Palestinians fight for their lives and their stolen lands

[Anthea]

Israel Has No Moral Right To Exist

In this current war between Gaza and Israel, the Zionist army has inflicted a civilian death toll in Gaza that makes Daesh look like a group of humanitarians

The Israeli regime is unique in its constant need for validation. No other regime is consistently seeking its enemy’s recognition, nor attempting to receive a moral approval for its behavior from its peers. Interestingly, as it always advocates for its position, it puts itself out there for review and if any regime could be divorced from a “right to exist” based upon merit, it would be “Israel”.

What has been committed against the people of Gaza, since last October, is an unprecedented crime in human history. Never before have we seen a people as severely terrorized with modern military equipment as are the people of the Gaza Strip. Whether it be the tonnage of bombs dropped on Gaza, the percentage of the infrastructure destroyed, or even the number of children, women, journalists, medical workers, and other protected groups killed, the Zionist military has broken all records.

Today, we objectively see the world's worst humanitarian crisis in Gaza, labeled as such by the United Nations’ aid chief Martin Griffiths. The total number of casualties suffered in Gaza has risen well above 100,000, with the number of injured and dead nearly impossible to count as the means to ascertain accurate figures do not exist. While the massive, unprecedented loss of human life in Gaza goes on, the Zionist regime attacks the credibility of everyone commenting and recording this stain on humanity’s historical record, attempting to undermine every institution from the Gaza Health Ministry, all the way to every organ of the UN.

For those who believe that the idea that “Israel” has no right to exist is too far of a statement to make, consider some of the following pieces of information:

The Israeli regime is currently on trial at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for committing what the World Court’s judges unanimously decided were viably various violations of the Genocide Conventions. At the same time, “Israel” has been labeled by all the regional and top international reputable human rights groups as an Apartheid regime, with even its own top human rights organization, B’Tselem, labeling it a “regime of Jewish supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea”. Simultaneously, the Israeli regime has a case that is pending at the International Criminal Court (ICC), over war crimes committed in the occupied territories since 2014.

In this current war between Gaza and “Israel”, the Zionist army has inflicted a civilian death toll in Gaza that makes Daesh look like a group of humanitarians. In the first two years of the Daesh insurgency in Iraq, the UN stated that some 18,800 civilians were killed by the terrorist organization, while the Zionist military has massacred well over 30,000 Palestinians in around 5 months. In fact, the true death toll in the Gaza Strip, when we account for those reported missing and buried under the rubble, is most likely closer to 40,000.

Historically speaking, the Zionist entity is responsible for not only the mass ethnic cleansing of between 750,000 to 850,000 Palestinians during the Nakba (1947-9), but went on to commit mass expulsions of Palestinians from their homes during the 1950’s; especially with the assaults on the Gaza Strip during that time period. In 1967, a further 350,000 Palestinians were expelled from their lands, while around the year 1970, some 100,000 were forced from their homes during the period of the Jordan Valley clashes.

In 1982, some 20,000 Palestinians and Lebanese were then massacred when the Zionist military invaded Lebanon and forced the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) to leave. Once the PLO left Lebanon and there was nobody there to defend the Palestinian refugee camps, the Zionists used their fascist allied militia groups to mass murder and mutilate thousands of Palestinian refugees and Lebanese Shia; the most infamous case being the Sabra and Shatila massacre. The Zionist entity then decided to impose an illegal occupation on southern Lebanon, which they did not relinquish until the Lebanese resistance forced them to leave in 2000.

The one group of Palestinians that the Zionist regime claims is an example of how they treat “the right kind of Arab” better, is the Palestinian citizens of “Israel”. These Palestinians are discriminated against legally through over 60 bills passed in the Israeli Knesset, and were also under military occupation themselves up until 1966 when the Zionists illegally occupied East al-Quds, the West Bank, Gaza, the Egyptian Sinai and Syrian Golan Heights. As for the Bedouin Palestinians, who carry Israeli citizenship and reside in the Naqab (Negev), they themselves underwent mass displacement in the hundreds of thousands, as did the majority of Palestinian citizens of the occupied land, and are now subjected to a program of displacement, whereby their “unrecognized” villages are frequently bulldozed and seized for the expansion of settlements.

Even with the Israeli Jewish population, discrimination against non-European Jews was always rampant, this included spraying Iraqi Jews with disinfectant in the 1950’s when they first arrived in occupied Palestine and even the theft of Yemeni Jewish babies in their thousands, who were assumed to have been gifted to White Jewish households. This treatment of Jews from the Arab World, who were viewed as having the mentality of “lesser peoples” and were even discussed using racial slurs by members of the Israeli ruling elite, bares resemblance to the Stolen Generation and Residential Schools that were used to so-called “civilize” the indigenous communities of Australia and Canada. This is not to mention the more recent sterilization of African women and rampant discrimination against Ethiopian Jews that has led to countless anti-police riots, the most recent coming in 2019.

Racism is woven into the Israeli social fabric on every single level and does not exempt Jewish people themselves, part of this history was the emergence of the Israeli Black Panthers party, which was formed primarily of Jews from MENA backgrounds.

All of this is not to mention the daily horrors under the occupation that began in 1967 in the West Bank, Gaza and East al-Quds. None of this even scratches the surface of the never-ending expansion of illegal settlements on Palestinian lands, the daily demolition of homes in the West Bank and East al-Quds. It doesn’t cover the fact that the Zionist entity was the first UN recognised state to legalize torture and to enshrine human shield taking into their military doctrine.

Everything mentioned above leaves out the siege on Gaza, which began in 2006 and was tightened in 2007. It leaves out the high-tech massacres carried out against the people of Gaza in 2006, 2008-9, 2012, 2014 and 2021. It also leaves out the mass murder of around 300 Gazan non-violent protesters during the Great Return March of 2018-9. This list of aerial assaults on Gaza also misses out smaller-scale bombing attacks which were carried out during the years in between, for instance there was an attack on Gaza in early 2023, before the war in October, and an assault on Gaza in August of 2022 also.

At this point, much of the world knows now that 97% of the water was unfit for human consumption in Gaza, before October 7. It is well known that Gaza was declared unlivable in 2020 by UN experts and that the conditions in the besieged coastal territory were tantamount to a concentration camp.

The short summary that is provided above, only scratches the surface of what the Zionist entity has committed during its history, for context. What is happening right now is so incredibly horrific, in its content and scale, that you have to go back to the colonial era in order to find somewhat adequate comparisons. Yet, this is the first time we are seeing a genocide in real time, minute to minute and on live feeds through our phones. Nobody can claim that the world doesn’t know, or that the Israelis themselves don’t see what is happening. In fact, the Israeli society supports this genocide overwhelmingly, according to every available poll conducted.

On every level of Israeli society, from politicians to media personalities, civilians on social media to the soldiers on the ground, the daily genocidal remarks against Palestinians are unrelenting. There are no viable Israeli opposition parties that are challenging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, they all advocate the same racist policies and it is considered as a mutiny for any Israeli to advocate against slaughtering the people of Gaza.

The Zionist entity is premised on being a secure place to protect the Jewish people, a regime that will prevent another Holocaust, yet they have proven that they are not only incapable of defending against a well-disciplined opposition, but they are a regime which is causing a genocide. Every argument that could be presented by the Zionists is defeated and in the dust, the only one left is that they are able to do anything because they are superior and Palestinians/Muslims/Arabs are inferior beings in their nature. The Zionist entity was born of European bigotry, with the idea being that to end anti-Semitism in Europe, they had to emulate other settler colonial movements and behave as White Supremacists overseas.

No State has the inherent right to exist, they exist as a fact and this remains the case as long as there is the means to allow them to remain. On a moral level, if you believe in “Israel’s right to exist” then you are saying that you believe in Apartheid, Genocide, War Crimes, and a Racist ideology, the Zionist entity’s existence is predicated on these outcomes and ideas. In response to arguments, like the one presented here, bad faith actors will argue that the rejection of “Israel’s right to exist” is a call for the extermination of the Jewish people, the argument is quite the contrary. The call for the end of the Israeli regime is a call for the liberation of people living in occupied Palestine, it is a call for the abolishment of a racist Apartheid regime and installing a system that grants equal rights. It is also a call for justice and following this genocide in Gaza, the only just solution is the end of the Zionist regime and the granting of equal rights to all peoples living between the river and the sea, in the land of Palestine.

There is no other member State at the United Nations that falls under the category of being an Apartheid State while dwarfing the civilian death toll inflicted by Daesh, is accused of Genocide at the highest judicial body in the world, war crimes at the ICC, and is also an illegal occupier/annexer. If there is any member of the UN that can be argued has no right to exist, it is “Israel”.

https://english.almayadeen.net/articles ... t-to-exist

[Anthea]

IOF fired on UN food convoy

CNN has received correspondence between the UN and the Israeli occupation forces indicating that both sides reportedly agreed upon the convoy's path before the bombing

On February 5, Israeli occupation forces (IOF) opened fire on a United Nations convoy carrying vital humanitarian aid in central Gaza, eventually blocking the trucks' progress to the northern part, where Palestinians are on the verge of famine, according to documents shared exclusively by the UN and CNN's analysis.

