SPECIAL REPORTS PALESTINE

FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA - FREE PALESTINE
with special thanks to citizen-reporter 'Biba' (Algeria)
June wk3 P2 --  June wk3 -- June wk2 part3 --June wk2 part2 -- June wk2 -- Click here for an overview by week in 2024
 

June 22 - 20, 2024 Food for thought on the below headlines: "Hamas |or the Palestinians| cannot be eliminated |nor genocided| Read all below

June 19 - 17, 2024 <<'A slow death': Gazans live alongside rotting rubbish and rodents... and <<Live: Israel's actions in Gaza may have violated laws of war, UN rights office says... and <<Live: UN says unable to deliver aid to Gaza despite Israel's military 'pause'... and <<Israel-Lebanon: A funeral for two women shows how furious fighting is ratcheting up the risk of all-out war... and <<Israeli protesters demand new elections after war cabinet dissolution... and <<'Judging Putin and Netanyahu necessarily implies a fair and adversarial trial'... and more news but most with a 'give way or go away' yell! Next update Sunday June 22, 20.00 hours GMT

June 16 - 12, 2024 <<Israeli army says eight soldiers killed in armoured vehicle in southern Gaza... and <<Two women killed in Israeli airstrike on South Lebanon... and <<UNICEF's James Elder says Gaza a 'horror show' for children... and <<Gaza is in dire need of women's health services... and <<American brands in Middle East under pressure from Israel boycotts... and <<Hamas rebuffs Blinken blame for elusive ceasefire... and <<In the chaos of Gaza, merchants take up arms to deliver food... and <<Three Jordanian doctors' account of Gaza's descent into hell... and more news but most with a 'give way or go away' yell! Click here to go throughout June and earler, 2024

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

Related news: Le Monde - June 15, 2024 "Palestinian photographer Motaz Azaiza, on the front lines of Gaza's destruction..." https://www.lemonde.fr/en/m-le-mag/article/2024/06/15/palestinian-photographer-motaz-azaiza-on-the-front-lines-of-gaza-s-destruction_6674865_117.html June 11, 2024 "Journalist casualties in the Israel-Gaza war" https://cpj.org/2024/06/journalist-casualties-in-the-israel-gaza-conflict/   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.

France 24 - June 22, 2024
<<Live: Israeli strikes on tent camps near Rafah kill at least 25, wound dozens
Israeli forces shelled tent camps for displaced Palestinians outside Gaza's southern city of Rafah late Friday, killing at least 25 people and wounding another 50, according to the territory's health officials and emergency workers.
Summary
An Israeli national was found shot dead in a Palestinian town in the northern West Bank Saturday morning, Israel's army said, as violence surges in the occupied territory.
A commercial ship traveling through the Gulf of Aden saw explosions near the vessel, authorities said Saturday, likely the latest attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels attempting to target the shipping lane.
Israeli forces shelled tent camps for displaced Palestinians outside Gaza's southern city of Rafah late Friday, killing at least 25 people and wounding another 50.>>
Read more here incl. video:
https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20240622-%F0%9F%94%B4-live-israeli-strikes-on-tent-camps-near-rafah-kill-at-least-25-and-wound-50

France 24 - June 22, 2024 - By
<<Live: Israeli strikes on tent camps near Rafah kill at least 25 and wound 50
Israeli forces shelled tent camps for displaced Palestinians outside Gaza's southern city of Rafah on Friday, killing at least 25 people and wounding another 50, according to the territory's health officials and emergency workers.
Summary
Israeli forces shelled tent camps for displaced Palestinians outside Gaza's southern city of Rafah on Friday, killing at least 25 people and wounding another 50, according to the territory's health officials and emergency workers. >>
Source incl. video:
https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20240622-%F0%9F%94%B4-live-israeli-strikes-on-tent-camps-near-rafah-kill-at-least-25-and-wound-50

