In Occupied Palestine
Zionism in practice
Israel’s Daily Toll on Palestinian Life, Limb, Liberty and Land
08:00, 04 October until 08:00, 05 October 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: 23 more people have been killed, bringing the total number killed in Gaza since 7 October to at least 41,825. Another 66 have been wounded, bringing that total to 96,910. The daily average number of men, women and children killed in Gaza is at least 115 and that of those injured is now more than 266.
Palestine today
Don’t say you didn’t know
Ali Kazak akazak@bigpond.net.au
American Healthcare Workers Who Volunteered in Gaza Say Over 118,000 Have Been Killed
Ninety-nine American healthcare workers who volunteered in Gaza over the past year published an open letter to President Biden and Vice President Harris on Thursday that detailed the horrors they witnessed and called for an end to US military support for Israel. The healthcare workers said they believe the true death toll in Gaza is much higher than what Gaza’s Health Ministry is reporting, estimating it to be over 118,908. “This letter and the appendix show probative evidence that the human toll in Gaza since October is far higher than is understood in the United States,” the letter reads. “It is likely that the death toll from this conflict is already greater than 118,908, an astonishing 5.4% of Gaza’s population.”
The latest numbers from Gaza’s Health Ministry put the number of Palestinians killed by Israel in Gaza since October 7, 2023, at 41,788. The ministry’s figures only count the bodies that are brought to hospitals and morgues and don’t account for people missing and presumed dead under the rubble. The American healthcare workers said that everyone in Gaza is either sick, injured, or both. “With only marginal exceptions, everyone in Gaza is sick, injured, or both. This includes every national aid worker, every international volunteer, and probably every Israeli hostage: every man, woman, and child,” the letter says.
An Israeli air strike on a West Bank cafe wipes out entire family
Israeli bombing turns Tulkarm night of shisha smoking and food into a site of death and destruction. Israeli fighter jets bombed a West Bank city on Thursday night. A cafe, where young men were gathered for shisha and food, was struck, alongside the residential apartment next door. Fayed, who lost his brother in the attack, was in a nearby building when the Israeli missile hit his café.
It was a normal night, he told Middle East Eye, with people gathered to eat and smoke as usual. Within seconds, the bombing changed the scene completely, he added.
“There were bodies strewn on the fences, the utility poles, the roads and under the rubble,” he recalled. “It was a bloody scene that reflects the savagery and Nazism of this occupation. They attack civilians and people of all backgrounds.” The attack on the Tulkarm refugee camp, a densely populated area repeatedly raided by Israeli troops, marks the latest Israeli escalation against Palestinians in the West Bank. At least 410 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across the West Bank this year, including over 100 children. Nearly 100 were killed in Tulkarm alone, according to UN figures. ‘Bodies shredded into pieces’: unprecedented Israeli airstrike in West Bank kills 20, including entire family
Australia billionaire Andrew Forrest donates $10m for Gaza aid
Australian billionaire, Andrew Forrest, announced an additional $10 million donation on Friday through his Minderoo Foundation to support urgent humanitarian aid efforts in Gaza, Anadolu Agency reports. With this latest contribution, Forrest and his wife, Nicola Forrest, have increased their Foundation’s total aid to almost $28 million, focusing on partners delivering critical meals to those facing famine. Of the new funds, $5 million will go to World Central Kitchen to fund over 1.5 million meals in Gaza. An additional $5 million will be allocated to the UN World Food Program (WFP), which is providing food assistance in the region.
Since October 2023, Minderoo’s financial support has helped deliver safe water, sanitation, medical supplies, medical consultations and food aid to tens of thousands of people in Gaza, the Foundation said. “Minderoo Foundation will not sit on its hands while children starve to death,” Forrest stated, calling for greater response from philanthropies and the private sector to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. “We are one of few philanthropies in Australia giving to the humanitarian needs in Gaza. We want to see the philanthropic and private sector respond more strongly to the humanitarian needs in Gaza,” he added. The Israeli offensive, which began on 7 October, has displaced nearly the entire population of Gaza, leaving the Territory in desperate need of food, clean water and medicine due to the ongoing blockade.
Israel targets Nasrallah ‘successor’ Safieddine in Beirut attacks as road out of Lebanon bombed
Israeli strikes killed more people on Friday following intensified strikes on Beirut last night, which reportedly targeted Nasrallah’s presumed successor. It remains unclear if Safieddine was harmed or killed during the attacks. Thursday’s night strikes were described as among the most intense in Lebanon since Israel escalated attacks over 10 days ago, with around 11 consecutive strikes hitting Beirut, primarily its Shia-majority southern suburbs.Residents and AFP journalists said the blasts could be heard from beyond the capital, and were so loud that buildings shook and fire alarms went off. Footage and images shared online showed giant balls of flames rising from the targeted site with thick smoke billowing and flares shooting out.