CNN has received correspondence between the UN and the IOF indicating that the convoy's path was agreed upon by both sides before the bombing. According to an internal incident report created by UNRWA, the major UN assistance agency in Gaza, and obtained by CNN, the vehicle was one of ten in a convoy that was stopped at an IDF holding position when it was fired on.

Most of the cargo, primarily wheat flour, which was required to produce bread, was destroyed.

Tracing the Israeli strike reveals the tremendous problems that humanitarian organizations confront in delivering supplies to Gaza's more than 2 million residents due to Israeli siege and obstacles.

About 85% of Gazans are internally displaced, amidst "Israel's" nearly five-month bombing of the Strip.

Juliette Touma, global director of communications for UNRWA, told CNN that the convoy was on its way to "middle areas" before it was hit by Israeli fire.

The IOF claimed on February 5 that it was looking into the incident, one of many where aid convoys were targeted.

Following the strike on February 5, UNRWA decided to suspend delivering convoys to northern Gaza. The last time the organization was allowed to supply food north of Wadi Gaza, a strip of marshes that runs through the strip, was on January 23. The United Nations estimates that 300,000 people continue to live in northern Gaza with no help. According to the UN, acute malnutrition has already been found in 16.2% of youngsters, which is over the critical threshold.

The convoy, which included ten relief trucks and two armored vehicles with UN insignia, began its trek in the early hours of February 5.

The agency stated that before departing to provide supplies, it had worked with the Israeli forces ahead of time, agreeing on the route to be taken - as is customary.

Email exchange between UNRWA and COGAT, the Israeli military organization in charge of monitoring activities in the Palestinian areas and coordinating humanitarian supplies, reveals an agreement for the convoy to use Al Rashid Road.

Touma detailed how this coordination is referred to as "deconfliction" and ensures convoys are not targeted.

She explained how Gaza "has become very fast one of the most dangerous places to be an aid worker in,” detailing that many workers are forced to deliver aid under fire.

At the time, UNRWA's director, Tom White, posted two photos on X displaying a flatbed truck with a hole where its load had been and boxes of supplies scattered on the road. According to CNN's geolocation of the photographs, the hole was on the side of the truck facing out to sea, indicating that it had been hit by a munition shot from that direction. Hours after the targeting, CNN saw satellite footage that revealed Israeli missile boats some kilometers offshore.

“It’s really difficult to see how this could be a legal attack,”

Janina Dill, co-director at Oxford University’s Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict, told CNN the incident conducted by the Israelis was a "very serious violation of international humanitarian law," and could be criminal.

Philippa Greer, UNRWA's lead legal adviser for Gaza, said she was on the convoy when it was hit and wrote on X that the team was "extremely lucky" that no injuries occurred.

The truck then asked permission to travel via an Israeli checkpoint that monitors access into northern Gaza, but it was denied entry.

COGAT alleges that products deemed "harmful" are prohibited from entering following "a process of supervision and control."

A US spokesperson told CNN that the strike was "unacceptable," detailing continued demands to allow workers to "safely distribute assistance and for civilians to be able to access assistance, and for Israel to take all feasible precautions to protect civilians."

Israel continues to deny aid into Gaza

The Palestinian Red Crescent has reported that aid has continued to be obstructed by Israeli occupation forces for a week, detailing that the IOF is obstructing the inspection of trucks at the Al-Awja crossing.

Israel has been obstructing aid from entering Gaza through Rafah for a week now as the war on the besieged strip continues.

“Because of the level of desperation in Gaza, people would see an aid convoy, they would come to the aid convoy, take the stuff from the aid convoy,” Touma told CNN. “By the time we get the approval, the aid convoy is empty.”

Other routes are blocked owing to debris and craters caused by the indiscriminate Israeli bombing, CNN's satellite imagery indicates. Just weeks before the IOF identified it as the key humanitarian route, al Rashid Road was attacked, leaving a big crater behind.

An image obtained on January 29, 2024, shows a massive crater on al Rashid Road in central Gaza, which was originally apparent in satellite photography from late December. Despite the crater, the IOF designated the beachfront road as the principal route for relief convoys beginning January 4, 2024.

UN food agency cuts aid deliveries to northern Gaza

As part of efforts to phase out supplies of aid to the besieged Strip, the World Food Programme (WFP) on Tuesday announced it had suspended aid supplies to the northern parts of Gaza after a convoy of trucks was reportedly looted.

The agency said that a convoy that was on its way to the north after a three-week halt "faced complete chaos and violence due to the collapse of civil order."

The agency is well aware that food and water are already scarce, and the situation in the Strip exposes "unprecedented levels of desperation," as reported by its teams.

WFP said it planned to deploy trucks of food daily for seven days, but on Sunday the convoy had to 'fend off' the starving residents' attempts to "climb aboard our trucks, then facing gunfire once we entered Gaza City."

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... voy-in-gaz

[Anthea]

Israeli bombs destroy residential blocs

The Ministry of Health in Gaza has released the latest death toll, which is quickly nearing 30,000

The Ministry of Health in Gaza announced the latest death toll in the Gaza Strip, which comes as a direct result of the Israeli aggression on the besieged territory, that has entered its 142nd day.

The spokesperson for the Ministry, Ashraf al-Qudra, said that the Israeli occupation committed seven massacres against Palestinian families in the Gaza Strip, killing 86 and injuring 131 others, since the last toll was announced on Saturday.

The number of martyrs 29,692 Palestinians, while the number of wounded has risen to 69,879

In the statement, authorities reiterated that several victims remain abandoned in the streets or stuck under the rubble, presumed dead, as Israeli occupation forces block medics and emergency services from reaching the targeted areas.

Al Mayadeen's correspondent said that Israeli warplanes are executing multiple raids throughout the southwestern neighborhoods of the city of Khan Younis. Our correspondent also added that occupation forces demolished a number of residential blocs in al-Zaytoun neighborhood to the south of Gaza City, adding that seven people were martyred after a strike deliberately targeted a house in al-Sabra neighborhood.

In this context, Al Mayadeen's correspondent stressed that "not even an hour passes without the occupation executing new strikes on the Strip," pointing to the brutality of the occupation's war on Gaza.

"Israel" continues to disregard international law and the orders of the International Court of Justice, launching multiple daily attacks on civilian populated areas, causing dozens of civilian casualties on a daily basis.

Gaza health situation "extremely catastrophic", "beyond description"

Reflecting on the health situation in the northern Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Ministry of Health described it as "extremely catastrophic" and "indescribable", noting that hospitals in Gaza and its north are without fuel, especially the Baptist Hospital, east of Gaza City, which has run out of fuel at least 10 days ago.

Al-Hilu International Specialized Hospital is also without fuel, it added.

The Ministry further highlighted the distressing situation, pointing out that medicine refrigerators are without electricity, which threatens to destroy several sensitive medicines.

It also revealed that dozens of ambulances, civil defense vehicles, and medical services are out of service, as a result of the lack of fuel, and that dialysis and intensive care patients are now facing the threat of inevitable death as a result of shortages in medicines, generator fuel, and ambulances.

Earlier today, Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported that the occupation forces are preventing ambulances from reaching the targeted areas, hindering their ability to recover the wounded.

EuroMed calls on ICJ to sever ties with 'Israel'

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor called on Saturday for all member states of the International Court of Justice ICJ to sever all forms of political, economic, and military relations with "Israel" due to its blatant violation of the court's decisions calling for the cessation of genocide in the Gaza Strip.

EuroMed also condemned "Israel's" repeated violations of the court's order, as well as its breaches of the Genocide Convention ratified by "Israel."

The organization based its assessment of "Israel's" compliance with the court's decision on key indicators, including genocide, killing members of the group, causing them serious bodily or mental harm, imposing living conditions intended to destroy the group, preventing births, and forcibly transferring children out of the group, and publicly inciting genocide.

Since the issuance of the ICJ's decision, the Israeli occupation has killed more than 3,847 Palestinians, including 1,306 children and 807 women, in addition to injuring around 5,119 Palestinians

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... oy-residen

[Anthea]

IOF Attacked Gaza’s Main Cities

On Wednesday, Israeli attacks continued focused on the cities of Gaza, Rafah and Khan Younis, where numerous Palestinians were reported killed and wounded

In its most recent report on the situation, the territory's health authorities said that 96 citizens were killed and 172 wounded in the last 24 hours.

The army blew up several homes west of Khan Yunis, while artillery shelled several areas of that city, epicenter of a ground offensive for weeks, reported the official Wafa news agency.

In Gaza, clashes continued between Hamas militiamen and soldiers, who are trying to enter the center of the neighborhood of Al-Zaytoun, located to the southwest of the metropolis.

Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis in the territory is worsening due to the blockade and Israeli attacks.

