In Occupied Palestine
Zionism in practice
Israel’s Daily Toll on Palestinian Life, Limb, Liberty and Land
08:00, 19 October until 08:00, 20 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: 84 more people have been killed, bringing the total number killed in Gaza since 7 October to at least 42,603. Another 158 have been wounded, bringing that total to 99,795. The daily average number of men, women and children killed in Gaza is at least 112 and, that of those injured, is now more than 264.
Palestine today
Don’t say you didn’t know
Ali Kazak akazak@bigpond.net.au
Israel bans at least six medical aid missions from entering Gaza
Advocacy groups called decision a ‘death sentence for thousands of patients’, with not enough hospitals remaining in operation At least six medical aid missions currently operating inside the Gaza Strip received orders this week from the Israeli government that they would no longer be allowed access to their patients in the enclave. The World Health Organisation (WHO) made the announcement on Thursday and informed the medical groups after Israel told the UN agency about their decision through text messages. Among those groups are Fajr Scientific, Glia, and the Palestinian American Medical Association (Pama).
The Washington Post reported that WHO said it was concerned about the impact the order would have on Gaza’s strained medical system, adding that the emergency medical teams in Gaza are essential to keeping the system running, as only 17 of the 36 hospitals in Gaza remain in operation. WHO pressed for “urgent and sustained facilitation of entry for EMTs into Gaza”, and said there has been widespread malnutrition and rampant disease across the Strip. No food or aid of any kind has entered northern Gaza since 1 October amid a massive ground operation launched by the Israeli army. “This is a death sentence for thousands of patients,” the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) said in a statement. “These organisations have, collectively, sent hundreds of medical delegates to provide life-saving aid to sick and injured Palestinians in Gaza over the past twelve months.” The medical teams have treated over 15,000 patients since October 2023 and dispatched specialists in trauma surgery, paediatric medicine and neurosurgery, according to ICJP’s statement.
Australia is dismantling academic freedom in defence of Zionism
An ongoing Zionist pressure campaign against Australian universities has resulted in government recommendations for an investigation. The resulting inquiry will put academia under constant political scrutiny in defence of Zionism. Over the last year, Australian universities have been subject to a Zionist political pressure campaign for their varied responses to ongoing university student protests against Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. This culminated recently in the Australian Senate with calls to investigate universities for antisemitism.
On October 2, 2024, the Australian Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs released a set of recommendations as part of a review of a bill calling for a judicial inquiry into antisemitism at universities. The Committee recommended that the Attorney General refer an inquiry into antisemitism at Australian universities to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights. In addition, it recommended that the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) will work together with the newly appointed Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism to ensure that universities review their complaints processes to a “real and meaningful outcomes for complainants.” The pressure on universities increased after October 7. Zionist groups, politicians, and the media created a moral panic about “rising antisemitism” in the community and described universities, and especially the eleven student encampments that were established across Australia, as incubators for anti-Jewish racism. The language of safety was weaponised to amplify their claim about the need to censor pro-Palestine and anti-genocide activities. Realising that the universities do not meet all their demands, Zionist groups have turned to the political route, with two main objectives: 1) to impose the IHRA definition on universities, and 2) to frame Zionism as a protected identity, similar to what we see in some US universities.
The UN must declare northern Gaza a disaster zone requiring immediate intervention and compel Israel to halt the genocide being carried out by its army through systematic and widespread mass and individual killings, deliberate starvation, mass forced displacement, and the complete destruction of the remaining essentials for life. The international community’s silence and inaction render it complicit in this brutal genocide.
The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor’s field team has documented heinous crimes against civilians in Beit Lahia, the Jabalia Refugee Camp, and across the northern Gaza Strip as the Israeli occupation army escalates its attacks, bombing several homes and killing over 80 Palestinians in Beit Lahia overnight. The previous night, the Israeli military bombed homes belonging to the Al-Hawajri, Nassar, and Abu Al-Aish families in the Tel Al-Zaatar area of Jabalia Camp, killing 33 Palestinians and injuring over 70 others. With no justification other than to kill the remaining residents and force any survivors to flee, Israeli occupation forces used multiple missiles to bomb the residential blocks, destroying them while hundreds of civilians were inside.
