In Occupied Palestine
Zionism in practice
Israel’s Daily Toll on Palestinian Life, Limb, Liberty and Land
08:00, 21 August until 08:00, 22 August 2024
[Source of statistics: Palestinian Monitoring Group]
Gaza Strip
Attacks: There are no safe places for the militarily-dominated population in Gaza, who find themselves subjected to airstrikes and other missile attacks on buildings, homes and many essentialfacilities, as well as constant gunfire and invasions by Israeli forces. The Israeli Navy continues to fire missiles, targeting facilities and buildings along the entire Gaza shoreline.
Victims: 42 more people killed in Gaza now bring the total number of deaths, since 7 October, to at least 40,265. With another 163 wounded, that figure has risen to over 93,144. The daily average number of men, women and children killed in Gaza is at least 126, and that of those injured is now more than 291.
Palestine today
Don’t say you didn’t know
From Ali Kazak akazak@bigpond.net.au
Israel kills dozens of displaced Palestinians in Gaza amid more evacuations
At least 50 Palestinians are killed as the Israeli military orders new evacuations in central and southern parts of the enclave. In Bani Suheila, a town near Khan Younis in southern Gaza, an Israeli air raid killed seven Palestinians, two of them children and five women, at a tent camp for displaced people, medics said. In Rafah, a Civil Defence crew recovered the bodies of four other Palestinians. They were farmers working near al-Mawasi who were killed by Israeli tanks, which opened fire on them without warning, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum reported on Wednesday.
Israel’s military has killed at least 40,223 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the territory’s Ministry of Health. Most of the dead in Gaza are women and children, the United Nations human rights office said.
Netanyahu’s latest strategy to avoid a ceasefire, explained
Hamas isn’t blocking a ceasefire in Gaza, Israel is. Netanyahu has systematically sabotaged negotiations at every turn. Israel’s current demands for military control over Gaza ensure they will fail.
Since the start of the week, two news items about the latest ceasefire negotiations have surfaced that seem to contradict one another. One has gained widespread attention in the international press, claiming that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted the U.S. ceasefire deal, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken stating that the ball is now in Hamas’s court. The second only gained traction in Israeli media: Netanyahu told a group of families of Israeli captives held in Gaza that he isn’t sure a ceasefire deal is going to happen because Israel would not withdraw from the Netzarim and Philadelphi corridors in Gaza “under any conditions.”
While the first is being used to blame Hamas for the lack of a ceasefire, the second proves that in fact, it is Israel that is insisting on continuing its genocidal assault on Gaza. Netanyahu’s insistence on holding onto Netzarim and Philadelphi — which even a U.S. administration official said was a “maximalist” demand that isn’t helpful to “getting a ceasefire deal across the finish line” — is tantamount to saying Israel isn’t interested in a ceasefire after all.
Outgoing Israeli envoy calls for UN building in Jerusalem to be ‘erased from earth’
Israel‘s outgoing ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, said that the organisation’s building in Jerusalem should be “erased from the face of the earth”. Erdan made the remarks in an interview with i24News, which was published on Tuesday evening. “The UN building in Jerusalem needs to be closed and erased from the face of the earth. This building may look beautiful on the outside, but it is crooked and distorted from within.” Last month, he was quoted as saying: “We must take unprecedented steps against the UN, such as closing the UN compound in Jerusalem and expelling the heads of the agencies stationed in Israel to send a clear and unequivocal message that the continued bias and exploitation of the UN against Israel will come at a price.”
Regarding the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last month on Israeli actions in the occupied West Bank, Erdan responded: “The opinion is not legally binding, and we will work to nullify it and ensure that it has no practical consequences on the ground. I have no doubt that the United States will veto any anti-Israel decision that may be brought to the Security Council following the court’s decision.” In the same interview, Erdan also expressed his ambitions to lead Israel’s ruling Likud party in the future. “I know I have a mission. I see myself leading Likud in the future after the Netanyahu era.”
UK: Legal group calls on attorney general to revoke charity status of Jewish National Fund
The letter from the International Centre for Justice for Palestinians follows a series of complaints filed with the Charity Commission about the organisation. A legal advocacy group has written to the UK attorney general calling on him to revoke the charitable status of the UK branch of Israel’s Jewish National Fund over its role in funding illegal Israeli settlements and the Israeli military.
The International Centre for Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) urged
JNF UK charity is the UK arm of Israeli group Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund, which was founded more than a century ago. The organisation, which was set up in 1901 to buy land in Palestine, has long been involved with the displacement of Palestinians and destruction of the natural environment in the occupied Palestinian Territories. As a registered charity, its UK arm receives tax relief on donations. In a press release, the ICJP pointed to a recent decision by the Canada Revenue Agency to strip JNF Canada of its charitable status, after a financial audit revealed that its donations had been used to build military infrastructure.
AXA insurance firm completes divestment from Israel banks, arms manufacturers
Multinational insurance firm, AXA, has reportedly sold off all its investments in Israeli banks and arms manufacturers, following a persistent and ongoing campaign by pro-Palestine activists.