According to the UN Population Fund, in the Al-Helal Al-Emairati Maternity Hospital in Rafah, newborns are dying because mothers are unable to receive prenatal or postnatal care

Meanwhile, Al Jazeera television reported that a two-year-old boy named Khaled died after eating bread made from animal feed in the northern Strip.

The lack of food is most acute in the northern part of the enclave due to the difficulties imposed by the soldiers on humanitarian organizations to move aid convoys from the south.

More than 29,800 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip and another 70,200 wounded

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Isr ... -0015.html

[Anthea]

More than 30,000 slaughtered in Gaza

The majority of those killed are women and children

More than 30,000 Palestinians have now been killed in Gaza since 7 October when Hamas started fighting back against the IOF genocide

That number equates to about 1.3% of the 2.3 million population of the territory - the latest grim marker of the awful toll of this war.

The ministry says that the majority of those killed were women and children.

Its figures do not differentiate between civilians and fighters when identifying those killed.

In its daily update on Thursday, the ministry said 81 people had been killed in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 30,035.

The actual number of dead is likely to be far higher as the count does not include those who have not reached hospitals, among them thousands of people still lost under the rubble of buildings hit by Israeli air strikes

More than 70,000 injured people have been registered by the Gaza ministry of health (MoH), which is the only official source for casualties. Its data is quoted by UN agencies and other international institutions.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says it has a "long-standing co-operation" with the Gaza body and that it has "good capacity in data collection/analysis". Its previous reporting has been considered credible and "well developed" by the UN agency.

The WHO notes that when the current breakdown of deaths is compared with previous data recorded by the UN from past conflicts in Gaza, "it clearly shows an increasing number of civilians being killed, with a higher proportion of children and women fatalities".

Asked about its assessment on the number of fatalities and the breakdown of civilians and fighters, Israel's military told the BBC only that "the number of terrorists killed stands at approximately 10,000".

(a terrorist is someone who terrorizes others, the Israelis have been terrorizing Palestinians, slaughtering the people and stealing Palestinian lands and property for around 70 years)

For a Palestinian death to be registered in Gaza, a corpse or remains must be seen by hospital staff or medical workers. At the end of each day, hospitals send lists of all casualties including - where known - names, identity numbers, dates of injury or death, and details of injuries and condition to a centralised MoH system. Its operators are now based in Rafah.

The Palestinian Red Crescent also contributes data.

During this war it has been more difficult than ever to report figures because of overflowing mortuaries, fighting in and around hospitals and clinics, and poor internet and phone connectivity.

However, if and when a longer-term truce is agreed or the war ends, efforts to recover bodies and trace the missing should allow a clearer picture to emerge of numbers killed, including numbers of combatants. The UN and rights groups, as well as the Israeli military, can be expected to carry out their own investigations.

The number of dead equates to about 1.3% of the population of the territory

An ongoing criticism of the existing figures is that they do not give a sense of how Palestinians were killed - whether this was as a result of Israeli air strikes, artillery shelling or other means such as misfired Palestinian rockets. All casualties are currently counted as victims of "Israeli aggression".

In recent days, the Gaza MoH has highlighted more cases of what the WHO calls "indirect mortality" - that is people dying as a result of the war but not directly because of the fighting.

On Wednesday, it said six children had died from dehydration and malnutrition at hospitals in northern Gaza. Two were at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and four at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in the town of Beit Lahia.

The UN is warning that a quarter of Gaza's population is now at risk of famine and that there has been a dramatic increase in infectious diseases compounded by a general shortage of medicines and lack of medical care.

The war began when thousands of Hamas fighters stormed into land illegally occupied by Israel in an attempt to reclaim Palestinian land, killing about 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages, all of whom had no legal right to be on Palestinian land

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68430925

[Anthea]

Israeli forces massacre 100+ civilians

waiting for aid in Gaza City

After suffering a harrowing defeat in al-Zaytoun neighborhood, Israeli forces took out their frustration on more than a thousand civilians waiting for aid in Gaza

More than 100 people were killed in a massacre committed by Israeli occupation forces in al-Rashid Street, to the west of Gaza City, Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported on Thursday.

Tens of others were wounded in the attack that targeted Palestinian civilians who were waiting in line to receive aid packages in the northern Gaza Strip, a field source from the Palestinian Resistance told Al Mayadeen.

Israeli armored vehicles and tanks also ran over the bodies of several martyrs, while others fired incendiary shells toward civilians in the area, according to the commander

Moreover, Israeli occupation forces arbitrarily detained hundreds of civilians in the same area, transferring them to an unknown location.

On the southeastern axis of Gaza City, Israeli troops detonated bombs in several residential buildings in al-Zaytoun neighborhood, demolishing several houses while severely damaging large sections of the Salah al-Din Street in the area, which links all of the Gaza Strip's cities and towns.

The source also confirmed that emergency services are being prevented from reaching several civilian victims who were martyred in al-Zaytoun, as a result of Israeli attacks.

Death toll exceeds 30,000

Earlier, the Ministry of Health in Gaza confirmed that the number of Palestinians martyred in the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Strip has surpassed 30,000.

"The number of martyrs exceeds 30,000," a Ministry statement announced, adding that the toll includes at least 79 martyrs reported overnight.

Twenty-five Palestinians, the majority of whom were children and women, were killed in an Israeli bombardment on the al-Nuseirat and al-Bureij camps in the central Gaza Strip.

The bodies of the martyrs were transported to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah after being pulled from under the rubble of targeted inhabited houses.

In Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, the Israeli occupation forces intensified their shelling in several areas, and the European Hospital received the bodies of five martyrs.

The Israeli occupation artillery also targeted the Nasser Medical Complex building in Khan Younis, causing it to catch fire.

In a related context, medical and civil defense teams managed to recover the body of a female martyr two days after an Israeli bombardment targeted her family's home in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

However, these attacks against civilians come after Israeli occupation forces continued to fail in their advance into al-Zaytoun neighborhood, as they expected a quick operation in the area as part of their alleged third stage of operations, which were expected to follow low-intensity methods and would require relatively low-effort raids and incursions into areas in the Gaza Strip, following a large-scale invasion into the same areas that were supposedly "cleared".

More than 10 days since the attempted invasion of al-Zaytoun was launched, the Palestinian Resistance continues to confront and deal mighty blows to occupation soldiers, killing and injuring multiple enemy troops, including a company commander and another platoon commander of the Givati Brigade.

Our source from the Palestinian Resistance confirmed that Israeli occupation forces withdrew from the neighborhood after coming under several top-tier attacks.

He said that debris resulting from the Resistance's attacks on armored vehicles and Merkava tanks could be seen across the axes of confrontation, which saw intense fighting. The source also confirmed that bloodied and ripped pieces of military garments can be seen scattered in several areas indicating casualties among enemy soldiers.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... -aid-in-ga

[Anthea]

78-year-old tortured to death in Israeli camp

The Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoners Society reported today, Saturday, the martyrdom of an elderly man from the Gaza Strip in an Israeli occupation detention camp

The two prisoners’ affairs bodies identified the 78-year-old martyred detainee as Ahmad Rizq Qodeih, who was arrested, along with members of his family, during the ground invasion of Khan Younis carried out by the Israeli occupation on February 7.

The said bodies reported the testimony of one of the detainees who was with the elderly Palestinian and was recently released. He explained that “Qodeih was subjected to torture after his arrest and was martyred in one of the camps, yet the exact name of the camp remains unknown.” However, he did specify that the camp is about two hours away from the “Kerem Shalom” checkpoint.

In the details of the testimony, “Qodeih was transferred for investigation and was subjected to severe torture, concentrated on his limbs, with evident torture marks on his body after he was returned to the detention area.”

The two bodies also explained that the witness revealed harsh details to Qodeih’s family about his final moments before his martyrdom, where he asked to shower and have one last meal, as a final wish, before dying right in front of them.

After contacting Qodeih’s family, they confirmed that the elderly martyr did not suffer from any chronic diseases before his arrest and that he was the father of 11 children, one of whom was martyred in 2008.

The Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoners Society added that the rise in the number of martyrs in Israeli occupation detention centers and prisons after October 7, as a result of torture, systematic retaliatory measures, and medical crimes, reflects a clear decision to murder the detainees, as part of the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the all-out aggression against the Palestinian people. This also goes hand in hand with the crime of enforced disappearance, which stands today as one of the most prominent systematic and serious crimes that the occupation insists on carrying out against the Palestinians detained from Gaza.

It is noteworthy that specialized human rights institutions have made repeated calls to international institutions at all levels to stop the crime of forced disappearance, through which the occupation aims to carry out more crimes without impunity, in addition to manipulating the law however it wishes, by approving special regulations for the detainees of Gaza.

With the martyrdom of Qodeih, the number of martyrs killed inside Israeli occupation prisons and detention camps since October 7 has risen to 12, including 4 from Gaza, one of whom has not been identified until today, in addition to the martyrdom Muhammad Abu Sneineh from occupied al-Quds, who was detained despite his injury and later succumbed to his wounds at Hadassah Hospital.

