rabbi and four other people were inside the synagogue at the time but all were unharmed, investigators said. There was no immediate information about the gravity of the police officer's injuries. The town of La Grande Motte has about 8,500 permanent residents but the population swells during the summer tourism season. Darmanin said this month that the government had counted 887 anti-Semitic acts in France in the first half of 2024, nearly three times as many as in the same period in 2023. France is home to the biggest Jewish population outside Israel and the United States, and also to the largest Muslim community in the European Union. The Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF) called the explosion <an attempt to kill Jews>. The use of a gas canister <in a car at a time when worshippers are expected to arrive at the synagogue is not simply a criminal act>, CRIF president Yonathan Arfi told AFP. <This shows an intention to kill.>
(AFP)>>
Source incl. video:
https://www.france24.com/en/france/20240824-explosion-near-synagogue-in-southern-france-injures-police-officer

Al Jazeera - August 24, 2024
<<ICC prosecutor urges judges to rule on warrants for Israeli, Hamas leaders
Karim Khan says the court has the power to issue the warrants against PM Netanyahu and Hamas officials over Gaza war.
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has called on judges to "urgently" rule on his request for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others linked to the war on Gaza. Prosecutor Karim Khan said that "any unjustified delay in these proceedings detrimentally affects the rights of victims". Khan had applied for arrest warrants against Israeli officials, including Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as three Hamas leaders in May for alleged crimes committed during the Hamas-led October 7 attack on southern Israel and Israel's subsequent war on Gaza. Khan stressed, in court filings made public on Friday, that the ICC had jurisdiction over Israeli nationals who commit atrocities in the occupied Palestinian territory and asked the judges to dismiss legal challenges filed by several governments and other parties.
He rejected claims by Israel that it is carrying out its own investigations into alleged war crimes. ICC prosecutors have said there are reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Gallant, as well as Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, military chief Mohammed al-Masri and Hamas's political leader Ismail Haniyeh, bear criminal responsibility for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran in July. The court has since declined to comment on reports of his death. Sinwar, Hamas's top official in Gaza who masterminded the October 7 attacks, was subsequently named the group’s new leader. Israel has said it killed al-Masri, known as Mohammed Deif, in an air raid in southern Gaza in July, but there has been no confirmation from Hamas. Israel and Palestinian leaders have dismissed allegations of war crimes, and representatives for both sides have criticised Khan's decision to seek warrants. Netanyahu called the prosecutor's accusations against him a <disgrace>, and an attack on the Israeli military and all of Israel. Hamas also denounced Khan's actions, saying the request to arrest its leaders equated "the victim with the executioner". Israel is not a member of the court, so even if the arrest warrants are issued, Netanyahu and Gallant do not face any immediate risk of prosecution. But the threat of arrest could make it difficult for the Israeli leaders to travel abroad. It remains unclear when the judges will rule on Khan's request for warrants.
Gaza's Ministry of Health said on Saturday that at least 40,334 people have been killed and 93,356 wounded in Israel's war on the enclave. 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: NEWS AGENCIES>>
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/24/icc-prosecutor-urges-judges-to-rule-on-warrants-for-israeli-hamas-leaders

Le Monde - August 23, 2024 - By Laure Stephan (Amman, Beirut, special correspondent)
<<From Nakba to present day, UNRWA archives hold the personal histories of Palestinian refugees
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees digitizes administrative documents and aims to trace the family trees of five generations of refugees. The Nuseirat camp in the Gaza Strip in the early 1950s. Today, it is home to more than 40,000 registered Palestinian refugees. In the Jordanian offices of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Amman, a large room contains archives of family files. They include registration cards issued by the first organizations to have helped the displaced, such as the Red Cross; records dating from the census carried out between 1950 and1951 by the UN agency that was just beginning its mandate at the time; copies of birth and death certificates, property deeds and identity papers from the days of the British Mandate for Palestine. The room is not open to the public, however Le Monde was granted access. Since its creation in 1949, UNRWA has used these documents in its five operational areas (Gaza, West Bank, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon) to determine who is a refugee and what services they can access. Over the decades, however, these registers have taken on an entirely different, historical value: they preserve the legacy of the Nakba (Arabic for "catastrophe"), when more than 700,000 Palestinians were expelled during the fighting that preceded and followed the creation of the State of Israel in May 1948. They tell the story of five generations, at the crossroads of history, of personal and collective tragedies, such as the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990), in which the Palestinian fedayeen took part. The digitization of the Palestinian refugees' historical documents began in the 2000s but was suspended due to lack of funding. It has now been resumed, and UNRWA is working hard to complete it by the end of the year. The documents that have already been digitized are now stored in a registration information system. Palestinian temporary workers in Amman are hard at work, sometimes wearing gloves to handle yellowed papers before they are scanned and filed on a computer. "It's like a national archive," said UNRWA employee Rami Ibrahim. The UN agency has compiled its first figures on refugees based on the 1950-1951 census. The files are packed with information on the composition of the families, their village of origin, the circumstances of their exodus and their living conditions in the host countries.