Beirut’s Dahiyeh left deserted and destroyed after brutal Israeli bombardment
Israeli forces devastate civilian infrastructure in Lebanon, as the death toll rises and an estimated 1 million people are displaced. The streets of the once-bustling Haret Hreik neighbourhood in southern Beirut were empty. Debris buried the wheels of a vegetable cart abandoned on the curb. Rows of shops stood shuttered, their entrances littered with shards of glass. Overnight on Thursday, another powerful blast was heard throughout Beirut, reportedly one of the most violent strikes on Dahiyeh, even more intense than the one that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. The Israeli military says its attacks are aimed at Hezbollah, “but the impact on ordinary people and civilians has been catastrophic”, warned Human Rights Watch (HRW) researcher Ramzi Kaiss on social media.
He condemned Israel’s apparent “war crimes” in Lebanon, including the “apparently unlawful attacks on civilians, journalists, aid workers and children”. Hassan Ammar, 82, gazed up at his apartment building in central Beirut’s Bashoura neighbourhood. An entire floor was wiped out in an Israeli strike overnight on Wednesday. “It was 12.20 at night (9.20pm GMT),” he recalled, when what sounded like three large explosions jolted his family awake. “We rushed outside and we saw the injuries and destruction,” he told Middle East Eye. The Israeli strike targeted the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Committee (IHC) office, killing seven rescue workers, two of whom were volunteers. Lebanon’s health ministry said that a total of nine people were killed and 14 wounded.
Israel acting with impunity in Middle East, says former Irish President
Former Irish President, Mary Robinson, on Friday accused Israel of acting with impunity in the Middle East, highlighting what she sees as a lack of restraint on the part of global powers, particularly the US, Anadolu Agency reports. Her comments came amid heightened tensions in the region, with Israeli air strikes reported in southern Beirut and the Occupied West Bank.
Speaking on RTE’s Morning Ireland, Robinson, representing The Elders—an international non-governmental organisation founded by Nelson Mandela and Richard Branson—emphasised the need for de-escalation from all parties involved in the conflict.
Robinson specifically criticised US President, Joe Biden, for continuing to supply arms to Israel despite widespread harassment of violations of international law. “International humanitarian law is being horribly transgressed,” she said, referring to the impact of Israel’s recent attacks in Gaza. In her strongest remarks, Robinson condemned what she called Israel’s “overreaction” in Gaza, which has resulted in the deaths of nearly 42,000 people and countless injuries, particularly among children.
Hezbollah repels 6 infiltration attempts by Israel
Hezbollah announced yesterday that it had successfully repelled six infiltration attempts by Israeli forces into southern Lebanon, Anadolu reported. The group also launched 19 attacks on northern Israel. On 23 September, Israel launched its “most intense and extensive” offensive on Lebanon in nearly 20 years. According to official Lebanese data, Israeli air strikes have since killed at least 1,120 people, including women and children, injured 3,040, and displaced around 1.2 million people. Following Iran’s retaliatory missile attack on Israel on Tuesday, in response to Israel’s assassination of Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, and Secretary-General of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, air raid sirens have been sounding at an unprecedented rate across Israel due to Hezbollah’s intensified barrage of rockets, drones and artillery shells targeting military sites and settlements. Israeli security authorities have, however, restricted reports on human and material losses, according to observers.
Hezbollah announced a series of successful operations against Israeli occupation forces in southern Lebanon, reporting significant damage. According to statements released on Telegram, they detonated explosives targeting Israeli soldiers and launched rocket strikes on military positions and a tank, causing heavy losses. Hezbollah fighters targeted several Israeli positions, asserting direct hits in most cases. This escalation follows Israel’s announcement on Wednesday evening of the death of eight soldiers, including three officers, in an ambush by Hezbollah fighters during an attempted incursion into southern Lebanese towns.
Reuters obtained several sets of emails showing senior officials raising concerns about Israel’s conduct in war. Dana Stroul, the then deputy assistant secretary of defence for the Middle East, wrote an email on 13 October to senior Biden aides saying that Israel’s call for the forced displacement of Palestinians in northern Gaza could violate international law. The email from Stroul came out of a conversation she had with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). In another message in this email chain, Paula Tufro, a senior White House official in charge of humanitarian response, wrote that there is “simply no way to have this scale of a displacement without creating a humanitarian catastrophe”.
