Israel, "by committing horrific massacres, was able to free some its hostages, yet it killed some others during the operation," al-Qassam Brigades' spokesperson, Abu Ubaida, said in a statement on his Telegram channel.
The actress Israeli-Palestinian Lama Tator, who hosts an Arabic culture program on #Keshet, shared a photo of Argamani after her release from captivity, commenting on appearance after long months in #Hamas captivity and the massacre the IDF carried out to release her and the others.
"Are these the faces of a hostage for nine months?" the actress wrote in a story she shared on social media. "Are her eyebrows more groomed than mine? Her skin? Her hair? Her nails? What's going on? And for her they need to kill and slaughter children, women, and innocents?"
[cont'd] Hamas: The soldiers who participated in the Nuseirat rescue operation disguised themselves as displaced persons
Hamas's information office said that the soldiers who participated in the hostage rescue operation yesterday entered the #Nuseirat camp in civilian vehicles and under disguise, pretending to be displaced persons. According to the office, during the operation, 89 inhabited houses and homes were damaged.
On social media, pictures were posted yesterday of a civilian truck, appearing to be a truck for transferring humanitarian aid, which was allegedly used by Israeli security forces to reach the center of the refugee camp.
According to the testimony of a Palestinian resident who was injured during the rescue operation, the Israeli soldiers wore civilian clothes and looked like displaced persons fleeing the bombardment, and it seems this is how they managed to reach the buildings where the hostages were being held.
The Arabic spokesman for the IDF, Avichay Adraee, denied the claims and said that the #IDF did not use aid vehicles, nor did it use the American naval jetty during the operation.
#Israel / The UN is reportedly taking the unprecedented step of blacklisting Israel over alleged grave violations against children during the 2023 conflicts
Israeli Channel 13 reported that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has informed Israel's military attache in the U.S. that his decision is final to include Israel on the UN's blacklist of countries and groups harming children in conflict zones, alongside Russia and terror groups like ISIS, Al-Qaeda and Boko Haram.
The report, covering 2023, will accuse Israel of killing and injuring thousands of Palestinian children, bombing civilian facilities, and preventing humanitarian aid access, citing over 20,000 alleged violations against children.
Israel fears this could lead to practical consequences like weapons embargoes from other countries, in addition to the reputational damage of being on such a list alongside dictatorships and terror groups.
#Palestine / US House passes Republican bill to sanction International Criminal Court over Israel
the U.S. House of Representatives passed a Republican-backed bill aimed at sanctioning the ICC over its investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Israel in the Palestinian territories. The bill, which still needs to pass the Senate and be signed into law, has sparked controversy and raised concerns about the U.S. commitment to international justice.
#Palestine / Slovenia becomes latest EU country to recognise Palestinian state
[…] "Today's recognition of Palestine as a sovereign and independent state sends hope to the Palestinian people in the West Bank and in Gaza," Prime Minister Robert Golob said on X.
How long does it take #Biden to backtrack on direct and accurate observations regarding the Butcher from Balfour? Not too long. Biden gets just enough to satisfy the progressive wing, while coming across ambiguous enough to quiet critics on the right. Just for a while. Sounds like Trump in fact, when his many stupid “people say” assertions are challenged, but in reverse.
#ICJ / ‘State of Palestine’ applies to join S. Africa’s case at top U.N. court accusing Israel of genocide
Palestinian officials argue they are directly affected and should be allowed to address the court.
The Palestinian request alleges Israel's military operation is "part of a systematic effort to wipe Palestinian society and its culture and social institutions from the map."
#France canceling Israel's participation in a major defense exhibition.
The #Maldives banning Israeli citizens from entering the country.
A British coffee shop chain, Pret a Manger, canceling its franchise agreement with an Israeli company.
McDonald's facing a boycott in some countries due to its Israeli operations.
The Israeli hi-tech industry, which is a significant contributor to the country's economy, is also being affected by the boycotts.
[...] "McDonald's network also faced a pro-Palestinian boycott that hurt its sales worldwide, according to its reports. In April, the global network acquired the Israeli operation, which consists of 225 branches, from franchisee Omri Padan, [...] McDonald's entry into Israel was one of the harbingers of the end of the Arab boycott that Israel had faced since its establishment. The acquisition of the Israeli operation by the global network was intended to reduce friction between the network and Muslim customers worldwide - among other things, by reducing the identification of the local operation with IDF soldiers and the captives held in Gaza [...] After October 7, Padan led an unprecedented operation of offering a 50% discount to soldiers in uniform at all network branches - and this increased the pressure on the global network. Estimates are that after the deal is completed, McDonald's will reduce or cancel the discount - in the hope of weakening the criticism and boycott against it worldwide."
Possible long-term effects these boycotts will have on the Israeli economy: higher living costs and reduced competitiveness. But the Israeli government's policies and actions are leading to increased international isolation and economic damage, and Israelis will, ultimately, bear the costs of these decisions.
#Gaza / Maldives will ban Israelis from entering the country over the war in Gaza
[…] The president’s office said Sunday that the Cabinet decided to change laws to prevent Israeli passport holders from entering the country and to establish a subcommittee to oversee the process.