'Written in black and white'
"Our database is the only one that exists on refugees: protecting these archives also protects the refugees' rights," said Valeria Cetorelli, the director of UNRWA's registration and eligibility department. Based in Beirut, she travels regularly to Jordan to supervise the digitization process and heads an ambitious project, which is to draw up the family trees of the 6 million or so Palestinian refugees registered in the Middle East today, which includes the families who were displaced in 1948 - those who are still alive and their descendants. This figure does not include children born of a Palestinian mother and a non-Palestinian father, as refugee status can only be handed down through the father.>>
Read more here:
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/08/24/from-nakba-to-present-day-unrwa-archives-hold-the-personal-histories-of-palestinian-refugees_6720877_4.html

Al Jazeera - August 23, 2024 - Claire Provost Co-director of the non-profit Institute for Journalism and Social Change
<<Under the radar, Ireland is helping illegal Israeli settlements do business
If it is to maintain its reputation as a defender of Palestinian rights, Ireland must urgently review its financial connections to illegal settlements.
Ireland has been called the most pro-Palestinian country in Europe. So this might surprise you: at the same time - largely under the radar - it has been playing a pivotal role in connecting businesses in illegal Israeli settlements with consumers around the world. Take the case of Etsy, the popular platform for more <ethical> artisanal and vintage shopping online. The company's business outside the Americas is handled by its Irish subsidiary. This business includes hosting dozens of shops that explicitly list illegal settlements as their locations (as documented in a recent investigative report I worked on). Etsy has a big Dublin office not far from Ireland's parliament, which has been discussing a new bill to prohibit state investment in settlement businesses. It is the latest but not the only example of such contradictions. Airbnb has been challenged for years for listing properties in settlements, also through its Dublin-based subsidiary. What is going on here? Two Irish trends seem to be colliding with each other. For decades, Ireland has worked to make itself a particularly <attractive> base for expanding multinational companies. Meanwhile, it has a long history of opposing occupation and it has been on the global stage for supporting Palestinian rights and statehood. This is why people of conscience around the world should keep an eye on the Emerald Isle. It has an opportunity to help protect global consumers from complicity in Israeli war crimes. There also seem to be some clear ways in which the country could take action against settlement businesses, including under anti-money laundering legislation.
Illegal Israeli settlements have been expanding amid Israel's war and "plausible genocide" in Gaza. They have also been in the news for increasing violence by some settlers against Palestinians who live nearby. The United Nations human rights office said that the establishment and expansion of these settlements amounts to a "war crime". The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in July 2024 also confirmed that these settlements go against international law. It was clear that all countries are obliged "not to render aid or assistance in maintaining" this unlawful situation. Ireland, which additionally officially recognised Palestine as a state earlier this year, is not a country that you'd expect to be enabling illegal Israeli settlements. But it has worked since the 1950s to become a hub for thousands of multinational corporations - including those with connections to these settlements like Etsy and Airbnb. Previously, while working on my book Silent Coup: How Corporations Overthrew Democracy (with co-author Matt Kennard), I went to Ireland to learn about how it set up what's considered the first modern Special Economic Zone (SEZ), inspiring the establishment of other corporate carve-outs around the world, including in China. The United States government still praises Ireland's particularly <pro-business government policies and regulators>. The British bank HSBC calls it <a gateway to the European Union> and <a hub for ... thousands of multinational businesses>. Meanwhile, Ireland is considered <one of the world's most successful tax havens>. Recently, it has abstained in votes for a historic UN global tax convention to close loopholes that enable tax abuse. Etsy - which profits when shops list, advertise and sell items via its platform – is one of the many multinational companies that have found a home in Ireland. I was surprised to find illegal Israeli settlements represented among the locations of its shops, given the <ethical consumerism> niche that the company seems to occupy online. It has a mission to <keep commerce human>, and policies against the sale of things that are illegal or <subject to complex legal regulations>. It closed Russian shops amid the invasion of Ukraine. When asked about the settlement shops on its platform, Etsy said: <We have shared this information internally with the appropriate teams for review.> Connections to war crimes demand more urgency and action than this. It is more evidence of why we cannot <leave it to companies> - even <ethical> ones - to ensure that human rights are upheld. We need strong and coherent state responses, too.
Ireland's "Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill" - if passed - would prohibit Irish state investment in businesses that appear in the UN's database of companies that are involved in the settlements. However, there may be others (like Etsy) not yet included in that database. State investment is also not the only area of Irish responsibility here. In response to the findings of Etsy's connections to the settlements, Dr Gearoid O Cuinn, an Irish human rights lawyer and director of GLAN (Global Legal Action Network) said: "The Irish government ought to take action to ensure that businesses operating in Ireland are not contributing to Israel’s occupation of Palestine." Any company that enables businesses in illegal settlements, he said, "significantly risks violating not only international standards but also Irish law, including anti-money laundering legislation".
Earlier this year, human rights groups including GLAN launched a first-of-its-kind complaint arguing that the Criminal Assets Bureau should seize any revenue generated for Ireland from illegal settlements under the Proceeds of Crime Act. Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, Dutch prosecutors are currently investigating a criminal complaint against Booking.com, and its business with these illegal settlements. That complaint, launched by other civil society groups including SOMO (the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations), argues that Booking.com (based in the Netherlands) is in breach of Dutch anti-money laundering legislation because proceeds from its business with the illegal settlements are entering the Dutch financial system. Irish officials should face similarly serious questions about whether and how proceeds of business with illegal Israeli settlements are entering the Irish financial system, against its anti-money laundering laws - and its position on Palestinian rights. Beyond Etsy and Airbnb, there are likely to be many other such Irish connections to the settlements. It does not seem tenable for the country to continue enabling this business while maintaining its global pro-Palestinian rights reputation. It must choose.