BBC - June 22, 2024 - By Yolande Knell, Middle East correspondent
<<Inside Gaza aid depot: Food waits as Israel and UN trade blame
Sacks of rice are seen waiting to cross into Gaza. Once aid arrives in Gaza it can mount up for days waiting to be collected
Lying in the sun, on the Israel-Gaza border, just miles from starving Palestinian families, there are hundreds of pallets of food - from packets of rice to bunches of bananas. Although for the past week Israel's military has been observing a daytime pause in fighting on a key stretch of road just beyond the main Kerem Shalom crossing point, humanitarian agencies say they are still struggling to get vital aid into southern Gaza. They blame growing lawlessness for making it too dangerous to pick up and move goods.
<The looting has become quite profound,> says Georgios Petropoulos, head of the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Gaza. He estimates that last Tuesday, three-quarters of the goods on board lorries entering from the crossing were stolen. UN officials say the vehicles are systematically attacked and stopped by armed gangs, particularly those smuggling cigarettes, which are sold on the black market in Gaza for exorbitant amounts. Lorries bringing fuel into Gaza have also recently been targeted. As Israel's military offensive has removed Gaza's Hamas government, there is no plan for how to fill the power vacuum. There are few police officers left working in the Palestinian territory. It is not clear if organised crime cartels are affiliated to Hamas or Gazan clans. <Meaningful decisions now have to be taken about what we will do for civil order in Gaza and who will take care of delivering that,> Mr Petropoulos says. On a media tour of Kerem Shalom, the Israeli military body responsible for operating the crossings, Cogat, told journalists it placed no limit on the amount of aid that could go into Gaza. We were shown what was said to be a backlog of more than 1,000 lorryloads of aid which had undergone security checks and were awaiting collection from the Gaza side. <This is largely due to the fact that international organisations have not taken sufficient steps to improve their distribution capacity,> said Cogat spokesman Shimon Freedman. He accused the UN - which is the main supplier of aid in Gaza - of having insufficient lorries, as well as needing <to increase manpower, to extend working hours, to increase storage” and take other “logistical and organisational steps>. Cogat spokesman Shimon Freedman says aid agencies need to improve their distribution capacity. During the war, Israel has stepped up its criticism of aid agencies as the International Court of Justice has twice issued provisional measures, ordering it to enable humanitarian assistance to Gaza. These came about as a result of South Africa's case alleging that Israel was violating the Genocide Convention of 1948, an accusation it strongly denies. The UN and relief groups rebut claims that they are understaffed or inefficient, pointing to the difficulties of operating in an active war zone. They say Israeli bombings have damaged their infrastructure and reduced their capacity. <We've recruited scores of new staff and hundreds of volunteers to distribute aid. We’ve delivered 28 million meals and six million medical treatments - so [clearly] we can get manpower together,> Sean Carroll, president of American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera) tells me. But he says increased workers do not help when <the war makes the pickup of goods too dangerous, or roads are impassable. When there isn't enough fuel and there aren't enough trucks or parts inside Gaza.> Anera welcomed a commitment it said Cogat had made this week to allow more lorries to be imported to Gaza, saying it was now campaigning to buy these urgently. However, Mr Carroll says an ongoing problem remains <the arbitrariness of the rules and procedures, which change constantly> when it comes to moving goods around.
Aid groups stress how the overloaded relief system in Gaza broke down in May when Israel began its military ground invasion in the crowded southern city of Rafah, saying it was targeting remaining battalions of Hamas fighters there.
About a million Palestinians, most of them already displaced by the fighting, were forced to flee, deepening the humanitarian crisis. At the same time, aid organisations lost access to important storage and distribution centres. Ever since Israeli forces took control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing, Egypt has prohibited its use, saying it is no longer safe for humanitarian work. Aid and fuel are now being rerouted to Kerem Shalom. According to UN figures, in May a daily average of 97 aid lorries entered Gaza - a 42% drop on the previous month. In the first two weeks of June, the number had fallen again to 89 lorries. People are seen in front of market stalls in Khan Younis, with destroyed buildings behind them
The provision of food across Gaza is patchy In nearby Khan Younis, Gazans tell the BBC that no international assistance is now reaching them.
<When we were in Rafah, from time to time, we would see aid. Since we came here, 20 days ago, we haven't seen anything yet,> says Mahmoud al-Biss, who says he struggles to feed his two children. Locals describe a vicious circle as increased desperation forces people to loot incoming aid lorries. It appears that some donated items including sunflower oil and sugar are being sold on market stalls. <Today, the country has become chaotic, we no longer receive aid coupons and when the aid comes, we steal it,> a man called Hassan says. In an effort to make up the shortfall in goods, the Israeli authorities have begun allowing more private buyers in Gaza to bring in supplies from Israel and the occupied West Bank. Unlike the UN convoys, these lorries use privately contracted armed escorts enabling them to see off attacks. However, a lot of items they bring in are unaffordable for most Gazans. Israel has opened up three other crossings into Gaza, which all provide aid to the northern part of the strip, where the UN has warned of the highest risk of famine. International airdrops have now largely stopped but the maritime corridor from Cyprus began to operate again on Thursday. There have been a series of difficulties with a floating pier set up by the US military at a cost of some $230m (£182m), which Mr Petropoulos, from OCHA, describes as <a failure>.>>
Source:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cv22ymmp46ro