According to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, the French insurance firm, AXA, has steadily divested from major Israeli banks and arms companies over the past six years, with it first partially divesting from Israel’s Elbit Systems in December 2018 and in March 2019, before fully withdrawing by the end of that year. The report by BDS also quoted AXA’s CEO as announcing in April this year that the company has “zero investments in Israeli banks, direct or indirect”.
Human rights organisations launch a campaign to urge Western countries to cut ties with Israel
Three Geneva-based organisations have announced the launch of a campaign to a number of Western governments and parliaments urging them to freeze military and trade relations with Israel, which continues to commit genocide in Gaza. Letters have been sent by the Geneva Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (GCDHR), the Geneva Council For International Affairs and Development (GCIAD) and the International Jurists Union (IJU) in Geneva.
The organisations reminded the governments of Britain and Switzerland and the European Union that the International Court of Justice had concluded that the crimes of apartheid, military occupation and annexation of Palestinian lands are illegal measures. This means that all states, local governments, companies and institutions must immediately end all forms of connivance with Israeli crimes and violations of international law, and break with the root and fundamental cause of the 76 years ongoing occupation. The organisations expressed their deep concern about the serious and catastrophic situation in Gaza and urged the UK government to suspend any legal concerns regarding the International Criminal Court. These organisations stressed that, without the support of international law and international justice, Israel will continue its full-scale destruction of Gaza, its illegal occupation and blockade and continue to subject Palestinians to collective punishment measures, in violation of international law, while ignoring the international community’s repeated demands to stop the bombing and allow access to water, electricity, food and medicine.
Israel is bad news, so why don’t we hear about it in the mainstream media?
At the beginning of this year, a global survey showed that the least trusted media in the world is in Britain. It was a damning survey. The influential Edelman Trust Barometer revealed how British journalism had plunged to the bottom of the annual ratings, with only 31 per cent of people saying that they trusted the media. Speaking as a journalist and former Fleet Street staffer, I was not entirely surprised, though, having witnessed the degradation of my chosen career over almost 50 years. Of course, Edelman is a public relations firm, so was probably far too diplomatic to explain the loss of trust which has led to plunging newspaper circulation and TV viewing figures, but allow me to do it for them.
Thanks to rigorous research by the world-renowned Glasgow University Media Group, we have two hard-hitting books which examine media coverage of the conflict in the Middle East and the impact it has on public opinion. Bad News From Israel and More Bad News From Israel were both compiled by senior journalists and ordinary viewers who examined how audiences understand the news and how public opinion is shaped by media reports. In the largest study of its kind ever undertaken, the late and much respected Greg Philo and Mike Berry focused on TV news, illustrating major differences in the way that Israelis and Palestinians are represented, including how casualties are shown and described, and the presentation of the motives and rationales of both sides. Combining these findings with extensive audience research involving hundreds of participants from the US, UK and Germany, More Bad News From Israel was described as “a masterclass in understanding how people perceive the conflict thanks to media bias.”
War on Gaza: Does international law even matter anymore?
At this moment of crisis, the right to Palestinian self-determination should be championed and backed by global institutions. There has been a widespread global outcry against the ongoing genocide in Gaza, but it has yet to be translated into concrete steps at the international level to stop Israel. Amid the ongoing violence and oppression in Gaza, this discrepancy between global popular will and state/institutional action has fuelled the public’s growing distrust in the international system, and perhaps most importantly, in international law itself. Amid this backdrop, the need to re-evaluate the functions of international law has become extremely pressing.
Earlier this month, a conference at Bogazici University in the Turkish city of Istanbul, titled “Rethinking International Law After Gaza”, explored this very issue, raising important questions about decolonisation and the future of international law. Participants included renowned lawyers, experts, academics and lawmakers from around the world. International law regulates global political and economic relations at different levels, purporting to facilitate peace, human rights and environmental protections. Complacency, however, would be a huge mistake for the Democrats. Harris, ideally, needs to maintain a sustained two-point lead over Trump to overcome the pro-Republican bias of our broken electoral college. Despite her clear momentum, she continues to struggle in the key swing state of Michigan, where “Uncommitted” voters are demanding a Gaza ceasefire paired with an arms embargo on Israel.
Hamas accuses the UK of assisting Israel in operations in Gaza
Hamas has accused the British government of assisting Israel in its offensive on and military operations in the Gaza Strip, further straining relations between the Palestinian Resistance group and the United Kingdom. According to a report by Al Jazeera, unnamed Hamas sources had informed it of the group’s concerns over UK’s role in the gathering of intelligence for Israel in its ongoing offensive on Gaza, asserting that the cooperation is being jointly conducted with the United States.
Stating that the UK is directly responsible for “killing thousands of women and children” in the besieged Gaza Strip, Hamas called on London to immediately cease its military cooperation with the Israeli Occupation. The group’s accusation comes after revelations over the past year that both the US and UK military flights had been launched from British military bases in nearby Cyprus for the purpose of conducting surveillance missions over Gaza Israeli intelligence officials have corroborated those reports in recent months, confirming to media outlets that British and American intelligence teams have been assisting Israel in the gathering of intelligence.