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/2024/8/23/under-the-radar-ireland-is-helping-illegal-israeli-settlements-do-business

Al Jazeera - August 23, 2024 - by Alexander Kozul-Wright
<<Gaza war extends toll on Israel's economy
Heightened tensions between Israel and Iran could incur ‘significant additional military spending' for Israel, further straining its finances. Last week, Fitch Ratings downgraded Israel's credit score from A+ to A. Fitch cited the continued war in Gaza and heightened geopolitical risks as key drivers. The agency also kept Israel's outlook as "negative", meaning a further downgrade is possible. After Hamas's deadly attack on October 7, Israel’s stock market and currency nosedived. Both have since bounced back. But concerns about the country's economy persist. Earlier this year, Moody's and S&P also cut their credit ratings for Israel.
So far, Israel's war on Gaza has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians and decimated the economy in the besieged Palestinian enclave.
There are signs of a blowback in Israel, too, where consumption, trade and investment have all been curtailed. Separately, Fitch warned that heightened tensions between Israel and Iran could incur "significant additional military spending" for Israel. The Bank of Israel has estimated that war-related costs for 2023-2025 could amount to $55.6bn. These funds will likely be secured through a combination of higher borrowing and budget cuts. The upshot is that combat operations are putting a strain on the economy. On Sunday, Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics estimated that output grew by 2.5 percent (at an annual rate) in the first half of 2024, down from 4.5 percent in the same period last year.
Slowing growth
Before the outbreak of the war, Israel's economy was forecast to grow by 3.5 percent last year. In the end, output expanded by just 2 percent. An even sharper drop was avoided thanks to the country’s all-important tech sector, which has been largely unaffected by fighting. Other parts of the economy have taken a significant hit. In the final quarter of last year and in the weeks after the war began, Israel's gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 20.7 percent (in annual terms). The slump was driven by a 27 percent drop in private consumption, a drop in exports and a slash in investment by businesses. Household expenditure snapped back at the start of the year, but has since cooled. Israel also imposed strict controls on the movement of Palestinian workers, forgoing up to 160,000 workers. To tackle those shortages, Israel has been running recruitment drives in India and Sri Lanka with mixed results. But labour markets remain undersupplied, particularly in the construction and agriculture sectors. According to the business survey company CofaceBDI, roughly 60,000 Israeli companies will close this year due to manpower shortages, logistics disruptions and subdued business sentiment. Investment plans have, in turn, been delayed. At the same time, tourist arrivals continue to fall short of pre-October levels. Meanwhile, the war has triggered a steep rise in government spending. According to Elliot Garside, a Middle East analyst at Oxford Economics, there was a 93 percent increase in military expenditure in the last three months of 2023, compared to the same period in 2022.
"In 2024, monthly data suggests military expenditure will be around double the previous year," Garside said. Much of that increase will be used on reservist wages, artillery, and interceptors for Israel's Iron Dome defence system. Garside told Al Jazeera these expenditures "have mostly been financed by issuance of domestic debt". Israel has also received some $14.5bn supplemental funding from the United States this year, on top of the $3bn in annual aid that the US provides to the country. Garside noted, "We are yet to see any major cutbacks to other parts of the budget [like healthcare and education], although it is likely that cuts will be made in the aftermath of the conflict." Absent a full-scale regional war, Oxford Economics anticipates that Israel’s economy will slow to 1.5 percent growth this year. Subdued growth and elevated deficits will put further pressure on Israel's debt profile, which will likely raise borrowing costs and soften investor confidence.
Bruised public finances
Fitch expects Israel to permanently increase military spending by 1.5 percent of GDP compared to prewar levels, with unavoidable consequences for the public deficit. Last week's rating report noted that "debt [will] remain above 70 percent of GDP in the medium-term". The report emphasised that public finances have been hit, and that "we project a deficit of 7.8 percent of GDP in 2024 [up from 4.1 percent last year]". Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has publicly disagreed, and expressed confidence that it will fall back to 6.6 percent this year. "The downgrade following the war and the geopolitical risks it creates is natural," Smotrich said, according to media reports. He added that a responsible budget will soon be passed, and that Israel's ratings would rise "very quickly". For now, doubts remain about the budget's timeline. There has been speculation that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is delaying his fiscal package, which may prove domestically unpopular. Failure to pass a budget by March 31, 2025 would automatically trigger snap elections. Earlier this week, Israel's Central Bank chief - Amir Yaron - called on Netanyahu to speed up the 2025 state budget, as further delays risk stoking financial market instability. For its part, Fitch believes that Israel will adopt a combination of austerity measures and tax hikes. But in their August 12 report, Fitch analysts Cedric Julien Berry and Jose Mantero pointed out that "political fractiousness, coalition politics, and military imperatives could hinder [fiscal] consolidation". What's more, the rating agency warned that "the conflict in Gaza could last well into 2025 and there are risks of it broadening to other fronts".
Regional conflict
On Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Netanyahu had accepted a <bridging proposal> designed to reach a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and diffuse growing tensions with Iran. The following day, eight Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack on a crowded market in Deir el-Balah, in central Gaza. Hamas has yet to agree to the bridging proposal, calling it an attempt by the US to buy time "for Israel to continue its genocide". Instead, the Palestinian group has urged a return to a previous proposal announced by US President Joe Biden, which has more guarantees that a ceasefire would bring about a permanent end to the war. Netanyahu has insisted that the war will continue until Hamas is totally destroyed, even if a deal is agreed. Israeli officials, including Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, have rubbished the idea of a total victory against Hamas.