Israel went ahead with the forced displacement of those in northern Gaza, making nearly one million Palestinians flee south. As the Palestinians fled their homes, Israel bombed the roads they were travelling on. In a separate chain of emails, Christopher Le Mon, a deputy assistant secretary at the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL), recommended that Washington deny Israel “more than a dozen arms packages”. Le Mon was concerned about specific Israeli police units, including the Yamam patrol unit. The State Department’s DRL objected to 16 different arms packages for Israel, Reuters reported, but the Biden administration approved nearly all the shipments in any case.
Biden’s Gaza Genocide is Now Biden’s Greater Middle East War
For the past year, the world has watched in horror as Israel waged one of the most brutal and murderous military campaigns against a civilian population in the 21st Century. What began as a war of collective punishment following October 7, 2023 quickly exploded into a full-scale genocide against the people of Gaza. Israel deployed the familiar trope about Hamas using civilians as “human shields” to justify the merciless targeting of population centers, dropping U.S. bombs on homes, hospitals, schools, and overcrowded refugee camps across the narrow strip of land that is home to some two million Palestinians.
Using starvation as a weapon, Israel has blocked most humanitarian aid from entering Gaza and brought the territory’s health care system to the brink of collapse. Lives spared by Israeli airstrikes face hell on earth, displaced many times over by the attacks while enduring famine, disease, and unimaginable psychological trauma. Among the more than 40,000 deaths accounted for in the official death toll, at least 11,000 children have been murdered by U.S. bombs, and another estimated 10,000 casualties remain buried under the mountains of rubble that is now Gaza’s landscape.
The nightmare in Gaza set the stage for Israeli state terrorism on two additional fronts: first, beginning shortly after October 7 with escalating attacks by Israeli occupation forces and settlers in the West Bank; and now, with its bombing campaign and ground invasion of Lebanon to pull Hezbollah and Iran into a wider regional conflict.
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon: bombed to death, yet again by Israel
Israel continues with its unquenchable thirst for land to satisfy it’s messianic, theocratic dream. Innocent citizens in Gaza (80% of whom are refugees) the West Bank, Lebanon and Yemen are being blown to bits in horrific numbers. But it is Palestinian refugees across the region who have been the principal target of this horrific war machine for over 76 years. This American – Israeli war machine is now impacting Palestinians on three battleground fronts; in Gaza, the West Bank and now in Lebanon. Over the last few days we have seen extensive bombing across Lebanon, in the south, Beirut, the north, and east in the Bekaa Valley. This war machine that is American- Israeli aggression in Lebanon is not new. And this time, as in Gaza and the West Bank, we are seeing live feeds through social media recording the many war crimes that this alliance is now committing in Lebanon.
We can’t let Australia off the hook either, as each of those F35 jets carrying such death and carnage is supported by Australian spare parts which, in spite of all the evidence available, the government continues to deny. Israel has long been determined to destroy UNRWA and has repeatedly bombed it’s schools in Gaza, where thousands are taking shelter. Israel has also attacked and killed 220 of its staff, the most UN staff killed in any conflict since the UN was established. The UNRWA staff and infrastructure in the West Bank has also been repeatedly attacked by Israel, doing its best to trash, not only UNRWA but also the United Nations.
Social media platforms face accusation of censoring Gaza content
Social media and digital platforms have played a crucial role in publicising the war in Gaza, but face accusations of algorithmic bias and content censorship, experts say. Over the past year, Palestinians have utilised digital content to bring events in Gaza to a wide audience across the Arab, Islamic and Western worlds, sparking demonstrations of support worldwide.
However, experts believe that the algorithms of social media platforms are limiting the spread of Palestinian content. The intense digital engagement of young Palestinians has led Israel to target prominent social media figures, YouTube channel owners and journalists broadcasting live from Gaza, according to Abdoulhakim Ahmine, a Moroccan media and communications expert who spoke to Anadolu.
“Some countries, especially France and Germany, initially imposed some kind of digital restrictions, but were forced to back down due to growing popular support for Palestine,” Ahmine said. Hassan Kharjouj, a technology researcher, said: “The algorithms of digital platforms heavily censor Palestinian content and limit its distribution.” He added that users have developed techniques to circumvent the removal of content. Sada Social, a research centre based in Palestine, documented over 5,450 violations against Palestine-related digital content in the first four months of 2024 in a May 2023 report. It found Instagram accounted for 32 per cent of violations, Facebook 26 per cent, WhatsApp 16 per cent, TikTok 14 per cent, and X 12 per cent. Despite these challenges, social media remains a key tool for disseminating information about Israel’s genocidal acts in the region.