BBC - June 22, 2024
<<Red Cross says 22 killed in strike near its Gaza office
The International Committee of the Red Cross says its offices in Gaza have been damaged by shelling, which killed 22 people who had sought shelter around its compound. <Heavy-calibre projectiles landed within metres of the office and residences of the International Committee of the Red Cross on Friday afternoon,> an ICRC statement said. It added that all parties had an obligation to take precautions to avoid harm to civilians and humanitarian facilities. An Israel Defense Forces spokesman told the AFP news agency that initial inquiries suggested there was <no indication> that it had carried out a strike in the area, but added that the incident was <under review>. <The strike damaged the structure of the ICRC office, which is surrounded by hundreds of displaced civilians living in tents, including many of our Palestinian colleagues,> the ICRC said. <This incident caused a mass casualty influx at the nearby Red Cross Field Hospital, with the hospital receiving 22 killed and 45 injured, with reports of additional casualties.> The ICRC said the <grave security incident> was one of several in recent days. <We decry these incidents that put the lives of humanitarians and civilians at risk,> the statement added. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza gave different figures, saying 25 people had been killed and 50 injured in the shelling, which it blamed on Israel. The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy the Palestinian armed group in response to an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October, during which about 1,200 people - mostly civilians - were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
More than 37,390 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry. Its figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but it had reportedly identified 14,680 children, women and elderly people among the dead by the end of April.
In another development, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has warned that spiralling hostilities between Israel and the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah risk triggering a catastrophe for the region and beyond.
Israel and Hezbollah play with fire
Mr Guterres accused both sides of increasingly warlike rhetoric and called for an immediate de-escalation, saying the world could not afford for Lebanon to become <another Gaza>. The past months have seen a series of retaliatory cross-border strikes between Israel and Hezbollah. The Iran-backed group says it is fighting Israel to support its ally, Hamas, in Gaza.>>
Source:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cmjj6ej3ne1o

Le Monde - June 22, 2024
<<22 killed in shelling near Red Cross Gaza office, says ICRC
An Israeli Defense Force spokesman did not acknowledge any role in the incident, Friday, but said it was 'under review.'
People react following an Israeli strike that hit a tent camp, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in the Al-Mawasi area in western Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, June 21, 2024.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said 22 people were killed in a shell attack Friday, June 21, that damaged its Gaza office, which is surrounded by hundreds of displaced persons living in tents. The ICRC did not say who fired the <heavy caliber projectiles> but in a statement on social media platform X said the shells <damaged the structure of the ICRC office>. It said 22 bodies and 45 wounded had been taken to a nearby Red Cross field hospital after the shelling, and there were <reports of additional casualties>. The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said there were 25 dead and 50 injured in the shelling which it blamed on Israel. The ministry said Israeli shelling had <targeted the tents of the displaced in the Al-Mawasi area> which is around the ICRC base. An Israeli Defense Force spokesman did not acknowledge any role in the incident but said it was <under review>. "An initial inquiry conducted suggests that there is no indication that a strike was carried out by the IDF in the humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi. The incident is <under review,> the spokesman told AFP. The ICRC said: <Heavy-calibre projectiles landed within meters of the office and residences of the International Committee of the Red Cross on Friday afternoon.>
'Lives of civilians and Red Cross staff at risk'
<Firing so dangerously close to humanitarian structures, of whose locations the parties to the conflict are aware and which are clearly marked with the Red Cross emblem, puts the lives of civilians and Red Cross staff at risk,> the body added. <This grave security incident is one of several in recent days,> it added. <Previously stray bullets have reached ICRC structures. We decry these incidents that put the lives of humanitarians and civilians at risk.> The ICRC has made increasingly desperate calls for Israel and Hamas to respect international law and protect civilians caught in the midst of the conflict that erupted with the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. Calling on both sides to do more to protect civilians <regardless of which side they are on>, ICRC head Mirjana Spoljaric said it was <the line between humanity and barbarity.>
Read more Subscribers only Israel-Hamas war: Who are the five key negotiators of the unattainable ceasefire?>>
Le Monde with AFP>>
Source:
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/06/22/22-killed-in-shelling-near-red-cross-gaza-office-says-icrc_6675419_4.html