A decades-old shadow war between Israel and Iran surfaced in April, when Tehran launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel in response to the killing of two commanders from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Damascus. Along its Lebanese border, Israel has traded near-daily attacks with Hezbollah since last October. The armed group began firing on Israel as a show of solidarity with Hamas. Both organisations have close ties with Iran. More recently, the assassinations of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut have sparked fears that the conflict in Gaza could metastasise into a regional conflict. "The human toll [of a wider war] could be significant. There would also be huge economic costs," says Omer Moav, an Israeli economics professor at the University of Warwick. "For Israel, a long war would come with high costs and greater deficits," he said. In addition to undermining Israel's debt profile, Moav said that prolonged fighting would incur "other costs", like labour shortages and infrastructure damage, as well as the possibility of international sanctions against Israel. "Israel is currently ignoring the fact that economics may lead to greater [societal] damage than war itself," said Moav. "The government is not behaving responsibly. Does it want to avoid the costs of war, or does continued conflict serve political interests?"
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA>>
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2024/8/23/gaza-war-extends-toll-on-israels-economy

BBC - August 23, 2024
<<Gaza nurse says whole family, including quadruplets, killed in air strike
Handout Woman standing with four children - all wearing colourful clothing - standing in front of rainbow coloured cloth and behind a table that is filled with party foodHandout
Hala Khattab and her six children were killed when an air strike destroyed their family home in Deir al-Balah
A nurse in Gaza has told the BBC his wife and six children - including a group of quadruplets - were killed in an attack in the central Gaza strip.
"My entire family has been wiped out in an instant", says Ashraf El Attar, "leaving me with nothing".
The nurse - who works at Gaza's European hospital - says his family home in Deir-al-Balah was hit in the early hours of Sunday morning. He survived with minor injuries.
Israel has not spoken about this specific attack, but has said its forces were operating in the city. It says it only targets members of armed groups.
Killed in the strike were Mr El Attar's wife - Hala Khattab, a teacher - and their six children - a 15-year-old boy, a one-year-old girl, and their four 10-year-old quadruplets.
Speaking to BBC Arabic's Gaza Today podcast, the nurse says that around 6am on the morning of the attack he was getting ready for work when he "heard the alarm sound and suddenly lost consciousness".
When he came to, Mr El Attar says he was in "severe pain" and the house "was in ruins".
All the outer walls of their apartment building were destroyed.
"I desperately called out for my children and my wife, but it was too late.
"My six children, including four twins, and my wife were killed instantly in the attack," he says.
The strike took them by surprise, Mr El Attar says. The night before, the family had spent time "enjoying a soap opera together", trying to "escape the harsh reality of war".
Ashraf El Attar sat down wearing turquoise hospital scrub top and with his hands raised in the air in front of him. His right hand is heavily bandaged and has his fingers and thumb poking out. His right eye is covered in an eye patch
Mr El Attar says all his "dreams have been destroyed" in the attack
Mr El Attar's mother - and grandmother to his six children - says she "cannot comprehend" why their home was hit.
"My son Ashraf works as a nurse at the European hospital, where he is dedicated to helping patients.
"We had no connections with any organisations," she says.
The couple had an "incredibly challenging time" raising their children, she says, in particular the quadruplets.
"The babies faced severe health issues in their early months and nearly died.
"We provided oxygen cylinders at home, and one of them, Hammam, underwent hernia surgery," she says.
Handout Four children lay in circle on grass with their thumbs raised into the air. Some yellow stars, added via a camera filter, appear over the top of the image.Handout
The couple's six children - a 15-year-old boy, a one-year-old girl, and a group of 10-year-old quadruplets - were all killed
Mr El Attar says his wife - Hala - was "dedicated" to helping displaced people.
She was working for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa), he says, a UN agency that provides support for Palestinian refugees.
Now the nurse says he is forced to come to terms with the life they could have had together.
"I worked tirelessly to support my family and watch my children grow up, dreaming of giving them a better future - a big house, a car, and mobile phones," he says.
But now "all those dreams have been destroyed".
"I demand justice for my family", he says, something he vows to pursue through "any international court".
"Israel has committed a grave injustice. My entire family has been wiped out in an instant, leaving me with nothing."
The Israel Defense Forces has not commented on this specific strike, but has said it was operating in Deir al-Balah over the weekend.
In another statement on Monday, it said it had been operating in the outskirts of Deir al-Balah "eliminating terrorists, destroying combat compounds above and below ground".
It says it only targets members of armed groups, and blames civilian deaths on Hamas - who it says places fighters, weapons, tunnels and rockets in residential areas.
Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 people in an attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, taking 251 others back to Gaza as hostages.
That attack triggered a massive Israeli military offensive against Gaza and the current war, during which more than 40,170 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.>>
Source:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyn31g50e3o

Le Monde - August 22, 2024 - By Stephanie Maupas (The Hague (Netherlands) correspondent)
<<International Criminal Court faces constant pressure over Gaza and Israel
To prevent the issuing of arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Israel, along with several Western countries, has stepped up efforts to paralyze the Court.