Israel’s clear and continued pattern of targeting relief and ambulance teams in Lebanon is a serious violation of international law, especially international humanitarian law. Since the start of its most recent attack on Lebanon, the Israeli army has launched numerous military attacks directly against ambulance and relief crews, particularly those affiliated with the Islamic Health Authority, killing at least 120 medical and relief workers.
With no proof, an Israeli army spokesperson recently justified the targeting of paramedics and their vehicles in various parts of Lebanon by claiming that they were transporting “saboteurs and weapons”. In this regard, the Israeli army targeted on Sunday morning, 13 October 2024, a Red Cross relief convoy in the southern town of Sarbin, wounding four volunteers. This attack came after the Israeli army targeted a house in Sarbin in an initial airstrike, and then targeted the same site in a second airstrike after the Red Cross convoy arrived to search for the injured. This targeting took place even though the Red Cross had previously arranged to visit the site alongside UNIFIL, the United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon. The Red Cross reported that the airstrike damaged its vehicles in addition to injuring four members of its team. The Israeli army also targeted two aid trucks today (Monday 14 October), which were passing through the Ras Baalbek area. The trucks were flying Red Cross flags after receiving UN approval to deliver aid, according to official Lebanese sources.
Israeli massacre in north Gaza’s Beit Lahiya
An Israeli air strike hit a residential block killing close to 100 Palestinians while they slept in Beit Lahiya. The bombing is the latest in Israel’s assault on northern Gaza since it besieged and stepped-up attacks on the territory two weeks ago.
Crowd of Palestinians helping ‘shredded child’ come under attack in Gaza
Video shows the shocking moment a crowd of Palestinians are attacked as they try to help a badly wounded person, described by witnesses as a ‘shredded’ child, who had been struck moments earlier in northern Gaza.
Israel has taken human shields to a whole new criminal level
The use of Palestinian civilians as ‘human baits’ in Gaza demonstrates how racism informs Israel’s warfare practices. Israel has managed to introduce a new form of shielding in Gaza, one that appears unprecedented in the history of warfare. The practice was initially revealed by Al Jazeera but, subsequently, Haaretz published an entire expose about how Israeli troops have abducted Palestinian civilians, dressed them in military uniforms, attached cameras to their bodies, and sent them into underground tunnels as well as buildings in order to shield Israeli troops. “[I]t’s hard to recognise them. They’re usually wearing Israeli army uniforms, many of them are in their 20s, and they’re always with Israeli soldiers of various ranks,” the Haaretz article notes. But if you look more closely, “you see that most of them are wearing sneakers, not army boots. And their hands are cuffed behind their backs and their faces are full of fear.”
In the past, Israeli troops have used robots and trained dogs with cameras on their collars as well as Palestinian civilians to serve as shields. However, Palestinians who were used as shields always wore civilian clothes and thus could be identified as civilians. By dressing Palestinian civilians in military garb and sending them into the tunnels, the Israeli military has, in effect, altered the very logic of human shielding. By dressing Palestinian civilians in Israeli military uniforms and casting them as combatants the Israeli military purposefully conceals their vulnerability. It deploys them as shields not to deter Palestinian fighters from striking Israeli soldiers, but rather to draw their fire and thus reveal their location, allowing the Israeli troops to launch a counterattack and kill the fighters. The moment these human shields, masked as soldiers, are sent into the tunnels, they are transformed from vulnerable civilians into fodder.
Israel ‘demolished’ watchtower in latest attack on UN Lebanon peacekeepers
United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon have said the Israeli army “deliberately” damaged one of their positions in southern Lebanon, in the latest incident reported by the force that remains deployed in all of its positions. An Israeli “army bulldozer deliberately demolished an observation tower and perimeter fence of a UN position” in southern Lebanon, the UN Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said in a statement, adding that its forces remain in all positions “despite the pressure being exerted”.“We remind the [Israeli forces] and all actors of their obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property and to respect the inviolability of UN premises at all times,” the statement said. It called on Israel to stop breaching UN positions, which is considered “a flagrant violation of international law”.