France 24 - June 21, 2024 - Video by Rawad TAHA
<<Israel-Hezbollah escalation 'may become inevitable if no Gaza ceasefire'
Following fresh exchanges of fire and increasingly bellicose rhetoric between Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah, an escalation of the conflict could become inevitable without a ceasefire in the war in Gaza within the next few weeks, says France 24's correspondent in Lebanon Rawad Taha.>>
Source incl. video:
https://www.france24.com/en/video/20240621-israel-hezbollah-escalation-may-become-inevitable-if-no-gaza-ceasefire

France 24 - June 21, 2024 - Video by Antonia KERRIGAN
<<Israel 'pause' in Gaza had no impact on aid supplies: WHO
A daily "pause" the Israeli military declared in Gaza to facilitate aid flows has had no impact on deliveries of badly needed aid, the UN's health agency said Friday.>>
Source incl. video:
https://www.france24.com/en/video/20240621-israel-pause-in-gaza-had-no-impact-on-aid-supplies-who

France 24 - June 21, 2024 - Video by Emerald MAXWELL
<<Israel-Hezbollah hostilities fan fears of widening Gaza war
Israel and Hezbollah traded fresh cross-border fire Thursday, as fears of a regional conflict grew after Israel revealed it had approved plans for a Lebanon offensive and the Iran-backed militants vowed to blanket their foe in rockets.>>
Source incl. video:
https://www.france24.com/en/video/20240621-israel-hezbollah-hostilities-fan-fears-of-widening-gaza-war

France 24 - June 21, 2024
<<UN chief Guterres says world cannot allow Lebanon to become 'another Gaza'
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Friday that fighting between Israel and Hezbollah must not turn Lebanon into <another Gaza>, citing <bellicose rhetoric> and the exchange of fire in parallel with the fighting in the Gaza Strip, potentially triggering a wider regional war.
Summary
The <pause> the Israeli military had declared in Gaza to facilitate aid flows has not improved the flow of humanitarian aid, the UN's health agency said on Friday.
Armenia has officially recognised a Palestinian state, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday, defying Israel which is opposed to such moves.
Israel and Hezbollah traded fresh cross-border fire late Thursday, as fears of a regional conflict grew after Israel revealed it had approved plans for a Lebanon offensive and Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah movement said none of Israel would be spared in a full-blown conflict.>>
Read more here incl. video:
https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20240621-%F0%9F%94%B4live-israel-hezbollah-tensions-drive-fears-of-expanding-gaza-conflict


Shaima Al-Ghol - Photo: Natalie Naccache for Le Monde
Le Monde - June 21, 2024 - By Ghazal Golshiri
<<In Doha, Gaza survivors slowly come back to life
FEATURE - Since the start of the war in Gaza, almost 800 Palestinians wounded in Israeli bombardments have been treated in Qatar. These survivors bear scars, many are amputees and all are consumed with anxiety for loved ones left behind.
Shaima Al Ghol couldn't take her eyes off the TV screen above her hospital bed. Speechless, she watched images on the Qatari channel Al-Jazeera showing the wreckage left in the wake of the latest Israeli bombardments in the Gaza Strip. <My family is still there,> said the 33-year-old Palestinian woman, her bandaged legs stretched out on the bed. <I'm here in Doha, but my father, my brother, my mother, my sister and her family all live in a tent in Rafah. How can I not follow the news?> Shaima Al Ghol in hospital in Doha, May 30. She suffered multiple injuries to her legs. Her husband and two of her children were killed in an Israeli air strike. Her home in the southern part of the Gaza Strip was bombed on February 12. Her husband, Abdallah, their daughter, Jinan, aged 10, and their son, Mohamed, aged 15, were all killed. Since March 18, Al Ghol, along with her two living children, Hodayfa and Maryam, and her sister-in-law, has been in Qatar, at Hamad Hospital, which specializes in surgery. Since the start of the war with Israel on October 7, 2023, following the bloody Hamas attack on Israel, Qatar has evacuated more than 2,300 Gazans, around 800 of them for medical reasons.>>
Read more here:
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/06/21/in-doha-gaza-survivors-slowly-come-back-to-life_6675388_4.html