West Bank
[Palestinian Monitoring Group]
Israeli settler attack on shepherds: Jerusalem – evening, armed Israeli settlers opened fire towards and stoned shepherds, near the town of Hizma.
Israeli Army attack – 1 wounded: Jenin – 21:45, Israeli Occupation forces, firing live ammunition, wounded a man, Islam Nader Sadaqa, in the area between Kafr Rai and the village of Fahma.
Israeli Army attack – 1 shot and killed: Tubas – 05:15-07:20, Israeli forces stormed the Far’a refugee camp and invaded a home, shooting and killing a resident, Ahmed Mustafa Ahmed Awaisaand removing his body.
Israeli Army attack on protesters: Nablus – 11:50, the Israeli Army fired live ammunition towards people, in the town of Beita protesting against the theft of their land.
Israeli Army attack – 1 wounded: Nablus – 17:00, Israeli troops, stormed Urif village, shooting and wounding a resident: Abdul Fattah Tayseer Al-Safadi.
Israeli Army attack: Nablus – 19:15–01:55, the Israeli military, firing live ammunition, stormed the town of Asira al-Shamaliya.
Israeli Army attack: Nablus – 19:15–01:55, Israeli soldiers, firing live ammunition, stormed and patrolled Sebastia village.
Israeli settler attack on olive harvesters: Salfit – 16:10, armed Israelis, from the Rafafa Occupation settlement, opened fire towards local working olive harvesters.
Home invasion and population–control: Jenin – Israeli Occupation forces invaded a home, in the village of Anin, forcing out the residents and setting–up a military post there.
Home invasions – rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades fired: Qalqiliya – 11:05-14:45, Israeli forces, firing rubber–coated bullets and stun grenades, raided the village of Kafr Qaddum and invaded three houses.
Home invasions – 3 taken prisoner: Qalqiliya – 02:20–04:25, the Israeli Army raided the city and invaded an apartment building as well as a news-media office, taking prisoner three people.
Home invasions: Nablus – 03:45–06:15, Israeli troops raided the city as well as the Ein Beita refugee camp and invaded five homes.
Home invasions: Jericho – 19:00, the Israeli military raided the Arab al-Maliha community, in the al-Ma’arjat area west of Jericho, and searched people’s homes.
Home invasion by settlers – Israeli Army complicity – vandalism: Bethlehem – 19:00, Israeli settlers, accompanied by Occupation forces, stormed the village of Khalayel al-Loz and invaded ahome, vandalising furniture, smashing windows and breaking open the doors.
Israeli Army harvest sabotage and population–control: Nablus – 12:15, Israeli Occupation forces prevented farmers on Huwara, Khirbet Yanun and Awarta farmland from collecting their olive harvest.
Israeli Army land violation: Nablus – 18:30, Israeli forces bulldozed Palestinian land adjacent to the Shavei Shomron Occupation settlement.
Israeli Army mosque violation: Hebron – the Israeli Army prevented the Friday Call to Prayer from being made at the Ibrahimi Mosque and denied access to the mosque and its grounds. In addition, for the 23rd consecutive occasion, the dawn Call to Prayer was also prevented.
Israeli Army population–control: Hebron – Israeli troops continued to close the entrance to the town of Idhna, for the 35th consecutive day, forcing people to walk to work.
Israeli Army population–control: Hebron – the Israeli military closed the entrance to the Farsh al-Hawa area, north–west of the city, the entrance to the al-Fahs area, the entrances to the towns of Dura and Bani Naim, as well as the Zif village road junction.
Occupation settler mosque violation: Jerusalem – 09:00, two Israeli settlers invaded the grounds of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and behaved insultingly outside the Qibli Prayer Hall.
Occupation settler olive harvest assault and population–control: Nablus – Israeli Occupation settlers forced off a number of farmers and olive harvesters from their land, near the town of Sebastia.
Occupation settler agricultural sabotage and population–control: Salfit – 12:20-13:30, Israeli settlers expelled farmers from their land, near the town of Deir Istiya.
Occupation settler menace: Hebron – 19:15, Occupation settlers invaded the Seddat al-Tha’la compound, east of Yatta, and moved between people’s homes, threatening the occupants.
Raid – rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades fired: Jerusalem – 04:30–05:30, Israeli Occupation forces, firing rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades, raided the village of Jaba.
Raid: Jerusalem – 05:25, Israeli forces raided and patrolled the town of Hizma.