All of Gaza ‘at risk of famine’ as Israel chokes off the north
Almost two million people in Gaza are living through high levels of acute food insecurity, according to the IPC, a UN-backed monitoring body. The entire population of the Gaza Strip remains at risk of famine and is currently experiencing an “emergency” level of acute food insecurity, a global hunger monitoring body has said, with the situation expected to deteriorate as Israel tightens its siege on the north of the besieged Palestinian enclave. No food or aid of any kind has entered northern Gaza since 1 October amid a massive ground operation launched by the Israeli army.
The obstruction of humanitarian access and the intensity of the bombing campaign has significantly increased the risk of famine for residents in northern Gaza as food, water, fuel and medical supplies dwindle. In a new UN-backed assessment published on Thursday, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said around 1.84 million people across Gaza are living through high levels of acute food insecurity, including 133,000 people who are suffering “catastrophic” food insecurity.
The West’s hypocrisy is a bottomless pit for Palestinians
Israel’s allies in the West hailed Sinwar’s death. Take Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, for example, who described Sinwar as “an enemy of the Israeli people and an enemy of peace-loving people anywhere”. Hamas never internationalised its resistance – it continuously maintained that its anti-colonial resistance is contained against Israel – a right under international law – so why is Albanese attempting to make Sinwar’s assassination relevant to people outside of Palestine? To score points in favour of Israel’s genocide from those already supporting it? The people who understand legitimate anti-colonial resistance will not be swayed, and if international law was truly upheld, there would be no space for Albanese comments, and neither for Israel. For let us remember that the UN declared itself committed to eradicating colonialism, but failed to keep its word. European leaders did not fare any better.
“Do you agree that Israel has the right to defend itself?” This question, so often and repeatedly put by journalists, is irritatingly banal. Invariably, it’s pitched as a kind of provocation, as if to infer that the person being quizzed has never considered the matter, or worse, is a closet antisemitic. The seemingly obvious answer is yes. Yet answering in the affirmative should invite many caveats, otherwise the question is as vacuous as it is baiting. Context matters: a cliché, yes, but so often ignored in public discourse. To claim the right of self-defence without considering the wider historical picture is to position oneself as the hapless victim of aggression. Yet if an act of aggression – yes, ugly and brutal in its effects – is in part a response to decades-old occupation and oppression, then we need a more nuanced range of questions. We need a sense of history.
Why is this so hard to understand? Even Piers Morgan, among the most self-promoting of celebrity journalists, seems to comprehend that the catch-cry of self-defence may in fact shroud a much more complicated story. But there’s more: context demands that we consider the actions of nation states against the benchmarks of international law, human rights, UN conventions and resolutions, as well as common decency and humanity. Israel has trodden all over these supposed barriers to indiscriminate cruelty and slaughter.
West Bank
[Palestinian Monitoring Group]
Israeli Army attack – 1 wounded in refugee camp: Jerusalem – 03:00–09:00, Israeli Occupation forces, firing live ammunition, continued their raid on the Qalandiya refugee camp, wounding a resident, Muhammad Raed Hussein Khader.
Israeli Army attack: Jerusalem – 10:00-11:50, Israeli forces, firing live ammunition, stormed al-Ram.
Israeli Army attack – olive harvest sabotage: Jerusalem – 11:30, the Israeli Army opened indiscriminate fire towards olive harvesters on al-Mazra’a Galabiyah land.
Israeli Army attack – 1 wounded: Nablus – 12:40-17:00, Israeli troops stormed Beit Furik, wounding a man, Laith Munir Hanani.
Israeli settler attack – 3 olive harvesters wounded – arson: Nablus – 15:30, armed Israeli settlers stormed Jalloud farmland opening fire towards olive harvesters and wounding three people, Shahira Hamoud, Faisal Asem Hamoud and Hisham Asem Hamoud. The settlers also set fire to three homes, two poultry farms and three motor vehicles as well as stealing three horses.