At least 14 Palestinians killed
Jinha - Womens News Agency - June 21, 2024
<<At least 14 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza
At least 14 Palestinians, including children, were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip last night.
News Center- At least 14 Palestinians, including children, were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip last night, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on Friday. Two civilians were killed and 12 others injured in Israeli airstrikes targeting a house in Nuseirat refugee camp, many people were injured in Israeli attacks on the Maghazi and Bureij refugee camps, the WAFA reported. According to the WAFA, one person was killed and several others injured in Israeli airstrikes targeting the city of Deir al-Balah. Eight people were killed and several others injured in Israeli airstrikes targeting a house in the Zaytoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City. The news agency also reported that rescue teams recovered the bodies of three children and their mother from the rubble of their home, which was targeted by Israeli airstrikes two days ago in Nuseirat refugee camp.

At least 37,431 Palestinians killed since Oct.7
At least 37,431 Palestinians, including 15,517 children and 10,279 women, have been killed and 85,653 others injured in Israeli attacks since October 7, the Gaza's health ministry said in a statement on Thursday.>>
Source:
https://jinhaagency.com/en/actual/at-least-14-palestinians-killed-in-israeli-airstrikes-on-gaza-35253?page=1

Le Monde - June 20, 2024 - By Laure Stephan (Beirut (Lebanon) correspondent)
<<Lebanon's American University of Beirut rekindles its long-standing pro-Palestinian activism
In this prestigious establishment, a crucible of Arab nationalism that trained many Palestinian political leaders, numerous initiatives have been launched in support of Gaza. It's the rebirth of an old kinship. Since the start of the war in Gaza, launched in the wake of Hamas' deadly attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, the prestigious American University of Beirut (AUB) has been at the forefront of pro-Palestinian academic initiatives in Lebanon. In so doing, the Bliss Street institution is rekindling its rich militant past, back when it used to spur the Arab intelligentsia on the Palestinian question. On June 20 and 21, the AUB will host the <Justice for Gaza> conference, designed to consider avenues to rebuild the medical sector in the besieged enclave with the help of regional doctors. Earlier this month, the British-Palestinian surgeon Ghassan Abu Sittah, who spent a month and a half in the hell of Gaza at the start of the war, was invited to the verdant campus. Along with the Indian writer Arundhati Roy, he was one of three personalities awarded honorary doctorates at this year's student graduation ceremony. The doctor, who was turned away by Germany in mid-April and banned from receiving a Schengen visa for a year (although he has since won his case against the measure), worked at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) for a decade, from 2011 to 2021. <Ghassan Abu Sittah is a hero: he took part in several conflicts in Gaza and treated war-wounded from Syria and Iraq at AUBMC,> said AUB president Fadlo Khuri. <This year, we wanted to highlight personalities who express empathy for Gaza and the Palestinians and whose actions have global resonance.> Arundhati Roy made a statement at the university, which receives significant American funding, condemning the <genocide> in Gaza and the <apartheid> against Palestinians, for which she held Israel responsible. She also criticized the American government for its support of Israel with arms and money, suggesting that it seemed <to be under Israel's legal occupation.> Her remarks received applause from the audience.
Liberal tradition
And yet, the AUB is no nest of revolutionaries. As a bridge to the West, the school prides itself on its liberal tradition. Since its founding in the 19th century by an American Protestant missionary, it has trained the elites of Lebanon and the Middle East and is a place of diversity. <In the 1930s, before the Nakba [the forced exodus of Palestinians when the State of Israel was created in 1948], the majority of students were Palestinians,> recalled Khuri. The school, located in Hamra, west of Beirut, was a crucible of Arab nationalism.>>
Read more here:
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/06/21/lebanon-s-american-university-of-beirut-rekindles-its-long-standing-pro-palestinian-activism_6675315_4.html

