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Dec Wk3 P3 -- Dec Wk3 P2 -- Dec Wk 3 -- Dec Wk 2 P3 -- WK2 P 2 -- wk2 -- wk1 P 3 -- wk1 P 2 -- wk1 -- Nov wk5 P3 -- wk5 P2 -- wk5 -- wk4 P3 -- wk4 P2 -- Nwk4
 Click here for an overview by week in 2024

Special reports: Updates December 21, 2024:  As Gaza war rages israel supportive outlets under fire & EU research funds flow to Israel & My mother's shattered dream of family reunion in Gaza & Gaza's libraries will rise from the ashes & The genocide kills dreams, not just people Previous reports: Seeing Gaza from Berlin & Redrawing the map & 'Entire days-without food' & Netanyahu, the ICC and the new world disorder and earler stories  Overview special reports

November 28 - 24 and earler stories, 2024 Is Netanyahu immune from ICC arrest warrant-NO!   TRIBUTES TO MOTHERS AND CHILDREN

Shireen Abu Akleh In commemoration of Shireen Abu Akleh, the 'voice of Al Jazeera' killed while revealing the true face of israel Updated: December 6, 2024: Attacks, arrests, threats, censorship: The high risks of reporting the Israel-Gaza war   Click here for earlier stories/news

December 20 - 18, 2024 Food for thought Ok, a new 'axis of evil' is on the rise i.e. now that assad has fallen at least 4 players may join forces, - poetin, netanyahu, erdogan,orban, and last but not least trump, The bullseye, who'll be the source for all to enhance their genocidal cleansing of the good. And who knows the start of WW3. Gino d'Artali Read more and decide for yourself

December 17 - 15, 2024 Food for thought I embedded one, among other, pictures which tears ones heart out. At least the immensely suffering Palestinian victims of this genocide hope for some tears. Gino d'Artali Read more and decide for yourself

December 10 - 7, 2024 Food for thought: 'The next one' as seen by an Iranian activist cartoonnist and yes, with the fall of assad it most likely is a matter of time before the next ones, netanyahu, khamenei, erdogan and others, will follow. Gino d'Artali Read more and decide for yourself

 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.


Welcome in my hell - Gazaian lost doll

Al Jazeera - Dec 20 2024
<<Israeli settlers set mosque on fire in occupied West Bank
Governor of Salfit says the settlers had previously entered the village 'under the protection of the Israeli army'.
Israeli settlers have set fire to a mosque in the occupied West Bank, while also defacing the building’s facade with hateful and racist slogans such as <Revenge> and <Death to Arabs> spray-painted in Hebrew. Abdallah Kamil, the governor of Salfit, said on Friday that the attack targeted the Bar al-Walidain mosque in the village of Marda, in the latest incident of settler violence. "A group of settlers carried out an attack early this morning by setting fire to the mosque," Kamil said in a statement. One resident of the village told AFP news agency that the settlers "set fire to the entrance of the mosque and wrote Hebrew slogans on its walls". Another resident said the fire was extinguished before it could engulf the entire structure.
Nasfat al-Khufash, head of the Marda village council, also confirmed the "systematic terror attack by a group of settlers", in an interview with Reuters news agency. The Israeli settlements on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal by the United Nations and under international law. Governor Kamil said that settlers had previously entered the village "under the protection of the Israeli army", and that similar acts of vandalism and graffiti had been reported in nearby areas. Palestine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ramallah condemned the incident, calling it a "blatant act of racism" and a reflection of the "widespread incitement campaigns against our people carried out by elements of the extremist right-wing ruling government" of Israel. The Israeli police and Shin Bet security services said in a joint statement: <We see this incident as extremely serious and will act resolutely to bring the perpetrators to justice for rigorous trial.>
Settler violence in the illegally occupied West Bank has intensified since the war in Gaza began on October 7 last year. As of October 2024, there have been at least 1,400 settler attacks in the West Bank.
Since the start of the war on Gaza, at least 803 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.>>
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/20/israeli-settlers-set-mosque-on-fire-in-occupied-west-bank