The prisoners’ affairs bodies stated that the occupation had previously admitted to the execution of one of the detainees without announcing his identity, revealing that they, as competent authorities, had not received any information about the executed detainee.

This coincides with revelations made by Israeli media outlets that spoke about detainees killed in the “Sde Teman” detention center in Bir al-Sabe’ without disclosing their identities or the conditions under which they died, not to mention the field executions that took place against detained citizens. Their numbers remain unknown due to difficulties and complications in the documentation processes in Gaza.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... h-in-israe

[Anthea]

Across rivers and seas world

unites for a 'Free Palestine'

Cuba, Britain, Venezuela, and Tunisia, among other countries, are the venues of mass protests on Saturday, in support of the Palestinian people

Protests and demonstrations continue all over the world in support of Gaza and the Palestinian cause, condemning the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, which has entered its 148th day, demanding an immediate end to the brutal actions of the Israeli regime.

Cuba, Venezuela, Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Malaysia, and Jordan are witnessing solidarity protests with the Palestinian people as part of the activities for the International Day of Support for the Palestinian People.

On Saturday, the first demonstration in support of Palestine took place in Cuba, with the participation of the Cuban President, Miguel Diaz-Canel, in response to calls for global demonstrations. Protestors, including Diaz-Canel, gathered at Havana's Jose Marti Anti-Imperialist Tribune, located in front of the US Embassy in the capital.
— Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (@DiazCanelB) March 2, 2024

Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Cuba reported that tens of thousands of Cubans, Palestinian students, and Arabs in Cuba are participating in the massive demonstration in support of the Palestinian people in Havana.

The Venezuelan capital, Caracas, witnessed a massive demonstration in support of the Palestinian people and condemnation of the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.

Malaysia calls for a ceasefire

In Kuala Lumpur's city center, hundreds of Malaysians in support of the Palestinian cause gathered to express solidarity with the people of Gaza.

Demonstrators displayed Palestinian flags and held signs advocating for a ceasefire in Gaza. Notably, some posters depicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a Nazi leader, featuring Swastika symbols.

Within the assembly, Nurul Izzah Anwar, the daughter of the Malaysian Prime Minister, called upon individuals to participate in the rally against the ongoing Israeli acts of genocide.

Thousands protest in Europe

In the French capital, Paris, protesters gathered in front of Saint Augustine Square, condemning the Israeli war as they waved Palestinian flags and chanted slogans in support of Palestinians amid strict security measures employed by French authorities.

After being dismissed from her post as Paris 2024 Olympics ambassador for showing solidarity with Gaza, Emilie Gomis, former French Basketball player was present in the protest that took place in Paris today .. my country’s flag is in the right spot

In the capital of the United Kingdom, London, thousands of supporters of Palestine gathered to protest the continuous British backing for the Israeli regime since the beginning of the aggression on the Gaza Strip on October 7 last year.

Our correspondent in London mentioned that the ongoing protests supporting the Palestinian people in Britain may be gaining political and national momentum due to the significant support for the Palestinian people and rejection of the Israeli aggression on Gaza.

In the city of Manchester, hundreds demonstrated and chanted, "Your profits are covered in Palestinian blood," in reference to the arms companies profiting from "Israel's" five months of genocide in Gaza and 75 years of ethnic cleansing and murder in Palestine.

Additionally, Al Mayadeen's correspondent explained that George Galloway's victory in the by-election in Rochdale was a major shock to the British government, causing "a political earthquake in the United Kingdom." The leader of the Workers Party in Britain sent shockwaves through the British political establishment, angering both Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the leader of the Labour Party Keith Starmer, who both staunchly supported "Israel's" aggression on the Gaza Strip

Also in Europe, the Danish capital, Copenhagen, witnessed a massive march in solidarity with the Palestinian people. The participants raised Palestinian flags and banners calling for an end to the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip and chanted slogans supporting an end to the genocide.

In the Swiss city of Bern, supporters of Gaza lined up in blood-stained white shrouds, denouncing the genocide committed by the occupation in the Gaza Strip during the International Day of Support for the Palestinian People.

Under the same event, protesters gathered in the Netherlands to demand an end to the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

In Germany, people roamed the streets raising Palestinian flags and denouncing the unfolding genocide in Gaza.

Protests in the US

New York also saw demonstrations as a tribute to Airman Aaron Bushnell who self-immolated in protest of the war on Gaza.

Protesters also demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Notable protests in the Arab world

In Jordan, protesters organized a march toward the Sheikh Hussein Bridge in northern Jordan to protest against the establishment of an alleged land bridge to the occupation entity amid the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip.

Furthermore, a massive protest took place in Tunisia under the slogan "Gaza is starving," demanding an end to the blockade and aggression. The demonstrators chanted, "Resistance, resistance... No peace, no compromise."

Zuhair Maghzaoui, the Secretary-General of the People's Movement, praised the Resistance and the steadfast Palestinian people, as well as the Resistance in Yemen, Lebanon, and Iraq. He emphasized that every Arab is now called upon to stand with their Arab identity and humanity.

Additionally, a group of individuals gathered in front of the Journalists Syndicate building in Cairo, Egypt, declaring their support for Palestine.

For over 145 days, the Israeli crimes against the people of #Gaza have persisted, yet global solidarity marches with Gaza continue unabated, calling for an end to the Israeli aggression.#Palestine pic.twitter.com/Ur9eN2OdQY
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) March 2, 2024

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/across-rivers-and-seas--the-world-unites-for-a--free-palesti

[Anthea]

Thousands Rally in Los Angeles

On Saturday, tens of thousands of protesters gathered and marched in downtown Los Angeles, denouncing U.S. Palestine policy, especially the Biden administration's consistent pro-Israel stance.

Many of the protesters wore Palestinian keffiyeh, a distinctly patterned black-and-white headdress regarded as a symbol of Palestinian nationalism since the beginning of the conflict between Palestinians and Jewish settlers which dates back to the 1936 to 1939 Arab revolt in Palestine.

They marched through the main streets of downtown Los Angeles with Palestinian flags, chanting slogans against U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, like "stop genocide" and "free Palestine."

A middle-aged man was seen handing a placard with a portrait of Aaron Bushnell and shouting his words: "I will no longer be complicit in genocide."

Bushnell, a 25-year-old serviceman of the U.S. Air Force, died after setting himself on fire outside the front gate of the Embassy of Israel in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 25, to protest against U.S. support for Israel's attacks on Gaza since last October.

"Gaza is facing famine, its hospitals are besieged, threats of ground invasion in Rafah loom near, and Israel continues its onslaught on the over 2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip," Code Pink, one of the organizers for Saturday's rally.

"We must show our full strength now to ensure a lasting ceasefire and an end to the siege on Gaza," added the internationally active left-wing anti-war group based in Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES IS ALL OUT FOR RAFAH!

HANDS OFF RAFAH
STOP THE GENOCIDE
FREE PALESTINE

On Saturday morning, dozens of cultural workers also gathered outside Santa Monica Airport, where the Frieze Los Angeles show was held, to protest continued U.S. funding for Israel's attacks on Gaza.

Frieze Los Angeles is a leading international art fair focusing on contemporary art. Many fairgoers drove by honking and cheering with their fists out while protestors held signs that read "Let Gaza Live" and "What good is art that ignores genocide?"

"We're out here today because the silence from the art world has been incredibly loud," a protester who preferred to remain anonymous told Hyperallergic, an online arts magazine based in Brooklyn, New York.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Tho ... -0003.html

[Anthea]

Pro-Israel bias rampant in UK

After assessing footage from more than 13 broadcasters, the Muslim Council of Britain’s Centre for Media Monitoring reveals that mainstream media are consistently biased in favor of the Israeli occupation

Recent research from the Muslim Council of Britain's Centre for Media Monitoring reveals the UK media's systemic bias in favor of "Israel" while reporting on the war on Gaza, Declassified UK reported.

The CfMM report reveals that mainstream media is consistently biased in favor of the Israeli occupation

The findings are corroborated by a recent CfMM report titled "Media Bias Gaza 2023-24," unveiling notable biases in Western media reporting which found significant trends in media coverage, particularly the framing of events and unverified claims, among many other issues.

The analysis examines 176,627 TV footage from over 13 broadcasters, including the BBC, ITV, Sky, and Channel 4 in addition to 25,515 news pieces from more than 28 UK online media websites, including The Guardian, Times, Express, and The Telegraph between October 7 and November 7, 2023.

Results indicate that 76% of internet publications refer to "Israel's" aggression as the "Israel-Hamas war" rather than a war on Gaza and that more than 70% of the adjectives crimes, murder, and massacre in broadcast media are used only in connection to Israelis, not Palestinians.

A significant lack of Palestinian voices is also detected: In TV reportage, Israeli opinions were mentioned nearly three times more (4,311) than Palestinian perspectives (1,598).

Many broadcasters have stressed "Israel's" alleged "right to self-defense" in Gaza, a right that UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese has said the occupation cannot claim since Gaza is a region it occupies.

