In Occupied Palestine

Zionism in practice

Israel’s Daily Toll on Palestinian Life, Limb, Liberty and Land

08:00, 25 September until 08:00, 26 September 2024

[Source of statistics: Palestinian Monitoring Group]

Killed: 40

Wounded: 92

Taken prisoner: 52

Raids: 50

Air strikes: 1

Home demolitions: 2

Properties destroyed: 18

Settler attacks: 7

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: 39 more people have been killed, bringing the total number killed in Gaza since 7 October to at least 41,534. Another 86 have been wounded, bringing that total up to 96,092. The daily average number of men, women and children killed in Gaza is at least 117 and, that of those injured is now more than 271.

 

The Pager Attack

Adam Shatz | 19.9.2024 | https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2024/september/the-pager-attack

Since 7 October, the Biden administration has given Israel virtually everything it has asked for, from F-15 fighter aircraft and white phosphorous bombs to diplomatic cover at the United Nations. Joe Biden and Antony Blinken have underwritten the destruction of Gaza, and the ‘Gazafication’ of the West Bank, where Israeli forces and settlers have killed more than six hundred people in the last year, including a 26-year-old American citizen, Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, who was shot dead at a peaceful protest near Nablus. (Eygi’s parents have yet to receive a phone call from the Biden administration, which claims to be ‘gathering the facts’.) With apparent carte blanche from Washington, the Netanyahu government has also escalated its long-running shadow war with Iran, carrying out assassinations of Iranian officials in Damascus and of Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran.

The Americans did, however, have one red line, and that was an Israeli war against Lebanon, for which the Netanyahu government reportedly sought approval within days of 7 October. Netanyahu wanted to open a second front in the hope of destroying the Lebanese Shia organisation Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, but the Americans were opposed, so the Israelis shelved their plans. The low-intensity border war with Hezbollah continued, but within limits largely respected by both parties. Hezbollah launched rockets against border towns in the north of Israel, killing two dozen civilians and forcing nearly a hundred thousand to evacuate their homes. Israel killed hundreds of people in southern Lebanon, many of them civilians, and displaced more than a hundred thousand. But, until this week, both Hezbollah and Israel appeared to calibrate their responses to each other’s attacks to avoid full-scale war. As Israel’s assault on Gaza dragged on, its enthusiasm for a second front seemed to wane: how could its army confront Hezbollah if it couldn’t even defeat Hamas?

Hezbollah’s secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, too, has had good reason to avoid escalation. He does not want a repetition of the 2006 war, which led to the devastation of parts of Beirut, southern Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley, and the killing of well over a thousand Lebanese civilians; after the war Nasrallah made an extraordinary apology for having provoked Israel’s offensive. He also knows that Iran, his major patron and ally, does not want Hezbollah’s missiles, which are intended as a shield against an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear programme, to be wasted on Gaza: solidarity with Palestine has its limits, even for the leader of the ‘axis of resistance’.

Why, then, has Hezbollah stepped up its rocket attacks on northern Israel since 7 October? Israeli commentators have argued that Hezbollah bears responsibility for this conflict because it has failed to withdraw to the Litani river, and because Gaza is supposedly not its war. But Nasrallah insists that he is holding up his end of Hezbollah’s alliance with Hamas, Iran and the Houthis (the so-called ‘unity of arenas’ strategy), and offering a modicum of support for the besieged people of Gaza, who have been all but abandoned by other Arab regimes. He has also made plain that the rockets will stop as soon as a ceasefire is reached. As Amos Harel, Haaretz’s military correspondent, has noted, Nasrallah has exhibited considerable restraint in the face of repeated Israeli provocations, notably the assassination of Fuad Shukr, one of Hezbollah’s senior leaders, in Beirut.

It’s hard to see how Nasrallah’s prudence will survive the pager and short-wave radio attacks of this week, which have killed at least 37 people, including four children, and injured thousands. With this operation – which has been in the works since 2022, according to the New York Times; long before 7 October – Israel has succeeded, if nothing else, in carrying out one of the most spectacular simultaneous attacks in recent history. Israel struck twice, in consecutive days; it did not lose any of its own men; and it forced its enemies to surrender what no one in the modern world wants to give up: their electronic devices. (There were scenes in Lebanon of people crushing their own phones.) The short-term psychological blow is incalculable.