The diplomatic reprisals against Norway, announced by Israel on August 8, are the latest in a series of moves to prevent the International Criminal Court (ICC) from issuing arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. On the same day, Israel's foreign minister, Israel Katz, justified the decision to revoke the diplomatic status of Norwegian staff working with the Palestinian Authority by criticizing Norway for recognizing Palestine at the end of May, and for joining the "baseless case against [Israel] before the ICC." On May 20, the Court's prosecutor, Karim Khan, had requested arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.
Three weeks later, in an unusual move, the United Kingdom applied to intervene as amicus curiae ("friend of the court") to provide the judges with expert advice. London argued that the Oslo Accords – signed in 1993 at the White House by Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization – did not allow Palestinians to ask the Court to investigate crimes committed by Israelis, as they had done in 2018. This request had led to the opening of an investigation in March 2021, then, this year, to arrest warrants – which have still not been issued.
The judges then allowed the British to submit a 10-page brief, before the new Labour government of former barrister and director of public prosecutions Keir Starmer finally renounced it. If this was a maneuver to gain time, it was successful: By accepting London's request, the ICC judges allowed others to intervene. They received over 60 responses, from professors of international law, lawyers, NGOs, think tanks, a US senator, former NATO generals, UN experts and some 20 states. These include Norway, which claims to have played a mediating role in the negotiations leading up to the Oslo Accords, but is now facing diplomatic reprisals from Israel.
Slowing down the procedure
The British initiative, which was discussed by the G7 in mid-June, is a further attempt to prevent the issuance of arrest warrants against Israeli officials. The Israeli prime minister himself has been active in the campaign. In early July, during a telephone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron, Netanyahu asked Paris to become a "friend of the court." France abstained, not because it disagreed, but because "it could have led certain states to recognize Palestine in order to circumvent the Oslo obstacle, and would therefore be risky," a diplomatic source told Le Monde. At any rate, Paris welcomed the slowdown in the procedure. At the beginning of June, Macron had given assurances that the warrants would not be issued for a long time.>>
Read more here:
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/08/22/international-criminal-court-faces-constant-pressure-over-gaza-and-israel_6719856_4.html

Le Monde - August 22, 2024
<<Biden presses Netanyahu on Gaza deal as talks stumble
The US and Israeli leaders spoke after US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken ended a tour of the Middle East aimed at reaching an accord as tensions rise in the region.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday, August 21, pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a Gaza ceasefire deal with Hamas as talks on a truce faltered. The American and Israeli leaders spoke hours after US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken ended a tour of the Middle East aimed at reaching an accord as tensions rise in the region.
In a statement on X, Biden said he "made clear that we must bring the ceasefire and hostage release deal to closure and discussed upcoming talks in Cairo to remove any remaining obstacles."
He also updated Netanyahu on "US efforts to support Israel's defense against threats from Iran and its proxy terrorist groups," after Tehran threatened revenge for the assassination of a top Hamas leader in Tehran. The White House said separately in a readout of the call that the US president "stressed the urgency" of reaching a deal. Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee to face Republican Donald Trump in November's US election, also took part in the call, it said.
The Axios news outlet said earlier that Biden was set to push Netanyahu to be more flexible in the talks, which are being brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar. It said the US leader would focus on a demand for Israel to maintain control of the Philadelphi Corridor, the border between Gaza and Egypt that Israeli forces seized from Hamas.
Tense relations
Israel says Hamas relies on tunnels to bring in weapons. Biden has backed Israel since the October 7 Hamas attacks, supplying the country with huge amounts of military aid for what Netanyahu says is the goal of destroying the Palestinian militant group.
But relations have been tense between the US and Israeli leaders, with Biden calling on Israel to reduce civilian casualties. The October 7 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,199 people, most of them civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) tally based on Israeli official figures.
Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed 40,223 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which does not give details of civilian and militant deaths. The UN rights office says most dead are women and children. Palestinian militants also seized 251 hostages, of whom 105 remain in Gaza including 34 the military says are dead.
The Israeli military killed a senior Palestinian militant in Lebanon on Wednesday, leading to accusations from the Fatah movement that Israel was trying to ignite a regional war. The strike that killed Khalil Maqdah, described by Fatah as "one of the leaders" of its armed wing in Lebanon, came hours after Blinken's return to the US.
Read more Israel strikes Gaza school shelter killing over 90
Le Monde with AFP>>
Source:
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/08/22/biden-presses-netanyahu-on-gaza-deal-as-talks-stumble_6719557_4.html

Al Jazeera - August 22, 2024 - by Ali Harb
<<'They want to erase us:' How DNC rejected demand for Palestinian speaker
Critics say the decision excludes Palestinians from the 'big tent' coalition Democrats say they are building.
Chicago, Illinois - Abbas Alawieh sat cross-legged on the ground outside the Democratic National Convention in an almost meditative posture.