Palestinian lives are less valued

This Israeli "right" is mentioned 1,482 times, compared to Palestine's "right to resist," which is only mentioned 278 times.

In internet media, "Israel's right to self-defense" is cited 963 times, six times more than any mentions of Palestinians which only received 163 references.

In addition to the unequal attention on "Israel", there is a practice of ignoring important background information like using the phrase "occupied Gaza" only 26 times, using instead only "Gaza" 98,500 times.

It is also worth noting the disparity in how deaths are portrayed on both sides, with Palestinian lives appearing to be valued less.

In internet stories, terms like "Palestinians were killed" appear 665 times, whereas "Israelis killed" is mentioned 1,195 times (55% more), despite the disproportionate suffering of Palestinians due to Israeli shelling and bombardment.

Instead of reporting that "Israel" was denying Palestinians water in Gaza through its entire siege, The Guardian reported on October 17 that Palestinians were beginning to "dehydrate to death".

Dehumanization and Islamophobia rampant

The investigation also discovers that unconfirmed assertions made by Israeli authorities or advocates are often accepted as facts. As Declassified previously revealed, "Israel's" false news of Hamas executing newborns was extensively broadcast as reality in the UK mainstream media.

According to the Centre for Media Monitoring research, just 52 of the 361 TV segments using the terms "beheaded" and "babies" elicited rebuttals or questions.

This is even though some Israeli media reported just days following the charge that it had not been proven.

On broadcast television, the terms "burning babies" or "babies being burned" were spoken 29 times. Israeli officials were able to make such statements without any opposition.

The research also exposes the shameless Islamophobia that permeates most of the criticism of "Israel's" aggressiveness, as well as the dishonest portrayal of the issue as a battle between Muslims and Jews. GB News and Talk TV are identified as recurrent offenders in this regard.

Leo Kearse, a panelist on GB News, accused "a lot of Muslims, a lot of woke leftists" of supporting or defending Hamas.

TalkTv hosts rarely challenged Islamophobic remarks made by Rafe-Haydel Mankoo when he claimed that Muslims simply "hate Jews" and are motivated by religion.

Ultimately, the research identifies "significant biases" and "distortions" in the media coverage of "Israel".

In response to its broader conclusions, Rizwana Hamid, head of the Centre for Media Monitoring, emphasizes that "it is imperative to uphold principles of fairness, accuracy, and inclusivity, ensuring that all voices are heard, and all perspectives are represented."

If the number of Palestinians "killed" exceeds the number of Israelis "killed", the bigger figure should be highlighted in the title or report.

Furthermore, the study emphasizes that when Palestinians are murdered, the culprits must be recognized. When reporting on Israeli claims in Gaza, it is important to provide a caution that they have not been verified by an independent source.

#CNN, which has been receiving backlash for its biased coverage of #Gaza, just got slammed by its own staff and reporters for its coverage in an internal meeting. pic.twitter.com/6Tsz0h2Hfx
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) March 3, 2024

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/pro--israel--bias-rampant-in-uk-media--declassified

[Anthea]

Life in the West Bank

A report on the occupation's measures and Palestinians' economic frustration in the West Bank as the aftermath of October 7 ripples, reflecting the ramifications on Palestinian and settler societies, and anticipating the Palestinian uproar

The ramifications of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, and the gruesome Israeli genocide that unfolded in Gaza, have, very expectedly, seeped into the occupied West Bank.

While the West Bank has not seen much stability for decades since illegal settlers occupied Palestine, the Israeli offensive in Gaza has further shaken the situation. As "Israel" carries out military raids, attacks, mass detention campaigns, and robberies, among countless other crimes, tensions escalate, and many expect the situation will come to a head with the holy month of Ramadan. Everything hangs on whether "Israel" decides to further its record, and if the brave people of Palestine rise, as they always have.

Consequently, the economic situation of the West Bank will be discussed in this report, with testimonies from residents of different West Bank areas discussing their experiences in post-October 7 Palestine, amid a destabilized and insecure environment that was further stricken with the rippling effect of the onslaught happening just kilometers away.

The report will highlight the differences experienced by Palestinian nationals and illegal settlers, how the latter are worsening the conditions for Palestinians, and whether an explosion could materialize by Ramadan.
Methodology

The report is based on a set of interviews with a sample of Palestinian civilians residing in different towns of the West Bank. The interviewees were of different ages and genders and came from different backgrounds and professions.

The economic reality of the West Bank and 'Israel'

The economic nature of the West Bank has always been fragile. It was developed, not enough to tangibly nourish and prosper Palestine, but just enough to achieve survival. It is easily destabilized by the constant uprisings, confrontations, or any event that triggers the further oppression of Palestinians. Despite the constant flow of funds from the international community allocated to the Palestinian Authority, alongside funds procured from taxes [clearance funds], the economy has not been allowed to flourish, a strategic goal the occupation has ensured.

"Israel" has taken advantage of the events of October 7 and the Palestinian Resistance's operation to intensify aggression against Palestinians in the West Bank. As a result, mass detentions of Palestinians were a constant, consequently obstructing their livelihood, regardless of its nature.

Zainab Hamarsheh, a journalist based in occupied al-Quds, highlighted two factors that govern the Palestinian economy: Internal Palestinian employees who work with the Palestinian Authority, and laborers in occupied Palestinian territories.

After October 7, "Israel" started cutting down on Palestinian clearance revenues, the major source of budgetary revenue for the PA, rendering the PA unable to pay employees' dues.

One significant constant throughout the interviews was the closing down of military checkpoints between West Bank cities. This disallowed the entrance of the Palestinian workforce that moved from one city to another. Palestinian laborers have also been laid off en masse if their jobs were located in cities outside their place of residence.

With the obstruction of the forced migration segues, Palestinians have no way into occupied territories in the West Bank, and thus cannot actively work within their professions. As a result, they have turned to more domestic jobs to secure a living. Their earnings are much less than pre-October 7 but cover basic expenses. Many workers resorted to setting up produce stands to make a living. One interviewee, who preferred to maintain their anonymity, gave an example from their own household. As a result of the blockades at checkpoints, their father, the main provider of the family, was laid off, putting a strain on the family's finances. This is the case of countless more households who have had to adapt to the imposed reality as a result of the violent economic suffocation the Israeli occupation has enforced.

Local businesses have also been profoundly affected.

Before the war, the Palestinian Authority accrued massive amounts of debts that reduced funds going to local businesses. Following October 7, this debt was magnified as "Israel" seized Palestinian funds from taxes and international aid.

As chunks of the consumer base are made up of nationals that move between cities, their daily operations have been massively hit, forcing an abundance of businesses to shut down.

Manar, a journalist from Nablus, said the West Bank's main city lost 90% of its people who used to visit regularly for different purposes. This affected the operations of businesses within different industries, such as food and beverage, transportation, trade, and more. She gave the example of the vibrant surroundings of Nablus' main university, Al-Najah National University, which has two campuses surrounded by cafes, restaurants, bookstores, and more hang-out and study spots to host the students in the area.

However, students could no longer attend campus because of the blockades. Instead of jeopardizing their education, the university turned to online schooling. Businesses around the university were forced to stop working indefinitely or completely shut down because the situation was unsustainable. Manar explained that one such case was her friend's business. After the war, her friend had to close down her beauty and skincare clinic because of the diminished and almost nonexistent customer base.

Manar called it a "pause in life"

However, as Ramadan nears, one source said it would invoke a surge in spending, which could somewhat breathe life into the economy.

The Israeli settler community has not been exempt from its occupation government's policies either. "Israel" has long paraded its entrepreneurial projects, but start-ups and companies that have just entered the market cannot operate anymore, for two reasons:

1- The massive drafting of Israeli settlers to serve with the IOF in Gaza.

2- Massive governmental debt that can no longer support business build-ups.

In the occupied North, as the front with the Lebanese Islamic Resistance is fueled by the continuous aggression on Gaza, patterns of mass evacuations from settlements were observed. While settlers fled "Israel", left northern settlements, or were enlisted with the IOF, businesses experienced massive hits, reflected in a shrinking economy and the collapse of the private sector.

About 260,000 Israelis applied for unemployment benefits since the beginning of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

42,500 of these applicants are currently on unpaid leave, as the private Israeli sector continues to fire staffers due to the economic crisis, resulting from the Israeli government's aggression on the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military has also been requesting the drafting of settlers en masse as they drag the war on. A critical shortage in manpower can be clearly observed among the ranks of the IOF. In March, the military requested 14,500 additional soldiers and officers to be drafted to Gaza.

This encompasses a significant chunk of the Israeli workforce. Their businesses have run to the ground, their jobs are out of order, and investors have pulled out.

The occupation government, furthermore, drags the war on and piles up more debt that should have been realistically allocated for businesses and toward the financial recovery of Israelis. The drafting of 300,000 reservists impacted several crucial economic sectors, including the tech industry, commerce, and tourism, among others.