Israeli Army attack – olive harvest sabotage: Hebron – 11:20, the Israeli military opened fire indiscriminately towards olive harvesters in the Qawawis area of Yatta.
Home invasion and populaton control: Tulkarem – 16:50, Israeli Occupation forces raided the village of al-Jaroushiya, occupied a house and turned it into a military post, forcing residents to evacuate their home for 48 hours.
Home invasions – 1 wounded – 5 taken prisoner: Nablus – midnight-02:35, Israeli forces raided the city and the Balata refugee camp, raiding a number of homes, wounding a resident, Abdul Karim Nasser Shaheen, in the city and taking five people prisoner in the refugee camp.
Home invasions: Nablus – 00:40-03:10, the Israeli Army raided Talfit village and searched a number of homes.
Israeli Army olive harvest sabotage – family terrorised: Jenin – 09:00, Israeli Occupation forces terrorised an olive harvesting family in the village of Umm Riha, which is trapped behind Israel’s Annexation Wall. Those taken prisoner an abducted include three children as well as their father and another person.
Israeli Army armed robbery: Tubas – 09:05, Israeli forces seized an agricultural tractor near the village of Ein al-Bayda in the north Jordan Valley.
Israeli Army olive harvest sabotage: Nablus – 10:00, the Israeli Army, fired tear gas canisters at olive harvesters and forced them of the Salem village land.
Israeli Army olive harvest sabotage: Nablus – 09:40, Israeli troops prevented olive harvesters from reaching land in the Jabal Sabih area of Beita.
Israeli Army olive harvest sabotage: Nablus – 09:40, the Israeli Army forced people off Qabalan agricultural land and prevented the olive harvest from proceeding.
Israeli Army olive harvest sabotage: Nablus – 11:30, Israeli troops forced people off Husan village land and prevented the olive harvest from proceeding.
Israeli Army olive harvest sabotage: Bethlehem – 15:40, the Israeli military forced people off agricultural land in the Yanun area and prevented the olive harvest from proceeding.
Occupation settler vandalism: Tubas – 10:45, Israeli Occupation of settlers smashed the window of a motor vehicle in the al-Maleh area of the north Jordan Valley.
Occupation settler violence: Tubas – 19:20, Israeli settlers, raiding the al-Farisiya area in the northern Jordan Valley tried to run their vehicle over a man and his son.
Occupation settler water crime – agricultural sabotage: Tubas – 19:50, Occupation settlers raided the Khirbet al-Deir area east of the village of Ein al-Bayda and cut agricultural water supplylines.
Occupation settler – olive harvest sabotage: Nablus – 10:55-13:10, Occupation settlers invaded Burin village agricultural land, assaulting olive harvesters and stealing harvesting equipment.
Occupation settler – olive harvest sabotage: Nablus – 12:10, Israeli settlers assaulted two people olive harvesting in the Jabal Sabih area of Beita and forced them off the land.
Occupation settler – olive harvest sabotage: Nablus – 13:05, Occupation settlers assaulted olive harvesters east of Rujeib village and forced them to leave.
Occupation settler – olive harvest sabotage: Nablus – 16:45, Israeli settlers assaulted olive harvesters on Beita town agricultural land.
Occupation settler – stoning: Hebron – 18:35, Occupation settlers stoned shops in the Old City.
Raid: Ramallah – 10:55–12:00, Israeli Occupation forces raided and patrolled the village of Qarawat Bani Zeid.
Raid: Ramallah – 12:15, Israeli forces raided and patrolled the town of Beit Rima.
Raid: Ramallah – 12:30, the Israeli Army raided and patrolled Turmusaya.
Raids: Ramallah – 16:25, Israeli troops raided and patrolled Rawabi, the town of Atara and the villages of Ajul, Deir Sudan and Umm Safa.