Stretched out on the concrete in front of him were signs that read "Not another bomb" and "Arms embargo now", their four corners pinned down by water bottles. The searing August sun glared against his forehead. But Alawieh did not move, even as the concrete around him grew hot. He and other delegates from the Uncommitted National Movement are staging a sit-in to protest the Democrats' refusal to allow a Palestinian American speaker on the convention's main stage at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. "This Palestinian speaker situation is a mistake on the party's end, and I think that's why we’re seeing an outpouring of support for the idea," he told Al Jazeera on Thursday. The Democratic National Committee confirmed its decision on Wednesday evening, sparking outrage from many progressives and Democratic-allied groups. For many activists, turning down the request signalled an effort to silence Palestinians and exclude them from the 'big tent' coalition that the Democratic Party claims to be building. The move also highlighted the uphill political battle that Palestinian rights advocates say they are facing in their push to challenge the US's unconditional support for Israel, as it wages a devastating war in Gaza. That conflict has been looming over the Democratic convention, where the party has been celebrating and promoting Vice President Kamala Harris's candidacy since Monday. Palestinian rights advocates hold a news conference on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, August 22, 2024
The 'uncommitted'
Approximately 30 'uncommitted' delegates earned a spot at the event in Chicago after hundreds of thousands of people cast protest votes in the Democratic primaries against President Joe Biden's staunch backing of Israel's war in Gaza. The Uncommitted National Movement emerged out of that protest movement. It wants Harris to back an immediate, permanent ceasefire and impose an arms embargo on Israel. The call for a Palestinian speaker at the convention was the simplest of their demands, advocates explained. And it still got turned down. Nevertheless, Alawieh said the movement's presence at the convention has succeeded in bringing attention to the issue, as evidenced by the media frenzy around him on Thursday.
"We are forcing a conversation about a critical issue: Palestinian human rights," he told Al Jazeera. "We're forcing a conversation about a critical issue that otherwise would not be discussed here, which is the need for an arms embargo that saves lives and that delivers a lasting ceasefire. That's what we're doing here, and that's what we're going to continue doing long after here."
After more than 10 months of Israeli bombing in Gaza, the Palestinian death toll has spiralled past 40,000 people, provoking fears of a genocide.
Rights advocates have called for a meaningful shift in US policy towards Israel, a country it has provided military and diplomatic support to. After Biden stepped out of the presidential race in July, some activists saw an opportunity as Harris took over as the Democratic nominee. The vice president, after all, expressed sympathy for Palestinian suffering and called for an end to the war. But advocates say they want to see action, not mere rhetoric.
'They want to erase us'
In Chicago, the 'uncommitted' delegates have said that their aim is to convince Harris that aligning with their "popular" demands would help her win in November's presidential election, when she faces her Republican rival Donald Trump. But rejecting a brief speech by a representative of the Palestinian American community appears to have had a profound effect on the delegates and their allies. At a news conference earlier on Thursday, progressive political strategist Waleed Shahid took deep breaths to keep his tears at bay as he recounted how the request for a Palestinian speaker was turned down after two months of making the demand. "We came here with the intention of mobilising our communities for Vice President Harris to defeat Donald Trump," said Shahid, whose black blazer covered a beige shirt that read, "Democratic majority for Palestine". He added that the demand for a speaker was just about including "Palestinian Americans as part of this party, just like any other community". On Wednesday evening, the convention featured the parents of an Israeli-American captive held in Gaza. "The platform of the party says that our Democratic Party believes that Israelis and Palestinians are equal," Shahid said. "What happened last night is not in line with the value of the party." Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, who spoke virtually at the news conference, said the Democratic leadership does not want to hear the voices of Palestinians calling for an end to atrocities in Gaza. "They want to erase us," she said. "They want to pretend that Palestinians and the voices that we have and the harm and the hurt [don't] exist." Several speakers noted that the Chicago area is home to one of the largest Palestinian communities in the country, but Palestinians were still excluded from the main stage at the convention.
Lawmakers voice support for delegates
Additionally to Tlaib, several lawmakers have voiced solidarity with the 'uncommitted' delegates. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who delivered a forceful endorsement of Harris on Monday, phoned Alawieh at the sit-in on Wednesday evening to express her support. Congressman Jesus 'Chuy' Garcia, who represents parts of Chicago, said many of the 40,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza were relatives of his constituents. "As Chicago hosts the National Democratic Convention, we cannot ignore the Chicagoland Palestinian community as one of the largest in the country - and they, too, deserve to be reflected on the national stage," Garcia said in a statement. "It is crucial to recognize the humanity of the Palestinian community tonight with the Palestinian speaker."
The United Auto Workers (UAW), one of the largest unions in the country, also called for a Palestinian speaker at the convention. "If we want the war in Gaza to end, we can't put our heads in the sand or ignore the voices of the Palestinian Americans in the Democratic Party," the union said in a social media post. The UAW is particularly strong in the swing state of Michigan, home to the US car industry, which also happens to have the largest concentration of Arabs in the country. Michigan state Representative Alabas Farhat told Al Jazeera at the sit-in that Democrats must listen to and acknowledge the pain of Palestinians and Arab Americans. "There's a genocide going on, and this government is playing an active role in enabling it in many ways," he said. "Here today, the nominee for the Democratic Party is laying out a vision that has to include us." He said his constituents are "frustrated" with the political process, stressing that Harris has "work to do" to earn the votes of people in the antiwar movement.