Le Monde - June 20, 2024 - By Samuel Forey (Jerusalem, correspondent)
<<Palestinian shepherds in the West Bank are driven off their land by settlers
FEATURE - In eight months of war in Gaza, some 20 Bedouin communities have been forcibly displaced by Jewish extremists intent on taking over their grazing lands. Small-scale ethnic cleansing, carried out with the tacit assent of the authorities. Six months on, the memory of the evening of November 28, 2023, still haunts Jamal Mleihat. As an icy wind swept across the Jordan Valley, a dozen Jewish settlers burst into his village of Muarrajat East, stole his sheep, then entered his home where his family was relaxing, along with his youngest child, only 40 days old. They threatened his family and hit his wife. <Then they went to other houses, looking for more sheep. They took about 40 of them. It was a night of horror. We were afraid of the settlers before October 7 [2023]. Now it's even worse. They're armed. And the police are letting it happen,> said the 42-year-old father. Is the raid by settlers the harbinger of a new exile for this community of shepherds from the Kaabneh tribe? These Bedouins were first expelled from their lands south of Hebron during the Nakba - the forced exodus of 700,000 Palestinians when Israel was created in 1948. They resettled in the Jordan Valley and its surrounding hills, then under the control of Jordan.>>
Read more here:
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/06/20/palestinian-shepherds-in-the-west-bank-are-driven-off-their-land-by-settlers_6675284_4.html


152 journalists killed
Jinha - Womens News Agency - June 21, 2024
<<152 journalists killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since Oct.7
Another journalist was killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, the number of journalists killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7, 2023, has risen to 152, the media office in Gaza said in a statement.
News Center- Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have continued since October 7, 2023. At least 37,431 Palestinians, including 15,517 children and 10,279 women, have been killed and 85,653 others injured in Israeli attacks since October 7, the Gaza's health ministry said in a statement on Thursday. One more journalist was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house west of the city, the media office in Gaza said in a written statement on Thursday. The killed journalist is identified as Salim al-Sharafa, a journalist of Al-Aqsa TV. According to the media office, the number of journalists killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 152.>>
Source:
https://jinhaagency.com/en/actual/152-journalists-killed-in-israeli-attacks-on-gaza-since-oct-7-35250

France 24 - June 20, 2024
<<Israel pounds central Gaza camps, deepens invasion of Rafah
Israeli forces pounded areas in the central Gaza Strip overnight, while tanks deepened their invasion into Rafah in the south, residents said.>>
Source incl. video:
https://www.france24.com/en/video/20240620-israel-pounds-central-gaza-camps-deepens-invasion-of-rafah

France 24 - June 20, 2024
<<Live: Deadly Israeli air strikes hit central Gaza, tanks increase bombardment in Rafah
Israeli air strikes hit the Nuseirat refugee camp and the city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza overnight on Thursday, killing at least three people and injuring more than a dozen others, according to health officials and medics. Israeli tanks in southern Gaza's Rafah stepped up bombardment, forcing more people there to flee north. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates on the Israel-Hamas war.
Summary
Israel's military forces pounded areas in the central Gaza Strip overnight, killing three people and wounding more than a dozen others, according to health officials and medics, while tanks deepened their invasion into Rafah in the south, residents said.>>
Read more incl. video here:
https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20240620-live-israel-hamas-war-air-strikes-nuseirat-central-gaza-strip-tanks-rafah-hezbollah-lebanon

France 24 - June 20, 2024 - By
<<Israel army spokesman says Hamas cannot be eliminated
Israel's top army spokesman said Wednesday that Hamas cannot be eliminated, prompting a knee-jerk reaction from the government which quickly reiterated it remains committed to the Palestinian militant group's destruction.>>
Source incl. video:
https://www.france24.com/en/video/20240620-srael-army-spokesman-says-hamas-cannot-be-eliminated