Let’s imagine a militant organisation, such as Hezbollah, had carried out a similar attack in Israel, detonating explosives in the phones of soldiers and reservists, and murdering Israeli children. The Americans would not have waited to ‘gather the facts’ before denouncing the attack. The response of much of the Western press has been striking, too, full of fascination for Mossad’s cloak-and-dagger ingenuity. What you won’t see in these accounts is the word ‘terrorism’, which is as taboo as the word ‘genocide’ when the perpetrator is Israel.

Terrorism, the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political aims, is a form of propaganda, a message both to the enemy and to one’s own constituency. What, then, is the message of the pager attacks? To the Israeli Jewish public, still traumatised by 7 October, and particularly to Israelis who’ve fled their homes in the north, the message is that Israel is restoring ‘deterrence’, the third pillar of the ruling ideology (the others are instrumentalised remembrance of the Holocaust and consolidation of the settlements). To Hezbollah and the people of Lebanon, the message is that Israel can hit you anywhere, at any time, and that it cares little about civilian casualties (that message is redundant, since Israel is already notorious in Lebanon for its indifference to Lebanese lives).

Some Lebanese citizens hostile to Hezbollah at first took vicarious pleasure in the attacks: Hezbollah effectively controls much of Lebanon, notably Beirut airport, and its influence is often resented. But once it became clear that this was an attack on Lebanon, and that it could be the prelude to an Israeli invasion – like the destruction of the Egyptian air force on 5 June 1967, which preceded the Six-Day War – people stopped laughing at Hezbollah’s expense. Still reeling from its financial collapse and the 2020 port explosion, Lebanon is less likely to survive an Israeli invasion than Hezbollahis.

Nasrallah is in a bind. Hezbollah’s communications system has been badly damaged and there may be leaks within the organisation. Building back that system and rooting out spies will be his priorities. But he cannot respond with the patience of the Iranians, whose style is to promise retaliation and then wait years to deliver, because Hezbollah is in the front lines of the battle with Israel. If Nasrallah fails to respond, his restraint will look like cowardice –hardly the message he wants to send to his supporters. But if he miscalculates, or responds in a way that offers the Israelis a pretext for invasion, he could have a war on his hands that far eclipses the catastrophe of 2006, imperilling Hezbollah’s position in Lebanon.

Israel hasn’t taken official responsibility for the attacks, but it is gloating. The short-term success can hardly be denied. The pager attacks have put Hezbollah and Iran on the defensive. They have distracted attention from the horrors Israel continues to visit on Gaza and the West Bank, from the obscenity of Sde Teiman, a torture and rape centre in the Negev where dozens of prisoners from Gaza have been murdered, and from the hostage ordeal, the biggest threat to Netanyahu’s premiership. But what next? Is Netanyahu betting on a Hezbollah overreaction? Is he trying to open a second front and to drag the Iranians – and the Americans – into war? Are the attacks part of his effort to return Donald Trump to the White House, or is he simply trying to stay in power with a show of military force? The war in Gaza has made him more popular than ever, in spite of mass protests in favour of a ceasefire.

Whatever his motivations may be, Netanyahu has made war much likelier, and it would be a much harder war than Gaza has been for Israel’s already exhausted and demoralised troops. Hezbollah, which emerged in the wake of Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982, is a formidable antagonist, probably the most effective Arab fighting force the Jewish state has confronted since its founding. Its fighting force of roughly 45,000 may be outnumbered and outgunned, but, unlike the Israelis, they would have the advantage of fighting on their own land. Israeli soldiers spent two decades under fire in southern Lebanon before Hezbollah forced them to withdraw unilaterally in 2000. The pager attack, a tactical success by any measure, appears at first glance to be a reckless escalation, without a strategic horizon.

But the line between tactics and strategy may not be so useful in the case of Israel, a state that has been at war since its creation. The identity of the enemies changes – the Arab armies, Nasser, the PLO, Iraq, Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas – but the war never ends, because Israel’s entire existence, its search for what it now brazenly calls ‘living space’, is based on a forever war with the Palestinians, and with whoever happens to support Palestinian resistance. Escalation may be precisely what Israel seeks, or what it is prepared to risk, since it views war as its destiny, if not its raison d’être. Randolph Bourne once remarked that ‘war is the health of the state,’ and that is certainly the view of Israel’s leaders. But it is civilians, Arab and Jewish, who end up paying the price for the state’s addiction to force. The region will continue to be engulfed in flames so long as Israel’s intelligence and creativity are dedicated to the pursuit of war rather than peace.