"Israel" is expected to conduct a near-record bond issuance this year. While a significant portion of this issuance will likely occur in the shekel market, foreign borrowing is anticipated to surpass $10 billion.

On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that "Israel" sold its first international bonds in the stock market to increase funds for its genocidal campaign in Gaza.

Post-October 7 financial adjustments

As the economy drowns in the aftermath of the war, salaries have also drastically shifted. Zainab and Manar both gave statistics on the reality of wages for Palestinian laborers working with and under the Palestinian Authority. In 2021, while the West Bank suffered severe economic blows, workers were getting almost 80-85% of their salaries. After October 7, the percentage dropped to 60-65%, with workers receiving their salaries every 40 days to every two months.

Ziad Al-Hamouri, the director of the Social and Economic Rights Center in occupied al-Quds confirmed this reality and added that up to 170,000 Palestinian workers have been hit by these measures.

The Palestinian Authority also cannot realistically implement a national plan that guarantees the financial security of Palestinians because "Israel" has been confiscating its tax funds that are allocated by international governments. The occupation initially collects the clearance funds and then directs them to the PA. This is masked as a tactic that "Israel" alleges is meant to prevent Gaza from receiving funds, but in reality, it is a mechanism that ensures the occupation's domination over Palestinian public finances.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported that the cabinet agreed to transfer these funds to the Palestinian Authority via a third country, namely Norway, despite the exclusive opposition of Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Additionally, the Israeli cabinet discussed deducting the salaries of employees of the Palestinian Authority in Gaza, under the pretext of the war on the sector, from the clearance funds.

Manar shared the story of a former Palestinian school teacher who expressed how he could not spare one shekel (0.28 cents) as allowance for his son's transportation to school.

It is also worth noting that when workers were laid off en masse, they were also paid their dues en masse. This means their salaries were not forwarded every month, obstructing monthly income that regulates expenditure based on needs and with the emergence of new crises [i.e. sudden arrests, murder, displacement, etc.]. In turn, financial regulation to adapt to new circumstances is rendered almost impossible.

An interviewee traced this to "Israel's" recognition of its power over the Palestinian economy and its enforcement of hard and soft war tactics that establish a severely repressed economic reality. It cannot be resolved by granting work permits to Palestinians unless they are completely independent of the Resistance [this includes political and moral support]. The interviewee noted this as a means for the occupation to distance the Palestinian community from the Resistance and occupy it with basic survival needs.

"Israel", on the other hand, has been trying to maintain a certain stability when it comes to settler welfare. Through mass imports from Turkey, the occupation attempted to revitalize its economy. However, as it relies highly on imports that have been jeopardized by the Yemeni Resistance's defensive action in the Red Sea, it has taken a significant plunge affecting settler wages.

According to Ziad, almost 300,000 Israelis have left their settlements and are staying in government-funded accommodation, which strains the Israeli economy further. Government grants that are paid forward from National Insurance funds, with a record high number of unemployment, and colossal debt, cannot, and realistically, "Israel" would not prioritize consistent aid to settlers. This also comes as "Israel's" monetary policy is solely concerned with additional military funding, rather than ensuring settlers' sustenance.

Despite "Israel's" tax take being slightly below the OECD average, Netanyahu's economic budget includes only modest tax increases. Policymakers are concerned that raising corporate taxes could prompt the tech sector to relocate, while harsher taxes on households are depressing consumption.

Budget cuts could generate uneven repercussions, the report notes, adding that some groups risk being affected more than others. Ultra-Orthodox households, on the other hand, face minimal financial impact, mainly due to heavy reliance on welfare handouts and exemption from military service. However, this is prone to change as the most recent legislation ordered the conscription of the Haredim into the military, sparking a tense debate.

While the public sector lays off its reserves and sells bonds to sustain, and as, reportedly, 60% of the high-tech industry is rendered completely dysfunctional, being forced to lay off a significant chunk of employees that bankroll the economy and boost household consumption, individual and household financial stability is speculated to have crashed.

On Indigenous Agriculture

Most of the agricultural activity takes place in the West Bank and in a substantial part of the Gaza Strip. Restrictions in Gaza, imposed by the Israeli occupation, have stripped Palestinians of almost 35% of their agricultural land, thus impacting produce and profits. This has not changed, except that due to the mass bombing of Gazan territories, agricultural lands are not fertile.

Gaza's Beit Hanoun was surrounded by agricultural land used for produce, but satellite images show that those have been obliterated, making them a significant part of the 39% of agricultural lands in North Gaza that "Israel" has destroyed.

In the occupied West Bank, settlers have been fencing off open areas in Area C, which falls under the direct jurisdiction of the Israeli occupation government, according to the Oslo agreement.

It is worth noting that Area C comprises the largest territory in the West Bank, and contains grazing and agricultural lands, which have been the focus of settlers who seek to push Palestinians from their land under the protection of illegal Israeli occupation forces

At this moment, due to the blockage of military checkpoints, if farmers were let through to sell their goods, the process would take at least 6 hours. That is a quarter of a day spent on military checkpoints, which discourages sellers, not only because of the duration, but also because of the abuse they experience en route by the IOF, and the fragile nature of the goods themselves that gets spoiled fast.

Palestinian produce also competes with Israeli produce that has infiltrated the West Bank market and is significantly cheaper because of governmental subsidies. In the absence of Palestinian Authority subsidies on Palestinian goods, the competition gets subsequently harder, with "Israel" mobilizing to monopolize the industry. This also discourages Palestinian farmers from tending to their lands and their growth, because profits are almost negligible, and produce cannot develop in an underdeveloped sector.

Palestinian farmers see their goods being sent to "Israel"

To clarify, although "Israel" grows its own produce and manufactures its own products, its dependence on imports is higher. With all the restrictions and the challenges facing imports, "Israel" has regularly purchased Palestinian goods for higher prices than what would be charged for Palestinian locals. These goods are subsidized and sold for cheap, which generates a loop of profit from this sector. The only way this mechanism could be halted is if the Palestinian Authority developed Palestinian agriculture and subsidized Palestinian goods. However, this is far-fetched, because of the conditions in the West Bank.

The economic reality of Palestinian agriculture does not mean Israeli agriculture has not been hit either. In fact, "Israel" lost farmland in the occupied North because of the aggression on Lebanon and the Resistance's retaliation. Settlers also abandoned the North, leaving arable farmland untended, and diminishing farming, grazing, and the growth of goods.

In January, the Israeli website Ynet reported that "farmers in the North complain of the difficulties to reach the farmland alongside the border area, with there being losses on two fronts: the unharvested fruits and the damages done to the next harvest season."

It also noted that no one has thus far contacted the northern farmers regarding any compensation scheme as their crops rot on the ground.

Yaron Belhassan, CEO of the Fruit Growers Organization in "Israel", told Ynet that extensive damages were done to the functional continuity of farming on the northern border, as the farmers cannot tend to their farmland and take care of their crops as part of the necessary preparations for the 2024 season.

According to Belhassan, "There are talks about severe damages, and the farmers are demanding the laying out of a plan of action to receive full compensation for the damages they incurred, as had happened during the second Lebanon war."

"If [the compensations are not handed out], entire facilities will collapse," he warned.

Israeli farmland located in the Gaza Envelope has been severely struck, as farmers and laborers have fled and left the usurped lands. Turkey and Jordan have aided the occupation in this regard, but "Israel" is still devising plans to draw in Indian laborers, one source said.

What Ramadan brings

"I can barely remember celebrating the holy month of Ramadan without confrontations in the West Bank," Manar said.

As Ramadan nears, the Israeli occupation authorities have explicitly expressed concern regarding a Palestinian uprising with all the suffocation their community has endured for five months. Israeli war cabinet members and fascists Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have not fallen short of extreme regarding policies in the West Bank, as Ben-Gvir suggested the prohibition of Palestinian Muslims from the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the holiest site in Palestine, during Ramadan.

Such restrictions have always backfired against the occupation. Palestinians flood the streets to pray even when prohibited from Al-Aqsa, and even when Israeli authorities patrol the vicinity and carry out violent assaults against them.

Manar said she would not be surprised if Ramadan saw "bloodshed" in the West Bank as a result of continuous, vigorous restrictions that only expedite Palestinian frustration.

As "Israel" fears a third Intifada, Zainab shared, it has been relentless in trying to repress the situation in the West Bank. This includes constant raids in cities, mass detention campaigns, assassinations by drones, domicide (a form of collective punishment), and the erection of military checkpoints.

Other sources tied the symbolism of Ramadan to occupied al-Quds. If any clashes were to happen, they would be in response to "Israel's" policies there.

Everything is intentional

While the situation remains unstable and obscure, one thing is certain: The occupation has consistently tried to break down the Palestinian community, but it survives. The West Bank's economic and civilian frustration was not born from a vacuum, they were deliberate. What we see is calculated and strategized.

However, what "Israel" neglected, in its pursuit of war, is that the lands it has stolen, the people it has murdered, and everything it destroyed, are the infrastructure it needs to thrive. In Gaza, the West Bank, and occupied territories, it has brought nothing but destruction.