Al Jazeera - Dec 20 2024 - By Umut Uras and Virginia Pietromarchi
<<LIVE: Israeli attacks across Gaza kill 77 Palestinians in a day
This video may contain light patterns or images that could trigger seizures or cause discomfort for people with visual sensitivities.
At least 77 Palestinians have been killed and 174 wounded in Israeli attacks across Gaza, according to the latest daily update by the besieged territory's Health Ministry.
A new report titled "Gaza death trap" by Doctors Without Borders says there are "clear signs of ethnic cleansing" by Israeli forces in the Palestinian territory.>>
Video: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/12/20/live-israel-kills-15-in-gaza-shelters-amid-new-report-of-ethnic-cleansing

Al Jazeera - Dec 20 2024 - By Umut Uras and Virginia Pietromarchi
<<LIVE: Israel kills 15 in Gaza shelters amid new report of ethnic cleansing
A Palestinian child wounded during the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip receives treatment at the Al-Aqsa Hospital
This video may contain light patterns or images that could trigger seizures or cause discomfort for people with visual sensitivities.
A new report titled "Gaza death trap" by Doctors Without Borders (known by its French initials MSF) says there are "clear signs of ethnic cleansing" by Israeli forces in the Palestinian territory.
Israeli attacks on two school shelters in Gaza City killed at least 15 Palestinians who were forcibly displaced by the war.>>
Video: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/12/20/live-israel-kills-15-in-gaza-shelters-amid-new-report-of-ethnic-cleansing

France 24 - Dec 18, 2024
<<Gaza mental healthcare worker Zahra Legris on helping people traumatised by war
A mental health worker who is working to give psychological first aid in the south of Gaza has spoken to FRANCE 24 from there about the horrors of what is happening in the region, and how she and her colleagues go about trying to help. Zahra Legris is Mental Health Activity Manager for Medecins Sans Frontieres or MSF, based around Khan Younis. She speaks daily to people, often children, who have been deeply traumatised by the war. Many are suffering from grief, displacement and the destruction of their quality of life. She spoke to us in Perspective.>>
Video: https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/perspective/20241218-gaza-mental-healthcare-worker-zahra-legris-on-helping-people-endure-the-unthinkable

France 24 - Dec 18, 2024 - By: NEWS WIRES
<<What we know about the latest Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks
Renewed negotiations have raised hopes for a three-phase truce between Israel and Hamas, with diplomatic sources citing "final details" in ongoing Qatar-led negotiations. The proposed multi-phase deal could include hostage exchanges and steps towards Gaza's reconstruction.
Efforts to strike a Gaza truce and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas have repeatedly failed over key stumbling blocks, but recent negotiations have raised hope of an agreement.
On Tuesday, Washington expressed "cautious optimism" on the possibility of an "imminent deal".
This comes following reported indirect negotiations in Qatar, mediated by the gas-rich Gulf state along with Egypt and the United States.
Why the sudden optimism?
Diplomatic sources told AFP that US President-elect Donald Trump's recent declaration that a deal should be struck before his return to office on January 20 had an impact on the latest round of talks. One diplomatic source said that Hamas, isolated after the weakening of its Lebanese ally Hezbollah and the overthrow of Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad, is keen to reach a deal before the end of the year. "A lot of people see (a deal) as the perfect Christmas gift," the source said. Another noted that since Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar's death, Hamas leaders abroad, known as more pragmatic than the mastermind of the October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war, have been conducting negotiations. A high-ranking Hamas official told AFP on Tuesday that the talks were at the "final details" stage and that Qatar and Egypt would announce the agreement once negotiations end.
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer declined to comment on the proposed deal at a media briefing on Wednesday, stating <the less said the better>.
What would the deal look like?
During their attack on Israel on October 7 last year, Palestinian militants led by Hamas seized 251 hostages. Ninety-six of them are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead. Hamas officials told AFP that the current framework for a deal would see the implementation of a ceasefire and the gradual release of hostages over three phases. In the first, six-week phase, Israeli civilian hostages and female soldiers would be released in exchange for "hundreds of Palestinian prisoners". The source close to Hamas said that during this phase, Israel would withdraw its forces "from west of the Rafah crossing" on the Philadelphi Corridor, a strip of land cleared and controlled by Israel along Gaza's border with Egypt.
Israeli forces would also "partly withdraw" from the Netzarim Corridor, another, wider strip of land cleared and controlled by Israel that splits the territory in two just south of Gaza City, and gradually leave Palestinian refugee camps. Lastly, the first phase would see the gradual return of displaced residents to Gaza City and the north via the coastal highway under Israeli army monitoring. The second phase would see the release of Israeli male soldiers in exchange for "a number" of Palestinian prisoners, "including at least 100 with long-term sentences". During this phase, Israel would complete its military withdrawal but would maintain forces on the eastern and northern border areas with Israel. Under the last phase of the proposed deal, "the war will be officially declared over" and reconstruction efforts will begin in the territory where the UN satellite agency said that 66 percent of all structures have been damaged. Lastly, the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border would be jointly managed by the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, in coordination with Egypt and the European Union.
Sticking points
Despite numerous rounds of indirect talks, Israel and Hamas have agreed just one week-long truce at the end of 2023. Negotiations between Hamas and Israel have faced multiple challenges since then, with the primary point of contention being the establishment of a lasting ceasefire. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also repeatedly stated that he does not want to withdraw Israeli troops from the Philadelphi Corridor. One of the diplomatic sources AFP spoke to said Israel would <never> exit the border strip, and at most would leave the small border crossing for others to manage. Another unresolved issue is the governance of post-war Gaza. It remains a highly contentious issue, including within the Palestinian leadership. Israel has said repeatedly that it will not allow Hamas to run the territory ever again. And while a Hamas official told AFP on Wednesday that "Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, the United Nations and the United States will guarantee the implementation of the agreement," none of them have confirmed that.
(AFP)>>
Source: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20241218-what-we-know-of-the-latest-talks-for-a-gaza-ceasefire