France 24 - June 19, 2024 - By Sebastian SEIBT
<<Israeli army in urgent need of troops amid rising casualties in Gaza
The head of the Israel Defence Forces said the army is facing troop shortages amid rising casualties in the war against Hamas in Gaza. Yet enlisting more troops is difficult due to rising public opposition to the war and an open conflict between Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his defence minister. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) is facing increasing challenges as the war against Hamas enters its ninth month. On Monday, Israel lost eight soldiers in an explosion in Rafah, in what Israeli media called the <deadliest incident for IDF> in six months. The number might seem small in the context of the war in Gaza, but the number is far too high for Israeli public opinion. A week before the explosion, Hamas claimed to have killed an unspecified number of Israeli soldiers after its fighters detonated a booby-trapped house in Rafah.
'An exhausted army'
The losses underscored Israel's army chief Herzi Halevi’s warning in recent days about shortages in the military, saying it would prevent Israel from waging the war against Hamas with the same intensity. Amid a shortage of troops, the army is also facing an unstable political landscape. The relationship between the army and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has deteriorated significantly, with Netanyahu reportedly criticising plans announced by the military to hold daily tactical pauses in fighting to facilitate the delivery of aid to the Palestinian enclave. The Israeli army is also facing domestic pressure from a population shocked by the Palestinian death toll caused by the Israeli offensive in Gaza. Skirmishes erupted on Monday night between police and anti-government protesters who took to the streets of Jerusalem, before marching to Netanyahu's private home in the city, to show their discontent over the handling of the war with Hamas in Gaza. <The IDF is totally exhausted after more than eight months of war,> said Ahron Bregman, a political scientist and specialist in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at King's College London. <The IDF command, and the defence minister too, are desperate for a break to regroup.> The Israeli army does not officially comment on the state of fatigue of its troops, but the signs are clear. <We are seeing examples of sooner-than-expected rotation of brigades and battalions,> said Steven Wagner, historian and lecturer in international security at Brunel University London. In other words, the soldiers need more frequent breaks. Many experts say the October 7 attack on Israeli soil and the intensity of the response decided by Netanyahu's government, which requires a long-term commitment, surprised an army that was <too small> for the task. Israeli military strategists thought that the era of major regional wars - such as the Six-Day War in 1967 or the Yom Kippur War in 1973 - was over, said Bregman. As a result, <the army disbanded six divisions over the last 20 years. Today it is missing approximately two entire divisions, or 10,000 additional soldiers>.
Finding more soldiers
The situation is complicated by increased fighting between Hezbollah and Israeli forces on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, reported the US public radio NPR. An extension of the war in the north <would be catastrophic for both Lebanon and Israel>, said Bregman. <In terms of soldiers, tanks and quality of equipment everything is fine on paper for a short war. But in terms of a long war with Hezbollah, no, Israel isn't ready, and it's mainly about morale,> said Omri Brinner, a Middle East analyst at the International Team for the Study of Security Verona (ITSS). Despite this, the Israeli military on Tuesday said that “operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon were approved and validated”. By Wednesday, the military said its warplanes had struck Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon overnight. Under the circumstances, the priority of Israel's defence ministry - as well as the army chief - is to increase troop numbers. <The easiest solution would be to mobilise the ultra-Orthodox, but this would be politically delicate for Netanyahu,> said Brinner. The contribution to the army would be significant. In 2023, over 60,000 young men from the ultra-Orthodox community received an exemption from military service. Scrapping this privilege authorised by Israeli law would infuriate the ultra-religious and far-right parties, which currently constitute the main source of support for Netanyahu's government. The government is therefore looking for other solutions for the manpower shortage. It is preparing to adopt a new bill delaying retirement for IDF reservists. The proposal would raise the exemption age for reserve military service from 40 to 41 for soldiers and from 45 to 46 for officers. <It's clearly a way to deal with the fatigue issue,> said Wagner. But using older reservists in high-risk areas would <bring the quality of the army down>, he warned.
Netanyahu vs Gallant
Even if the army found the resources to sufficiently increase its numbers, <strategic command problems at the highest level> will still exist, said Brinner. Netanyahu's dissolution of the war cabinet earlier this week has plunged the army into strategic limbo. <Netanyahu is under intense pressure from his allies on the right,> said Brinner, noting that the Israeli leader's reliance on the ultra-religious parties has reduced his ability to maneuver around the thorny issue of enlisting ultra-Orthodox members in the armed services. The Israeli prime minister could theoretically rely on his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, but <the situation is unprecedented, with the two men cordially hating each other and ready to jump at each other's throats at the slightest opportunity>, said Wagner. At a time of serious challenges, the Israeli army needs troops as well as clear direction from above. While the army can hold out for a few more months, experts say the stated goals of destroying Hamas and freeing all the hostages are unattainable under the current circumstances.
This article has been translated from the original in French.>>
Source:
https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20240619-israeli-army-urgent-need-troops-amid-rising-casualties-in-gaza