West Bank
Restrictions of movement: Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza are under relentless and extreme control over all travel and movement. In addition to regular checkpoints, the Israeli Occupation also impedes movement, without warning, almost anywhere in the West Bank.
Israeli Army attack – 1 child wounded – home invasions: Jerusalem – morning, firing live ammunition, Israeli Occupation forces stormed Kafr Aqab with live ammunition, wounding one child while raiding a number of homes
Israeli Army attack – 3 killed – airstrike – home invasions – economic sabotage: Tulkarem – 00:15, Israeli forces stormed the Tulkarem refugee camp, killing three residents, Imad Tayseer Shuraim, Muawiyah Al-Hajj Ahmed and Wassim Anbar, while carrying out a drone-launched airstrike on one home and besieging a number of others. One other home was destroyed with explosives during the storming. In addition, a motor vehicle was destroyed, along with a supermarket, while roads and infrastructure were swept away.
Israeli Army attack – 3 people (including 1 youngster) wounded in refugee camp: Nablus – 20:10, the Israeli Army, firing live ammunition, stormed the Balata refugee camp, wounding a 16-year-old youth, Khaled Ghaleb Saleh Nofal, and two other people.
Israeli Army attack – 2 taken prisoner: Bethlehem – 05:10-06:15, Israeli troops, firing live ammunition, stormed the Dheisheh refugee camp, taking prisoner two people.
Death: Nablus – 21:25, a 21–year–old resident of the Balata refugee camp, Jamal Ahmad Abd al-Rahman al-Saudi, has now died from serious wounds sustained during an Israeli Army assault thereearlier in the month.
Home invasion: Tulkarem – 18:40, Israeli Occupation forces raided the village of al-Ras and invaded a house.
Home invasions: Salfit – 23:45, Israeli forces raided Marda village and searched a number of homes.
Home invasion – 1 woman taken hostage: Hebron – 14:50, the Israeli Army invaded the home of Ali Abd Salem Buhais in al-Samou and took his wife hostage, in order to get him to surrender himself to Occupation forces.
Israeli police and settlers’ mosque violation: Jerusalem – 08:00, settler militants, escorted by Israeli police, invaded the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and molested worshippers.
Israeli Army – destruction and population–control: Jerusalem – 09:30, Israeli Occupation forces bulldozed the foundations of a house-under-construction, in Anata.
Israeli Army mosque violation – population–control: Qalqiliya – 21:15–01:45, Israeli forces surrounded the al-Funduq Village Mosque and held worshippers inside it, preventing them from leavingfor four–and–a–half hours.
Israeli Army – 1 child abducted: Salfit – 02:30, the Israeli Army abducted a 15-year-old boy, Shadi Ahed Issa Musa, in the plain area of Deir Ballut.
Occupation settler agricultural sabotage: Hebron – dawn, Israeli Occupation settlers raided the village of Susiya, vandalising a farmland irrigation network and removing the surrounding fence.
Occupation settler agricultural sabotage: Hebron – 11:40, Occupation settlers cut off branches from a number of olive trees in Tarqumiya.
Occupation settler violence: Hebron – 17:40, Israeli Occupation settlers, in the al-Rakeez area of Yatta, assaulted a man: Ashraf Al-Amour.
Raid: Ramallah – 13:05-14:05, Israeli Occupation forces raided the village of Safa, demolishing agricultural facilities and a livestock shelter.
Raid: Ramallah – 19:00, Israeli forces raided and patrolled al-Mazra’a al-Sharqiya.
Raid: Ramallah – 04:45, the Israeli Army raided al-Bireh, taking prisoner one person.
Raid: Qalqiliya – 03:00, Israeli troops raided Azzun, taking prisoner two people.
Raid: Nablus – 02:10-06:35, the Israeli military, firing stun grenades, raided the city and took prisoner one person.
Raid: Nablus – 02:50, Israeli Occupation forces raided Beit Furik, taking prisoner one person.
Raid: Nablus – 02:50, Israeli forces raided the village of Beit Dajan.
Raid: Jericho – 04:40, the Israeli Army raided the city, taking prisoner one person.
Raid: Bethlehem – 13:40, Israeli troops raided and patrolled the villages of Dar Salah and al-Khas.
Raid: Bethlehem – 02:00–03:20, the Israeli military raided al-Khadr, taking prisoner one person.
Raid: Bethlehem – 03:25, Israeli soldiers raided Tuqu’ and abducted a 17-year-old youth: Muhammad Faisal Al-Amour. One other person was also taken prisoner.
Raid: Hebron – 08:45-11:45, Israeli Occupation forces, firing stun grenades, raided the city.
Raid: Hebron – 17:30, forces raided al-Dhahiriya leaving an order for the demolition of a house.
Raid: Hebron – 18:30, Israeli forces raided al-Dhahiriya and seized a bulldozer from inside a workshop.
Raid: Hebron – 19:55-21:50, the Israeli Army raided Tarqumiya, injuring a 13-year-old boy: Hassan Mahmoud Al-Badawi.
Raid: Hebron – 03:20, Israeli troops raided the town of Surif, taking prisoner one person.