France 24 - Dec 20, 2024 - By: NEWS WIRES
<<HRW accuses Israel of 'acts of genocide' in Gaza
Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday accused Israel of causing the deaths of thousands of Palestinians by systematically restricting and targeting Gaza's water supply in a campaign that amounts to "acts of genocide".
Israel on Thursday faced accusations of "acts of genocide" and exhibiting "signs of ethnic cleansing" in its military offensive in Gaza, charges Israeli authorities dismissed as <lies>. They are the latest in a series of accusations levelled against Israel -- and denied by the country -- during its 14-month war against Palestinian Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. In a report focused on water, New York-based Human Rights Watch detailed what it called deliberate efforts by Israeli authorities "of a systematic nature" to deprive Gazans of water, which had "likely caused thousands of deaths... and will likely continue to cause deaths". The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,208 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures. Since then, Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 45,129 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.
"Human Rights Watch is once more spreading its blood libels in order to promote its anti-Israel propaganda," the foreign ministry said. "Since the beginning of the war, Israel has facilitated the continuous flow of water and humanitarian aid into Gaza, despite operating under constant attacks" from Hamas. COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry body responsible for civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, denied using water as a "weapon" and said "three water lines from Israel are active" in Gaza.
Devastation
The United States said it disagreed with HRW findings.
<When it comes to a determination of something like genocide, the legal standard is just incredibly high, and so the finding in this scenario we just disagree with,> said State Department spokesman Vedant Patel. In a separate report on Thursday, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) accused Israel of causing widespread devastation in Gaza and noted "signs of ethnic cleansing" in the north of the Palestinian territory. Israel in early October began a major military operation in Gaza's north, which it said aimed to prevent Hamas from regrouping. MSF Secretary General Christopher Lockyear said what the group's medical teams "have witnessed on the ground throughout this conflict is consistent with the descriptions provided by an increasing number of legal experts and organizations concluding that genocide is taking place in Gaza". "Signs of ethnic cleansing and the ongoing devastation -- including mass killings, severe physical and mental health injuries, forced displacement, and impossible conditions of life for Palestinians under siege and bombardment -- are undeniable," he said. The foreign ministry slammed what it said was a <fabricated> MSF report. <The report is entirely false and misleading. Israel does not target medical teams or individuals uninvolved in terrorist activities,> it said. The HRW report detailed what it said was the intentional damaging of water and sanitation infrastructure, as well as the blocking of fuel for generators. The report concluded that in doing so, "Israeli authorities intentionally inflicted on the Palestinian population in Gaza 'conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.'" This, it said, amounted to the war crime of "extermination" and to "acts of genocide".
'Malnourished and dehydrated'
Israel's foreign ministry said that, in addition to water pipelines, it has also ensured that <water pumping and desalination facilities... remain operational>. HRW stopped short of saying Israel was committing outright <genocide>. Under international law, proving genocide requires evidence of specific intent, which experts say is very difficult. HRW pointed to a statement by then-defence minister Yoav Gallant as suggestive of Israel's intent. In October 2023, he declared a <complete siege> on Gaza and said: <No electricity, no food, no water, no gas -- it's all closed.>
Israel is facing a case brought by South Africa at the International Court of Justice last December, arguing the war in Gaza breached the 1948 UN Genocide Convention, an accusation Israel has strongly denied. In November the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for Gallant, and also for Mohammed Deif, military chief of Hamas.
Israel told the court it will appeal the warrants. The HRW report, drawn up over nearly a year, is based on interviews with dozens of Gazans and health officials, as well as satellite imagery, photographs, videos and data analysis. The lack of water left Gazans vulnerable to diseases and complications, such as infected wounds and the inability to heal due to dehydration, HRW said. One emergency room nurse cited in the report said they were forced to decide "not to resuscitate children who were severely malnourished and dehydrated".
(AFP)>>
Source: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20241219-israel-accused-of-acts-of-genocide-ethnic-cleansing-in-gaza