Raids: Ramallah – 11:50-19:00, the Israeli Army raided and patrolled the villages of Nabi Saleh, Aboud, Deir Birzeit and Kafr Ni’ma.
Raid: Ramallah – 14:15-19:00, Israeli troops raided and patrolled the village of Deir Qadis.
Raid: Ramallah – 17:30, the Israeli military raided and patrolled the village of al-Mughayir.
Raid: Ramallah – 18:40-20:00, Israeli soldiers raided and patrolled Deir Dibwan.
Raid: Ramallah – 22:10, Israeli Occupation forces raided and patrolled the town of Beit Ur al-Tahta.
Raid: Ramallah – 01:00–02:55, Israeli forces raided and patrolled the village of Kafr Malik.
Raids: Ramallah – 01:00–02:55, the Israeli Army raided Turmusaya as well as the village of Khirbet Abu Falah.
Raid – 1 taken prisoner: Ramallah – 02:05–05:40, Israeli troops raided the village of Budrus, taking prisoner one person.
Raid: Jenin – 08:00, the Israeli military raided and patrolled the town of Araba.
Raid: Jenin – 16:40, Israeli soldiers raided and patrolled the village of al-Jalameh.
Raid: Jenin – 16:45, Israeli Occupation forces raided and patrolled the village of Faqua.
Raids: Jenin – 17:30, Israeli forces raided and patrolled the villages of Arranah, Deir Ghazaleh and Beit Qad.
Raid: Jenin – 18:05–23:05, the Israeli Army raided and patrolled Silat al-Dahr.
Raid: Jenin – 19:05-21:30, Israeli troops raided and patrolled the village of Fahma.
Raid: Jenin – 20:10-21:30, the Israeli military raided and patrolled the town of Kafr Rai.
Raid – stun grenades fired: Tubas – 15:20, Israeli soldiers, firing stun grenades, raided the village of Tayasir.
Raids: Tulkarem – 17:25–20:30, Israeli Occupation forces raided and patrolled the towns of Zeita and Attil.
Raids: Tulkarem – 18:05, Israeli forces raided and patrolled the town of Deir al-Ghusun as well as the village of al-Jaroushiya.
Raid: Tulkarem – 19:40, the Israeli Army raided and patrolled the city.
Raid: Tulkarem – 05:40, Israeli troops raided and patrolled the town of Zeita.
Raid: Qalqiliya – 17:30–22:20, the Israeli military raided and patrolled the town of Hablat.
Raid: Qalqiliya – 20:35-21:00, Israeli soldiers raided the village of Jit and raided a café.
Raid: Qalqiliya – 23:15, Israeli Occupation forces raided and patrolled the village of Immatin.
Raid: Nablus – 13:20, Israeli forces raided and patrolled the village of Beit Dajan.
Raids: Nablus – 15:30-19:00, the Israeli Army raided and patrolled the town of Jama’in and the village of Zeita Jama’in.
Raid: Nablus – 19:15–01:55, Israeli troops raided Asira al-Shamaliya.
Raid: Nablus – 19:55–01:55, the Israeli military raided and patrolled the village of Tal.
Raid: Nablus – 21:10–01:55, Israeli soldiers raided and patrolled the town of Aqraba.
Raid: Nablus – 03:55–05:30, Israeli Occupation forces raided and patrolled Qabalan.
Raid: Nablus – 05:30–07:05, Israeli forces raided and patrolled the town of Beit Furik.
Raids: Salfit – 13:10-19:00, the Israeli Army raided and patrolled the towns of Qarawat Bani Hassan and Bidya.
Raids: Salfit – 16:35-19:00, Israeli troops raided and patrolled the towns of Kafr Haris and Deir Istiya as well as the villages of Marda, Qira and Haris.
Raid: Salfit – 20:55–21:50, the Israeli military raided and patrolled the city.
Raid: Jericho – 12:55-15:05, Israeli soldiers raided and patrolled al-Auja.
Raid – stun grenades fired: Bethlehem – 14:10, Israeli Occupation forces, firing stun grenades, raided and patrolled al-Khadr.
Raid: Hebron – 09:40-15:50, Israeli forces raided and patrolled the town of Dura.
Raid: Hebron – 00:20–02:00, the Israeli Army raided and patrolled the village of Safa.
Raid: Hebron – 00:45–07:30, Israeli troops raided and patrolled Tarqumiya.
Raid – 4 taken prisoner: Hebron – 01:30–07:30, the Israeli military raided the city, taking prisoner four people.
A special mention just for you Gaby
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2024/10/07/october-7th-the-anniversary-of-a-genocide-winners-losers-conclusions/
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