What happens next is only a response to its oppressive, extremist, and racist economic and social strategies. What we are and have been seeing is a mobilization of the people against the occupation. Whether this materializes by Ramadan or later is not the consideration at hand, but rather the inevitability of the uproar.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... -exclusive

[Anthea]

Biden’s war on Gaza:

What is "Israel" planning for the Axis of Resistance, both in Gaza and beyond, should it be successful in conquering the enclave?

American and international pressures forced the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1998 to abandon the principle of armed struggle and remove it from its charter, in exchange for a promise to establish a political entity under which the Palestinians would be granted a “state” on what remained of the lands of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This was after the supposed area of this state had shrunk after the 1967 Naksa (literally “setback”).

This is called the "two-state solution.". The rejection of this solution by the absolute majority of the Zionist Knesset, 99 votes out of 120, at the end of February 2024, was not a reaction to the Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, which inflicted a terrible defeat on the occupying entity. The occupation leaders’ rejection of the solution approved by the Security Council many decades ago is based on their practice of deception, seizing lands, launching military attacks, and establishing settlements to change the status quo, until the area of the desired Palestinian state had shrunk from 42.3 to the current 22 percent of the lands of historic Palestine.

The concept of the “two-state solution” may not apply today to what was specified at the time, and certainly not its frameworks agreed upon in the multiple negotiations that took place between the Palestinians and the Zionists. The two-state solution has become hostage to a set of American conditions expressed by US President Joe Biden who is aiming for “a more durable peace and security for Israel, fully integrated within the region, and a two-state solution with Israel's security guaranteed."

We can try to find out the reasons for the Zionist rejection of the “Palestinian state,” based on the occupying entity’s fear that this state will one day, at a regional or international moment, become a true rival to the entity, militarily, culturally, and socially. This becomes more poignant with the emergence of a sovereign model in the Gaza Strip, such as the Hamas movement’s rule, which is working on a liberation project for the entire Palestinian territories with external support, especially with fundamentals that this supposed state possesses, the first of which is the presence of an authentic Palestinian population which traces and history in every town and village of the land of Palestine, supported by a rapid demographic increase that makes “Palestinian society young and more than a third of its population is under the age of 15.” The second is the long and extensive experience in political and military action against the Zionists, and it has external connections with the Axis of Resistance. The third, and most important, is the awareness of this country’s people that the “neighboring country” is nothing but the gang that expelled it from its land and killed and displaced its members in parts of the world.

This background perception among the Zionists of what a Palestinian state represents and a direct American pledge to the decision to end the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip led to a massacre against the Palestinian people amounting to genocide of the Palestinians, in which “Israel” denied them food, medicine, and survival supplies. Firstly, because “forced displacement along with genocide are the pillars of the Zionist mind and settler colonialism,” and secondly, because of the political discrepancy between the American administration’s acceptance of the two-state solution and the Zionists’ absolute rejection of this solution. Here the question arises: The military operation continues despite its insignificant success, and the political solution, called the two-state solution, is unacceptable to the Zionists. So why does the war continue?

The current war has another American side, the opportunity for which arose after Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, when the US tried to end the Hamas movement and restrict its presence in the Gaza Strip. This means weakening and paralyzing one of the Axis of Resistance’s parties inside Palestine, which considers itself obligated to perform its legal, religious, and moral duty toward a section of the Palestinian people in resisting the occupation of Palestine.

Islamic and Arab nations are calling upon Hamas to restore its rights and its usurped land. Successfully targeting Hamas reduces the margin of maneuvering available in the Gaza Strip and disables one of the arenas that the Axis of Resistance works to support, which is considered the main axis of its liberation work from the Zionist occupation and Western hegemony. Therefore, the US considers that its current battle against the Gaza Strip, in response to a decision made personally by the US President[9], is to close the margin of maneuver in the Strip once and for all against the military or political intervention of the Axis of Resistance. “Our goal should not be simply to stop the war for today; it should be to end the war forever, break the cycle of unceasing violence, and build something stronger in Gaza and across the Middle East so that history does not keep repeating itself,” according to the words of President Biden, who explains, in a letter published by Newsweek, his vision for a solution centered on a renewed Palestinian authority in Gaza Strip that replaces Hamas and the West Bank. This renewed authority would provide security for the occupying entity.

He says: “Gaza must never again be used as a platform for terrorism… Gaza and the West Bank should be reunited under a single governance structure, ultimately under a revitalized Palestinian Authority, as we all work towards a two-state solution.”

Defeating Hamas politically and militarily

There is no doubt that defeating Hamas in the traditional way in Gaza, meaning removing any manifestation of its sovereignty and imposing force and law, even at the level of municipal work, and preventing any activity that could mean the beginning of the movement’s return to Gaza, is the desired goal of the Zionists and Americans, and it is a problem that is extremely important due to its internal and external complexities, because any alternative form of sovereignty needs palatable components for the Gazan public in order to replace the movement.

Politically, any manifestation of sovereignty, whether in public life or on the battlefield, is an expression of presence and attendance for the sake of completing the national liberation project. Meanwhile, the goal of the Zionist aggression, regardless of its success in doing so, is to eliminate any presence of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, militarily or otherwise. The military operation aims to eliminate Hamas physically, if possible, or inflict a huge human and logistical cost on its ranks that forces it to submit and surrender.

As they consider the hypothesis of the victory Zionist enemy over the Hamas movement and the breaking of its military power, the Zionists will consolidate this achievement, maximize its repercussions, and complete what can be considered an extension of this military victory on other fronts, perhaps on the Lebanese or Syrian borders, or those geographically distant from its entity, such as Yemen or Iraq. The question here is, what is the expected direct action of the enemy towards the parties on the Axis of Resistance?

Disengagement between the West Bank and Gaza Strip

The Zionists inside occupied Palestine will exploit the defeat of Hamas to complete everything that would Judaize Al-Quds, separate the West Bank from settlements, impose more obstacles to the presence of Jerusalemites and the rest of the Palestinian population, up to the point of displacing them from the West Bank to Jordan, and tighten final security and political control over the West Bank.

It goes without saying that Zionists know that Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, and the rest of the factions are working to transfer the expertise and experience of the resistance in Gaza to the West Bank, in order to enable them to respond to racist Zionist practices, and to the desecration to which Al-Aqsa Mosque is being subjected under the auspices of the Zionist police, the excavation operations under the mosque, the settlers’ attacks on the Palestinians and their livelihoods, uprooting olive trees, confiscating lands, demolishing homes, assaulting women, and arresting men including the young; and to support prisoners in the occupation prisons who are subjected to abuse by the Zionist authorities. Zionist politicians and Israeli media have long warned of the popular and military explosions in the West Bank as a result of the Zionist attacks against the Palestinians.

The Resistance has succeeded in connecting the West Bank with the Gaza Strip, which was most evident in the battle of Seif Al-Quds (10/5/2021) following the settlers’ raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Israeli plans to deport the residents of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Al-Quds under the Resistance’s threats, and its targeting of the Zionist depth with missiles. Since that battle, interaction and solidarity have automatically occurred with any military or security development there, but the defeat of Hamas in the Gaza Strip will give the occupation army the ability to liquidate Resistance enclaves in the West Bank and strike with an iron fist without fear of a significant reaction from the Strip.

Priority of targeting Lebanon and Yemen

Externally, when the situation stabilizes and the battles end, and in cooperation with the United States of America, “Israel” will study the position on the external threats that accompanied its aggression against the Gaza Strip, from Lebanon particularly, with the aim of finding a way to break the siege imposed by the Axis of Resistance, particularly the Lebanese Islamic Resistance, which was the most severe on the entity and targeted the entire Zionist military presence in the northern occupied Palestinian region, aiming to distract as many of its divisions and brigades as possible from participating in the aggression against the Gaza Strip.

Zionist strategists will study and develop a plan to nullify the effectiveness of the coordination of the Axis of Resistance and separate the arenas from each other. The largest share of these plans will focus on Lebanon, due to its existential threat to the occupying entity, owing to the presence of the Lebanese Islamic Resistance there, whose military participation was characterized by great effectiveness and revealed to the public key weapons in its possession, such as anti-aircraft weapons. There are also other reasons that require the Zionists to accelerate plans to target Lebanon, such as the maritime competition over oil and gas fields, and their deliberate intention to take revenge for inflicting successive defeats on them, the largest of which were in 2000 and 2006.

Yemen’s Military Participation

Yemen's recent participation in the activities of the Axis of Resistance and it joining the Unity of the Battlefields is of special importance. It represents a huge shift in a very sensitive geographical area, represented by the State of Yemen taking political decisions that affect the global environment and contradict what the American administration and Western governments desire to protect their interests and those of the occupying entity in Palestine.

This takes us a little back, to the beginning of the 1950s, when the Zionist navigational presence began appearing from the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba, ending at the port of Umm al-Rashrash (Eilat), with talk of the necessity of crossing the Strait of Tiran and Sanafir off the Egyptian Sharm El-Sheikh in Sinai.