Al Jazeera - Dec 19 2024
<<EU research money flows to Israel amid war on Gaza
Israeli organisations, some linked to the military, have received more than $250 million in EU funding since the war on Gaza began. Al Jazeera's Federica Marsi investigates where the research funds are going.>>
Video: https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2024/12/19/eu-research-money-flows-to-israel-amid-war-on-gaza

Al Jazeera - Dec 19 2024
<<Israeli attacks pummel Gaza’s north as UN denounces lack of aid access
Children are among the victims of Israeli strikes on Gaza’s besieged north and central areas, as humanitarian aid continues to be restricted.
Israeli attacks on Gaza continue
Israel has carried out a series of attacks on northern and central Gaza that killed at least 25 people, including children, as a leading rights group accused it of committing "acts of genocide" by denying clean water to Palestinians. Separate Israeli attacks on Jabalia in northern Gaza, where Palestinians have remained under a tight siege for more than two months, killed at least 16 people, including 10 members of the same family, on Thursday. In Gaza City, an Israeli attack on a home in the Daraj neighbourhood killed at least four Palestinians, with another person killed in a strike on a group of civilians in Zeitoun neighbourhood. In central Gaza, a strike on Maghazi refugee camp killed at least four people. There were fears the overall death toll would rise as many people were reported wounded in the Israeli attacks. The Israeli military also issued forced evacuation threats to residents in Bureij refugee camp. "The question is where people can go, as everywhere is overcrowded in the central areas of the strip," said Al Jazeera's Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from nearby Deir el-Balah.
Israeli attacks on Gaza continue
At least 45,000 Palestinians have been killed and 107,000 others wounded in more than 14 months of attacks across Gaza, a densely populated territory that is at risk of famine and is experiencing emergency levels of hunger.
Israel began its ferocious military campaign after at least 1,139 people were killed during an attack led by Palestinian group Hamas in Israel on October 7, 2023, with more than 200 others taken captive.
Most of Gaza's 2.3 million inhabitants have been displaced, many of them multiple times, while Israel's intense bombardment has left much of the territory in ruins.
Referring to a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday that accused Israel of using water as a weapon of war in Gaza, Abu Azzoum said searching for water in the besieged and bombarded territory was "a daily struggle for survival". In its 179-page report, HRW detailed how Israeli authorities have cut off and later restricted piped water to Gaza, rendered most of its water and sanitation infrastructure useless by cutting electricity and restricting fuel, deliberately destroyed and damaged water and sanitation infrastructure and water repair materials; and blocked the entry of critical water supplies. Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied the accusations, which it called <lies>, and alleged that the organisation is promoting <anti-Israel propaganda>. A separate report by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) published on Thursday found "clear signs of ethnic cleansing" in Gaza, particularly in the northern part of the strip. "Our firsthand observations of the medical and humanitarian catastrophe inflicted on Gaza are consistent with the descriptions provided by an increasing number of legal experts and organisations concluding that genocide is taking place in Gaza," the organisation said. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has repeatedly ordered Israel to take all the necessary action to ensure that water and basic food supplies arrive without delay to the Palestinian population in Gaza. In spite of that, Israel was still being accused by the United Nations and humanitarian organisations of restricting aid supplies to Gaza by effectively blocking access to the enclave. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Thursday said Israeli authorities had "yet again" denied access to Beit Hanoon, Beit Lahiya and east of Jabalia, which are under heavy siege. "We underscored how the vast majority of our efforts to reach North Gaza governorates since the Israeli siege began 10 weeks ago have been blocked. Most requests are denied outright," Dujarric said.
The UN said it had planned 96 humanitarian actions in the north of Gaza, but just 16 of those were facilitated by Israeli authorities.>>
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/19/israeli-attacks-pummel-gazas-north-as-un-denounces-lack-of-access