Civic engagement implications
Biden, a Democrat, has provided staunch support for Israel throughout the war, leading some activists to question whether to work with the Democratic Party. Hatem Abudayyeh, spokesperson for the Coalition to March on the DNC, which has been organising protests around the convention, said there was "no chance" that the Democratic Party would let a Palestinian speaker address the convention. While he saluted the 'uncommitted' delegates' efforts, he argued that it is more important to unite with other communities to "organise in the streets" and push for social justice. "Clearly, the powers that be are not listening to us. They don't care about what's going on with [us], and they’re not going to stop the genocide unless we force them to," he told Al Jazeera at a protest on Wednesday. Maya Berry, the executive director of the Arab American Institute (AAI), which has been promoting civic engagement in Arab communities for years, said the Democrats' decision to exclude Palestinians from the convention stage sends the wrong message about political participation. "Our theory of change is based on saying: If you want something to happen, you must participate in the process," she told Al Jazeera outside the United Center. "And the very people who are participating in the process, who have devoted their lives to this process, had to step outside from inside that convention to spend the night here ... because democracy didn't work on Palestine. That can't be the lesson," she added.
"This is political malpractice that is harming people's connection to their democracy."
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA>>
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/22/they-want-to-erase-us-how-dnc-rejected-demand-for-palestinian-speaker

Al Jazeera - August 22, 2024 - by Mat Nashed
<<What is Israel doing to Palestinians in Tulkarem?
Experts say Israel is conducting near-daily raids on the coastal city in the occupied West Bank to uproot and scare its population.
The aftermath of an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank
Israel killed three Palestinians in a drone strike on Thursday in Tulkarem, a city and refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. That was during an Israeli raid - a near-daily occurrence in the West Bank - on the Tulkarem refugee camp, during which Israeli troops clashed with fighters from the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, according to fighters in the city.
What happened during the raid?
News reports say Israeli soldiers were deployed on rooftops and sent bulldozers into the camp to destroy large residential areas. Israel also reportedly set fire to people's homes and prevented local relief workers from putting the fires out. Experts say Israel's tactics during its raids appear to be part of a broader doctrine to collectively punish the population, ostensibly because pockets of armed resistance are fighting back against Israel's ever-entrenching occupation.
Why is Israel attacking people in a refugee camp?
Israel claims that it is conducting <counter-terrorism> operations.
Are there 'terrorists' in the camps?
Activists and experts have previously told Al Jazeera that Israel is playing up the threat of <terrorism> to justify the mass displacement of Palestinians and the expansion of illegal settlements. Refugee camps across the West Bank tend to harbour Palestinian fighters loosely affiliated with Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) or Fatah. The fighters say they are protecting their camps and cities from Israeli raids that aim to uproot civilians from their homes and lands.
But Israel says the raids are to arrest individuals only?
Shadi Abdullah, an activist documenting abuses by Israel in Tulkarem, says Israeli troops use bulldozers to destroy homes and infrastructure and they also intentionally cut off basic provisions to make life difficult for the population. In addition, he said, Israeli security forces cooperate with and support Israelis from illegal settlements in attacking civilians. With Tulkarem lying between several settlements, he said, "People are constantly scared of attacks from settlers and from the occupation forces. In the end... whether there are resistance fighters or not, they [Israel] want to take our land," Abdullah said.
Why Tulkarem?
Tulkarem has fertile agricultural land thanks to its abundance of natural water, activists and rights groups say. But the illegal Israeli settlements set up in recent years have forced Palestinian farmers and inhabitants to rely on pricey tanker water and rainwater collection systems because settlers have stolen land with water resources. Abdullah said the population density in Tulkarem city and the refugee camp is quite high due to the forced displacement of Palestinians from surrounding areas. The destruction of residential areas in raids makes the population density even higher as people move from devastated areas into ones they hope will be safe.
Tulkarem raid
How does Israel carry out these raids?
Israel has in the past dispatched forces disguised as Palestinians to do reconnaissance on a camp before approving a raid. Israeli troops will then enter the camps with bulldozers to destroy schools, hospitals and homes. These heavily armoured machines are often accompanied by drones and helicopters for air cover. Drones, in particular, play a substantial role in Israeli raids, as they did in the Thursday strike that killed three Palestinians.
Earlier this month, Israeli forces used drones to kill 11 Palestinians in Jenin, another West Bank city where armed resistance has emerged over the last three years. Israel also used drones to target the Nur Shams camp on July 3, killing four Palestinians. The use of such weapons, says Abdullah, is part of a broader attempt to scare a younger generation of Palestinians from partaking in armed resistance. He added that Israel may also be attempting to push the inhabitants of the camps to blame resistance fighters for the destruction. But, Abdullah says, that tactic doesn't work. "There is no difference between the civilians and armed fighters," he said. "We all participate in resistance, but we participate in different ways. Civilians don't want fighters to stop fighting. On the contrary, they just want the Israeli occupation to end."