The Zionists had succeeded in dealing with the issue of the islands of Tiran and Sanafir, making them demilitarized zones in the “Peace Treaty” with Egypt in 1979, and allowing Zionist navigation through them without obstacles, after they were the cause of the outbreak of the 1967 war after they were closed to Israeli navigation by decision of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser.

Egypt had issued laws, according to which it worked to inspect ships heading to the occupying entity through the Strait of Tiran, because it was at war with it. The second paragraph of Article Five of the “Peace Treaty” of 1979 stipulated that “the two parties consider the Strait of Tiran and the Gulf of Aqaba to be international waterways, open to all countries without hindrance or interruption to freedom of navigation or air transit. The two parties also respect each other’s right to navigation and air transit in order to reach their territories through the Strait of Tiran and the Gulf of Aqaba.”

The current state of Israeli navigation in the Red Sea is similar to that period’s, as the Yemeni army and Ansar Allah forbade Israeli ships from crossing the Red Sea to and from “Israel” in support of Gaza and the Palestinian people. This was done for the same political reasons that drive the West to support the occupying entity and provide it with all kinds of military, economic, and financial support to massacre the Palestinian people. It should be noted that the Zionist conspiracy against Yemen has been ongoing since the occupation entity meddled in the Yemeni civil war in the 1960s by arming Imam Badr’s supporters against Abdel Nasser, and even after, when the American-Saudi aggression coalition, under the pretext of Decisive Storm in 2015. Yemen, due to the Zionists, is being exposed today to an ongoing US-British-Western aggression, with air and naval bombardment in defense of the occupying entity.

Like the implicit position of some Arab countries, the occupying entity prefers that Yemen remain a divided, weak country in need of international care, which makes it lose some of its sovereign decisions and attracts the ambitions of others. While the independent decision of Yemen today, under the leadership of Sayyed Abdul Malik Badr al-Din al-Houthi, has enabled an Arab force to confront superpowers, impose their conditions on them, and target Zionist ships and those who assist them, whether militarily or commercially. This is a development that the United States, the occupying entity, or the West in general did not expect for a new force to rule to turn the tide, support the Axis of Resistance, and possess the latest advanced weapons in the maritime field. This is combined with an unprecedented state of popular mobilization inside Yemen, military training, and human volunteering to form a fighting force with the aim of field participation against the Zionists on the occupied land of Palestine. It is a revolutionary model that can be exported to other countries and incite their people to participate in fighting the occupation entity.

Therefore, the occupying entity aspires to return Yemen to the time before Ansar Allah came to power in 2014, and remove this obstacle to completing the integration of the entity into the Arab and Islamic environment through economic exchanges and the Abraham Accords. It is also ready, if it is victorious in its current battle against the Hamas movement, to engage in security and military actions against Yemen that would restore to it some of its lost prestige after the Yemeni army’s targeting of its ships in the Red Sea and its bombing of Eilat and other areas inside occupied Palestine, knowing that its preparations in the Red Sea have not stopped since before the Al-Aqsa Flood and since Ansar Allah assumed power; whereas: “There is joint Israeli-Emirati action in Yemen to establish military bases and joint areas of influence, especially with the spread of American bases in the Gulf region, and Israeli coordination with the American army will make it capable of carrying out any military action, if it wants.”

In addition, the occupying entity considers itself a member of the international coalition that has entrusted itself with protecting the shipping lanes in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea since before the Al-Aqsa Flood operation, where, according to the military analyst for the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, Ron Ben-Yishai, “the most important and most prominent Israeli contribution is related to participating in the security and safety of sea trips in Bab al-Mandab, where the Houthis threaten Arab oil tankers belonging to Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, and Kuwait, which transport oil to Europe via the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.”

Accordingly, it can be concluded that the American and the Western approach to besieging Ansar Allah in Yemen and preventing them from seizing the Bab al-Mandab Strait and imposing Yemeni sovereignty over it will be developed by available military and political means, by intensifying the presence of naval warships that confront the Yemeni military action at sea, which is already happening, to reach a stage in which the strategic stock of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and air strikes of Ansar Allah and the Yemeni army would have decreased significantly.

Furthermore, the approach is intended to obstruct the peace plans that the Yemenis reached with Saudi Arabia to stop the war and restore normal pre-Decisive Storm relations. It will also exhibit firmness by tightening the economic and political blockade, and perhaps launching a military campaign against Sanaa with the aim of removing Ansar Allah’s rule. Working in these directions and focusing on the closest ones will be a success for the goal of protecting Zionist navigation in Bab al-Mandeb, and increasing the participation of Ansar Allah in the Axis of Resistance, regardless of the result of the collapse of the Hamas movement in Gaza or its steadfastness.

https://english.almayadeen.net/articles ... w-of-resis

[Anthea]

Israel steals massive land

Israel's Finance Minister approves the seizure of 8,000 dunams of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli occupation government issued an order on Friday to seize 8,000 dunams of land in the Jordan Valley, east of the occupied West Bank, with the decision signed by extremist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

This bring the total area of land further occupied by "Israel" in the West Bank in only 2024 to 10,640 dunams, after 2,640 dunams were seized earlier this year: 2,350 units in "Ma’ale Adumim", 300 in "Keidar", and 694 in "Efrat".

Israeli authorities are planning to construct hundreds of housing units on the occupied land, in addition to establishing industrial and commercial areas. The plan is expected to take about two years to complete and will require political approval.

This announcement came on the same day US State Secretary Antony Blinken arrived to "Israel" to discuss the war on Gaza.
Relations with Netanyahu tense

Last month, Washington imposed sanctions on two settler outposts in the West Bank, and on several Israeli settlers involved in aggression against Palestinians.

Analysts suggested that this serves as further provocation to the administration of US President Joe Biden, as relations with the current government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have been tense in the past months.

The Israeli settler colonial project in the occupied West Bank aims to dissect and split apart historic Palestinian towns and cities through the installment of permanent Israeli settlements or farms that are illegally built on stolen Palestinian land.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Monday that the Israeli financial system is facilitating the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and entrenching the occupation of Palestinian territories.

The US sanctioning of the illegal settlements will affect donations from non-governmental organizations and individuals who seek to finance "Israel's" colonial project in the West Bank.

The newspaper conducted an investigation that revealed the pathways utilized by Israeli settlers to obtain mortgage loans, financed by the Israeli government, and build colonial outposts in the occupied territory. One such loan to construct a residential building in areas under the control of the "Israeli Land Authority" was awarded to the far-right leader of the Regavim organization, Yehuda Eliyahu.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... gal-settle

[Anthea]

Britain in Palestine 1917-1948

Britain in Palestine 1917-1948 investigates the contradictory promises and actions which defined British Mandatory rule in Palestine and laid the groundwork for the Nakba (the catastrophe) and the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. The roots of the contemporary social, political, economic, and environmental landscape of Palestine and Israel can be traced back to this period, making it essential viewing for understanding Britain’s legacy in the region and the situation on the ground today

phpBB [video]

Direct Link:

https://youtu.be/hOJqLTc6RkU?si=JulpAAV76dwestDj

[Anthea]

John’s Hopkin’s Genome Study

Proves Jews ‘Interlopers’ in Palestine…no ‘Semitic Blood’ WHATSOEVER

Editor’s Note: VT has known Israeli geneticist Eran Elhaik since 2013 when we spotted the Jewish genome work he was doing at Johns Hopkins.

We noted right away that he was another of the many academics who do not let ideology and politics influence his scientific research, which is always a breath of fresh air in the geopolitical sewer that VT has to swim in every day.

His work was politically controversial but solid, and he was able to defend it from the shills that attempted to discredit it.

In short, his work showed that Ashkenazic Jews have about as much “people of the land” DNA as some Europeans have Neanderthal DNA. But Europeans have never referred to themselves as ancient Neanderthals nor laid claim to Africa as the “ancient homeland”, other than the former colonialists before conditions drove them into exile.

Here is my first article I wrote on Elhaik’s work, New Genome Study Destroys Zionist Claims to Palestine, published in the Press TV Viewpoints commentary section in the heydays when VT writers were constantly in the top five read articles each week.

In the past six years, new Neolithic remains discoveries in Israel and the advances in genetic sequencing have combined to support Elhaik’s 2013 work, that Ashkenazi Israelis tried to pull off what he aptly described as “shooting the arrow and then drawing a bullseye around it.”

His work made a deep impression on Gordon and me, how this one man with his scientific integrity stood up to the fake Hollywood Ashkenazic Zionist claim to the ancient land. A year after that, five years ago, VT began writing about fake news, how it was being done on an industrial scale, not just a few bad apples.

We were never attacked over our claims but were ignored. And then magically, about two years ago, the term “fake news” began being widely used.

Elhaik describes below that the Yemenis have the closest blood links to the ancient Israelis, while the Saudis, with support from Israel, have actually been doing a mini-genocide on these closest relatives of the Ancients.

https://veteranstoday.com/2022/01/31/ne ... sraelites/