Al Jazeera - Dec 18 2024 - By Al Jazeera Staff
<<US lawmakers urge Biden administration to halt offensive weapons to Israel
Twenty Democrats call for upholding US laws that prohibit arming countries that block humanitarian assistance.
Washington, DC - Twenty Democratic legislators in the United States have urged the administration of President Joe Biden to halt the transfer of offensive weapons to Israel, noting that the Israeli government has not complied with US demands for more aid to enter Gaza. In a letter addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday, the Congress members called on Washington to uphold its own laws that restrict military aid to countries that commit war crimes and block US-backed humanitarian assistance. "We believe continuing to transfer offensive weapons to the Israeli government prolongs the suffering of the Palestinian people and risks our own national security by sending a message to the world that the US will apply its laws, policies, and international law selectively," the letter said. It added that failure to act would prolong Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war on Gaza, "isolating Israel on the international stage and creating further instability in the region". The letter was led by Summer Lee and Greg Casar, who was recently elected to lead the Congressional Progressive Caucus next year, succeeding Pramila Jayapal. The push is unlikely to convince Biden and Blinken, who have repeatedly pledged their <ironclad> support for Israel, to change course. But it underscores the persisting progressive pressure on the US administration over its Middle East policy. It also highlights Casar as a critic of Israel before he becomes the chair of the influential Progressive Caucus. The congressional statement focuses on the Biden administration's ultimatum to Israel in October, when US officials warned Israel in a letter to enable the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza within 30 days or face consequences. Although several humanitarian groups have said that Israel failed to meet the conditions outlined by Washington to improve the situation in Gaza, the Biden administration said after the deadline that it would continue to provide weapons to Israel. "While Israel made nominal progress in some areas, it overwhelmingly failed to meet the minimum standards laid out in the Administration's own letter," the lawmakers wrote. For example, US officials demanded allowing 350 aid trucks to the besieged Palestinian territory. But an average of 42 trucks were allowed into Gaza daily during the 30-day period. In fact, humanitarian groups - including the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, Refugees International and Save the Children - accused Israel of taking "actions that dramatically worsened the situation on the ground, particularly in northern Gaza" after the US warning. "Israel has failed to comply with its ally’s demands - at enormous human cost for Palestinian civilians in Gaza," the groups said in a joint statement last month.
A suffocating Israeli blockade has brought deadly hunger to Gaza. The war, which has destroyed large parts of Gaza, has killed more than 45,000 people, according to local health authorities. United Nations experts and several rights groups have accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza - an effort to destroy the Palestinian people in part or in full. The International Criminal Court last month issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over suspected war crimes in Gaza, including using hunger as a weapon of war. But the US has remained unflinching with its support for its ally. A recent Brown University study estimated that the Biden administration provided $17.9bn to Israel to help fund the first year of the war on Gaza. Tuesday's congressional letter coincided with the filing of a lawsuit by Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and the US aiming to compel Washington end military support to Israeli army units engaging in human rights violations.>>
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA:
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/18/us-lawmakers-urge-biden-administration-to-halt-offensive-weapons-to-israel
 

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