The environmental impacts
Jinha - Womens News Agency - June 20, 2024
<<'The environmental impacts of the war in Gaza are unprecedented'
The environmental impacts of the war in Gaza are unprecedented, according to a preliminary assessment published on Wednesday by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
News Center- The environmental impacts of the war in Gaza are unprecedented, according to a preliminary assessment published on Wednesday by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), exposing the community to rapidly growing soil, water and air pollution and risks of irreversible damage to its natural ecosystems. The preliminary assessment finds that the conflict undoes recent, albeit limited progress on Gaza's environmental management systems, including development of water desalination and wastewater treatment facilities, a rapid growth in solar power, and investments in the restoration of the Wadi Gaza coastal wetland.
39 million tonnes of debris generated by the conflict
<An estimated 39 million tonnes of debris have been generated by the conflict - for each square metre in the Gaza Strip, there is now over 107 kg of debris. This is more than five times the quantity of debris generated from the 2017 conflict in Mosul, Iraq. Debris poses risks to human health and the environment, from dust and contamination with unexploded ordnance, asbestos, industrial and medical waste, and other hazardous substances. Human remains buried beneath the debris must be dealt with sensitively and appropriately. Clearing the debris will be a massive and complex task, which needs to start as soon as possible to enable other types of recovery and reconstruction to proceed,> the preliminary assessment said.
According to the UNEP, five out of six solid waste management facilities in Gaza are damaged. By November 2023, 1,200 tonnes of rubbish were accumulating daily around camps and shelters. A shortage of cooking gas has forced families to burn wood, plastic and waste instead, endangering women and children in particular. This, coupled with fires and burning fuels, is likely to have sharply lowered Gaza's air quality, though no open-source air quality data is available for Gaza.
'Water and sanitation have collapsed'
<Not only are the people of Gaza dealing with untold suffering from the ongoing war, the significant and growing environmental damage in Gaza risks locking its people into a painful, long recovery. While many questions remain regarding the exact type and quantity of contaminants affecting the environment in Gaza, people are already living with the consequences of conflict-related damage to environmental management systems and pollution today. Water and sanitation have collapsed. Critical infrastructure continues to be decimated. Coastal areas, soil and ecosystems have been severely impacted. All of this is deeply harming people's health, food security and Gaza's resilience,> said Inger Andersen, UNEP Executive Director.
<We urgently need a ceasefire to save lives and restore the environment, to enable Palestinians to start to recover from the conflict and rebuild their lives and livelihoods in Gaza.> >>
Source:
https://jinhaagency.com/en/actual/the-environmental-impacts-of-the-war-in-gaza-are-unprecedented-35244?page=1


11 killed in Israeli airstrikes
Jinha - Womens News Agency - June 20, 2024
<<11 killed in Israeli airstrikes on Rafah
11 Palestinians were killed, 25 others injured in Israeli airstrikes targeting civilians in Rafah on Wednesday.
News Center- Israeli Air Force targeted civilians on Salah al-Din Street, east of the city 11 Palestinians were killed, 25 others injured in the Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday, according to medical sources. The injured were transferred to the European Hospital, in the southern city of Khan Younis.
On May 6, the Israeli military issued an order for residents of eastern Rafah to evacuate the southern Gazan city ahead of a ground assault. On May 7, the Israeli army launched a ground operation in Rafah and took control of the Gaza Strip side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.>>
Source:
https://jinhaagency.com/en/actual/11-killed-in-israeli-airstrikes-on-rafah-35241?page=1

'Food for thought': Strong (Hamas) soldiers move in silence. Gino d'Artali

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