West Bank

[Palestinian Monitoring Group]

Israeli Army attack – home invasions, arson and explosives: Jenin – 11:45, Israeli Occupation forces, firing live ammunition, destroyed infrastructure in the city. They also stormed the Jeninrefugee camp, searching houses, besieging the Government and Ibn Sina Hospitals, bulldozing streets, setting fire to a house and using explosives to destroy another in the refugee camp. In addition, Israeli troops issued an order for the demolition of another home and took prisoner five residents.

Israeli Army attack – 1 woman killed, 3 others wounded – home invasion: Jenin – 17:45, Israeli forces, firing live ammunition, stormed Anza village and besieged a house, killing one woman, Zahra Qassem Amur, and wounding three others: Nour Al-Huda Osama Amur, Halima Aqab Hassan Amur and Sidar Abu Ghania.

Israeli Army attack – 1 wounded: Nablus – 05:30, the Israeli Army stormed the city and the Ein Beit al-Maa refugee camp, wounding a resident: Walid Khalifa.

Israeli Army attack: Hebron – 18:45, Israeli troops, firing live ammunition, opened fire towards the entrance to the al-Arroub refugee camp.

Israeli Army attack – 1 wounded: Hebron – 01:00, the Israeli military, firing live ammunition, stormed into the town of Dura, wounding a resident: Moanes Al-Yemeni.

Home invasion and forced personal demolition: Jerusalem – the Israeli Occupation forced a resident, Ibrahim Al-Julani, to destroy his home in the al-Tur neighbourhood – or otherwise be forced to pay an extortionate sum to the Israeli Occupation demolition squads, who would be sent in to do it.

Home invasion: Salfit – 20:30, Israeli forces raided the village of Iskaka and searched a house.

Home invasion: Nablus – 12:15-16:55, the Israeli Army invaded a home while raiding Qusin village and Beit Furik.

Home invasions – 2 taken prisoner: Nablus – 01:25, Israeli troops raided the village of Haris and invaded five houses, taking prisoner two residents.

Home invasions: Jericho – 01:40–03:10, the Israeli military invaded two homes while raiding the city as well as the Ein Sultan refugee camp.

Israeli police and settlers’ mosque violation: Jerusalem – 08:00, settler militants, escorted by Israeli troops and police, invaded the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and molested worshippers.

Israeli Army pastoral sabotage: Ramallah – 16:30, Israeli Occupation forces destroyed a livestock shelter, in the village of Beit Sira.

Israeli Army road–rage – child injured: Nablus – 21:05, an Israeli Army vehicle ran over and hospitalised a 15-year-old boy, Jihad Fawzi Jihad Zagha, in the Ras al-Ein district.

Israeli Army – population-control: Nablus – 15:45-17:05, Israeli troops closed the western entrance to the village of Marda.

Israeli Army – population-control: Bethlehem – 12:05, the Israeli military barricaded the western entrance to Za’tara with mounds of earth and concrete blocks.

Israeli Army – population-control: Hebron – 22:15, Israeli soldiers launched stun grenades towards people near the western entrance to the city and, for a time, closed the entrance to traffic.

Israeli Army – huge agricultural sabotage: Hebron – 10:30, Israeli Occupation forces, in the town of Beit Ola, bulldozed an area of around two hectares containing 600 olive trees, demolishing fiveagricultural facilities and five wells, as well as destroying a number of water– storage tanks.

Occupation settler stoning: Jerusalem – midnight, Israeli Occupation settlers stoned a home as well as passing vehicles, in the al-Sawana neighbourhood.

Occupation settler land-grab: Ramallah – Israeli settlers, following bulldozing operations in the village of Umm Safa, set up camp there, in order to seize the land.

Occupation settler terrorism – agricultural sabotage: Tulkarem – 12:15, Israelis, from the Mevo Dotan Occupation settlement, invaded an area near the village of an-Nazlah al-Sharqiya, seizing and taking away to the settlement a working farmer, Othman Muhammad Jaluli, and beating him up before releasing him.

Occupation settler stoning: Nablus – 15:05, Israelis, from the Yitzhar Occupation settlement invaded Madama village and stoned people’s homes.

Occupation settler attempted arson: Nablus – 13:10, an Israeli, from the Eli Zahav settlement, attempted to set fire to an agricultural facility north of Kafr al-Dik.

Occupation settler pastoral sabotage – terror: Jericho – evening, armed Occupation settlers raided the Arab Al-Maliha community and grazed their sheep on local pasture. They also made their way to, and threatened people at, the nearby Arab al-Ka’abneh Elementary School.

Occupation settler stoning: Bethlehem – 20:30, Israeli settlers stoned passing vehicles at the entrance to Wadi Fukin village.