Raid: Ramallah – 16:35, the Israeli military raided the town of Abwein.
Raid: Ramallah – 17:00, Israeli soldiers raided and patrolled the town of Sinjil.
Raids: Jenin – 08:40-15:45, Israeli Occupation forces raided and patrolled Araba, Kafr Rai and the village of Fahma.
Raid: Jenin – 16:35, Israeli forces raided the city of Jenin.
Raid – 1 taken prisoner: Jenin – 03:35–05:05, the Israeli Army again raided Jenin, taking prisoner one person.
Raid: Tulkarem – 08:30-15:40, Israeli troops raided and patrolled the Shweika suburb of Tulkarem.
Raid – 1 killed: Tulkarem – 23:05–00:55, the Israeli military raided Anabta, and ran a vehicle over a man, riding a motorcycle killing Abdul Karim Imad Abdul Karim Salama.
Raids: Qalqiliya – 10:15-11:50, Israeli soldiers raided and patrolled the villages of Hajjah, al-Funduq, Baqa al-Hatab and Kafr Laqif.
Raid: Qalqiliya – 12:45-13:50, Israeli Occupation forces raided and patrolled the village of Saniriya.
Raid: Qalqiliya – 12:45-14:00, Israeli forces raided and patrolled the town of Azzun.
Raid: Qalqiliya – 12:45–14:20, Israeli troops raided and patrolled Kafr Thulth.
Raid: Nablus – 09:30-14:10, the Israeli military raided and patrolled the village of Burqa.
Raid: Nablus – 11:15-13:10, Israeli soldiers raided and patrolled the village of Burin.
Raid: Nablus – 12:40-17:00, Israeli Occupation forces raided the village of Beit Dajan.
Raid: Nablus – 14:05-15:40, Israeli forces raided Beita and the village of Awarta.
Raid – rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades: Nablus – 14:05, the Israeli Army, firing rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades, raided Odala village.
Raids: Nablus – 14:50-15:50, Israeli troops raided and patrolled the villages of Sarra, Tal, Burin and Madama.
Raid: Nablus – 14:50, the Israeli military raided and patrolled the village of Salem.
Raid: Nablus – 16:10, Israeli soldiers raided and patrolled the village of Jalloud.
Raid: Nablus – 16:40, Israeli Occupation forces raided and patrolled the village of Qaryut.
Raid – abduction: Nablus – 18:25–15:50, Israeli forces raided the village of Tal and abducted a15-year-old boy, Ahmed Muhammad Abdul Karim Hamad.
Raid: Salfit – 12:00-15:05, the Israeli Army raided and patrolled the town of Haris.
Raids: Salfit – 12:45, Israeli troops raided and patrolled Bidya and the villages of Masha and Rafat.
Raid – rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades: Salfit – 13:15-14:20, the Israeli military, firing rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades, raided the town of al-Zawiya.
Raid: Salfit – 15:50-17:00, Israeli soldiers raided and patrolled the town of Kafr al-Dik.
Raid: Salfit – 17:55, Israeli Occupation forces raided and patrolled the village of Marda.
Raid: Salfit – 23:10–00:45, Israeli forces, firing stun grenades, raided the town of Bidya.
Raid – stun grenades: Bethlehem – 18:35–02:10, the Israeli Army, firing stun grenades raided the town of al-Khadr.
Raid: Hebron – 10:55, Israeli troops raided Yatta and raided the Carmel Archaeological Park.
Raid: Hebron – 10:55, the Israeli military raided and patrolled al-Samou.
Raid: Hebron – 19:15, Israeli soldiers raided and patrolled the city.
Raid – 2 taken prisoner: Hebron – 01:55–07:00, Israeli Occupation forces raided Yatta, taking prisoner two people.
Raid – 1 taken prisoner: Hebron – 01:55–07:00, Israeli forces raided the town of Idhna, taking prisoner one person.
Raid – 1 taken prisoner: Hebron – 01:55–07:00, the Israeli Army raided al-Dhahiriya, taking prisoner one person.