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA>>
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/22/what-is-israel-doing-to-palestinians-in-tulkarem


Al Jazeera - August 22, 2024
<<Thousands flee as Israel orders evacuations in Gaza’s Deir el-Balah
Displaced Palestinians have been forced to move again, but say no place is safe in the besieged enclave. Thousands of Palestinians have fled parts of Deir el-Balah in the Gaza Strip as the Israeli military issued new evacuation orders and its forces advanced deeper into the overcrowded central city. The area was previously designated by Israel as a so-called <humanitarian safe zone> for civilians, but the Israeli army ordered residents, many of them displaced multiple times already, to leave before a new military operation there. Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said certain neighbourhoods in Deir el-Balah were now deemed a <dangerous combat zone>, calling on residents to move westwards ahead of an imminent attack in the area. The warning has forced thousands of civilians to flee on foot, carrying small bags and some basic belongings such as blankets, bedding and a little food, witnesses said. Last week, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said that Israel has reduced the <safe zones> in Gaza to just 11 percent of the territory, causing widespread panic and fear among displaced people. According to Gaza's Government Media Office, two million people in the enclave have been displaced by Israel's ongoing offensive, which has killed at least 40,265 people and injured 93,144 since October. The continuing blockade of Gaza has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicines, and the relentless bombardments have left much of the territory in ruins.>>
Source incl. photo-gallery:
https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2024/8/22/thousands-flee-as-israel-orders-evacuations-in-gazas-deir-el-balah

Al Jazeera - August 22, 2024 - By Maram Humaid
<<'I've never felt so worthless': The pain of Deir el-Balah's obliteration
Deir el-Balah, Gaza - Like a scene from an endless horror movie, new orders for evacuations were issued on Wednesday morning for residential areas in Deir el-Balah. "Every day brings a new catastrophe," we despaired as we studied the latest Israeli map, its lines now looming dangerously close to our home. The sounds of tanks grew louder, and the crack of gunfire echoed nearer. A question has haunted us, and everyone in Gaza, for more than 320 days of war. The question we ask the world but never get an answer:
"Where should we go?"
A question echoing in the void as people steadied themselves again for the eighth, ninth or 10th displacement.
"Where should we go?" "The question reverberates in our minds and hearts, capturing all our anguish, loneliness, oppression and helplessness.
I've never felt so worthless as a human being as I do these days. A single Facebook post from an Israeli military spokesperson can upend our lives in an instant.
A cruel game of squares
On Wednesday, I was putting the final touches on an article we were preparing, balancing work with my children’s needs and the pressures of displacement. Then came the news of the evacuations. We were all in denial, wanting to believe it was just a rumour, but the reality unfolded too quickly. People began fleeing through the streets under fire and bombardment, scrambling to escape. The scene was repeating itself, but this time it was the final stop: Deir el-Balah! This was the same humanitarian area they once spoke of, now marked for evacuation. It's a cruel game of squares.
Have you ever felt like a toy, being played with left and right, east and west, pushed from one place to another - south to Khan Younis, out of Rafah, back to Khan Younis, then to Nuseirat, only to be driven out again? People are literally running through the streets like mad, clutching what little they have left. They've lost their homes, loved ones and livelihoods - and now they're on the verge of losing their minds. We have nothing left; our hearts are broken, and our minds are frayed.
Oh, Deir el-Balah, our last refuge, who can show people the way? As Tariq bin Ziyad once said: "The enemy is before us, and the sea is behind us."
Now, all that remains before us is the sea. Is there a ship? Who will answer the desperate cries of those wandering the streets? People are taking shelter wherever they can - streets, fields, rest stops, on the beach. The earth is shrinking under our feet. We're being punished, squeezed into a tiny bottleneck, bombarded and torn apart."
"Where should we go?"
"I'm losing my mind as I'm conducting interviews and taking notes, all while searching for a place - any place - to go. Even a tent is no longer an option. Crowds in the markets, crowding on the roads and crowding of ideas. I feel like a spinning top, my concentration shattered by the looming tragedy of another evacuation, no matter how hard I try to resist the thought. I look around at the few possessions I’ve managed to gather over the past 10 months: a stove, cups, plates, pots, winter clothes, summer clothes, mattresses, blankets, batteries, light bulbs, big bottles of drinking water, tubs to wash clothes in.
On my God, where will I take all this?
Zero hour
The saddest part is the fear of waiting for the zero hour. Zero hour means fleeing with nothing but the clothes on our backs, leaving everything behind. If I leave everything, there’s no way to replace it. There are no markets, no supplies, no money to spare. I was frozen in place, unable to move.
Oh, I have work to do, articles to write. I stare at my laptop, trying to focus.
A friend calls, looking for a single room with a bathroom. Another is looking for a tent. Someone else asks about the location of the armoured vehicles east of Deir el-Balah. How can anyone write in this atmosphere? It feels impossible. Minutes later, the news comes - Israeli forces are advancing in al-Qarara west of Khan Younis, another supposed <safe zone>, and people are fleeing again. What a terrible day. Some are fleeing west, others fleeing east.
There's no end or beginning to this torment.
Nobody understands what’s happening. We're running and running aimlessly, people screaming, suffering and dying while the world watches. This is just the latest episode of The Last Station. My email was showered with humanitarian and civil organizations' empty statements, warning of an imminent invasion of Deir el-Balah. It's reminiscent of what happened in Rafah months ago. Israel didn't heed any warnings then and pushed everyone into Deir el-Balah. Now, it's pursuing them at the last stop. In these moments, I fully grasp what we all feel - every displaced person, every woman, man, elder and child. The fear, the oppression, the confusion, the horror, the ugliness. All of it awaits us at the last stop: Deir el-Balah.
And the world? It watches with curiosity, wondering what will happen next.
How will Israel do it this time? Will the sea swallow us? Or will we be sifted through the barriers or eliminated by air strikes?
To all the viewers:
Ladies and gentlemen, I assure you, the final scene is ready.
The last show, Deir el-Balah, is out soon to dazzle you with an exclusive, exciting display of crimes, massacres and displacement.
Our blood, our children, our lives, our bodies, our remaining homes - our last stand in Deir el-Balah - are on full display.
Prepare your shame and silent complicity, and watch!"
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA>>
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/8/22/ive-never-felt-so-worthless-the-pain-of-deir-el-balahs-obliteration

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