Raid: Jerusalem – dawn, Israeli Occupation forces raided the village of al-Jib.

Raid – 2 taken prisoner: Jerusalem – dawn, Israeli forces raided Qatana village and al-Jib, taking prisoner two people.

Raid – 4 taken prisoner: Jerusalem – dawn, the Israeli Army raided the village of Beit Duqqu, taking prisoner four people.

Raid – 1 taken prisoner: Jerusalem – 10:35, Israeli troops raided the village of Beit Ijza, taking prisoner one person.

Raid – 1 taken prisoner: Jerusalem – 10:35, the Israeli military raided the area of ​​Khirbet Umm Al-Lahm, taking prisoner one person.

Raid – 2 taken prisoner: Jerusalem – dawn, Israeli soldiers raided Abu Dis, taking prisoner two people.

Raid: Ramallah – 19:30, Israeli Occupation forces raided and patrolled the village of Umm Safa.

Raid: Ramallah – 20:15–23:45, Israeli forces raided and patrolled the village of Burqa.

Raid: Ramallah – 00:35–06:40, the Israeli Army raided and patrolled the village of Beit Sira.

Raid – 3 taken prisoner: Ramallah – 03:15–05:20, Israeli troops raided al-Bireh, taking prisoner three people.

Raid: Ramallah – 03:15–05:20, the Israeli military raided Beitunya.

Raid – explosives and demolitions: Ramallah – 06:00, Israeli soldiers raided the village of Safa and used explosives to demolish shops.

Raid – 1 taken prisoner: Jenin – 04:10, Israeli Occupation forces raided al-Yamoun, taking prisoner one person.

Raid – 2 taken prisoner: Tulkarem – 04:55, Israeli forces raided the villages of Kafr Abbush and Kafr Jamal, taking prisoner two people.

Raid: Tulkarem – 06:15, the Israeli Army raided and patrolled the village of Shufa.

Raid: Qalqiliya – 03:55–06:50, Israeli troops raided and patrolled the villages of Hajjah and Baqa al-Hatab.

Raid – interference with ambulance staff: Nablus – 10:45-12:15, the Israeli military raided the village of Sarra, detaining for a time four ambulance volunteers from the Balata refugee camp.

Raid: Nablus – 13:05, Israeli soldiers raided and patrolled Sebastia.

Raid – stun grenades fired: Nablus – 15:05-17:00, Israeli Occupation forces, firing stun grenades, raided the village of Yatma.

Raid – 3 taken prisoner: Nablus – 19:20, Israeli forces, firing stun grenades, raided the town of Jama’in, taking prisoner three people.

Raid: Nablus – 21:05, the Israeli Army raided and patrolled the village of Deir al-Hatab.

Raid – 4 taken prisoner: Nablus – 05:30–07:30, Israeli troops raided the city and the Ein Beit al-Maa refugee camp, injuring a resident and taking prisoner four people.

Raid: Nablus – 23:45, the Israeli military raided and patrolled Bruqin.

Raid: Nablus – 00:15–01:15, Israeli soldiers raided the town of Kifl Haris.

Raid: Nablus – 01:35, Israeli Occupation forces raided and patrolled al-Zawiya.

Raid – rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades fired: Jericho – 01:40, Israeli forces, firing rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades, raided the city as well as the Ein Sultan refugee camp.

Raid – stun grenades fired: Bethlehem – 19:10–02:55, the Israeli Army, firing stun grenades, raided al-Khadr.

Raid: Bethlehem – 19:25–02:55, Israeli troops raided the village of Marah Rabah.

Raid – abduction: Bethlehem – 19:25–02:55, the Israeli military raided the village of al-Manshiya, abducting a 17-year-old youth, Zein Issa Ali Abd Thawabtah. One other person was taken prisoner.

Raid – injury – 2 taken prisoner: Hebron – 01:00, Israeli soldiers raided the town of Dura, injuring a resident and taking prisoner two other people.

Raid – 4 taken prisoner: Hebron – 03:20–07:35, Israeli Occupation forces raided the town of Idhna, taking prisoner four people.

Raid – 1 taken prisoner: Hebron – 03:15, Israeli forces raided Beit Kahil, taking prisoner one person.

Raid – 1 taken prisoner: Hebron – 07:35, the Israeli Army raided the town of Tarqumiya, taking prisoner one person.

Raid – 2 taken prisoner: Hebron – dawn, Israeli troops raided the city, taking prisoner two people.