#Gaza / Chile joins South Africa's lawsuit against Israel at ICJ
Chilean President Gabriel Boric has announced that his country will support and join South Africa's lawsuit against Israel at the ICJ.
[…] “Chile has decided to support and join the lawsuit filed by South Africa at the International Court of Justice, under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide."
Unsurprisingly, #Ackman and other Jewish mega-donors seem to have no qualms with antisemites, as long as they are the good old-fashioned ones like #Trump and #DeSantis, who despise Muslims nearly as much as they detest Jews. With that, they can live.
Trump's actions, such as accentuating Jon Stewart's Jewish last name "Leibowitz" (2013), making comments seemingly trafficking in Jewish stereotypes when addressing the Republican Jewish Coalition in 2015, his initial refusal to disavow support from former KKK leader David Duke during the 2016 campaign, his campaign's delayed condemnation of the extreme antisemitic harassment directed at Jewish journalists like Julia Ioffe after they wrote critical profiles of Trump/his wife, the use of his "America First" slogan echoing the antisemitic isolationist group from the WWII era, and listing a white supremacist leader as a delegate before removing him after media scrutiny – none of that seems to be a problem. Apparently, what makes one an antisemite in their eyes is wanting an end to 76 years of Israeli occupation and a brutal apartheid.
#US / Miriam Adelson’s money could transform Trump’s 2024 campaign, and the Palestine, again, will pay the price
[…] Now, in 2024, the two have unfinished Israel business from Trump’s presidency. Along with annexing the West Bank, the first Trump administration proposed recognizing Israeli settlers’ right to remain in homes on occupied lands. Also for Israel to remain an occupying force in any future Palestinian state.
Adelson wants to use her wealth to ensure unconditional U.S. support for Israel and its policies, including the annexation of the West Bank.
Her husband gave USD 20 millions to Trump to move the US embassy to #Jerusalem. She’ll pay much more to be able to shape Trump’s 2024 Israel agenda, including pushing for U.S. recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank.
Reportedly, she’s pursuing other unfinished goals from Trump's previous term, such as allowing Israeli settlers to remain in Palestinian territories, and letting Israel maintain an occupying military force in a future Palestinian state.
[…] Ten days before Donald J. Trump took office, Sheldon G. Adelson went to Trump Tower for a private meeting. Afterward, Mr. Adelson, the casino billionaire and Republican donor, called an old friend, Morton A. Klein, to report that Mr. Trump told him that moving the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would be a major priority […] The Adelsons were persuaded and donated $20 million to a political action committee that supported Mr. Trump’s campaign, and another $1.5 million to the committee that organized the Republican convention.
For Trump, an Embassy in Jerusalem Is a Political Decision, Not a Diplomatic One https://archive.is/wZIV8
[...] The spokesman for the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza, Ashraf Al-Qidra, said 35 people were killed and dozens others, most of them women and children, were wounded in the attack.
After facing international pressure following last week's International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling, Israel is proactively investigating reports of civilian deaths in Rafah following IDF attack in Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood in western Rafah yesterday.
"Details of the incident are still under investigation," claimed Major-General Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi, Israel's top military prosecutor, at an Israel Bar Association conference.
While the investigation continues, some may view this move as a thinly veiled attempt by Israel to justify its actions and evade accountability for alleged war crimes.
[cont'd] Bad Planning, Poor Intel: How Israel Struck Crowded Rafah Refugee Camp, Killing Dozens
[...] Sources in Israel's defense establishment who are familiar with the details of the investigation told Haaretz that they believe civilians who stayed near the targeted area would have been hurt regardless, even if the fire had not ignited, albeit possibly to a lesser extent. According to the sources, there were issues with the pre-strike planning.
This is roughly how mainstream Israeli media whitewashes IDF’s war crimes. If you start with Hamas militants targeted, any atrocity that follows will be acceptable to the Israeli ear.
Haaretz: dozens dead in an Israeli strike at a camp; IDF: we attacked Hamas militants
Ynet: IDF eliminated senior Hamas commanders; Palestinians (claim): tents set a blaze (nothing to do with the attack on a densely populated refugee camp, presumably), 28 dead
[cont'd] Israel's Media Silence: Fear of Exposing National Joy Over Gaza Suffering [Prof.
Dmitry Shumsky]
So why is Israeli media coverage of the war on Gaza so biased, focusing solely on the Israeli narrative while downplaying the suffering of Palestinian civilians? Here's another perspective on the disturbing complicity of Israeli media in the on going massacre in Gaza:
[translation of key paragraphs from the article:]
[...] "Israelis do not acknowledge that before the murderous attack on Israeli civilians on October 7, the Palestinians lived under oppressive conditions and a denial of basic human and national rights by Israel (it should be emphasized: this in no way justifies or normalizes the brutality of Hamas on October 7). Most Israelis are convinced that the Israeli-Palestinian situation prior to October 7 was normal and even understandable from the Palestinian perspective. In their eyes, the occupation, not to mention apartheid, are inventions of anti-Semites; and in fact, they believe that the Palestinians living beyond the Green Line (another invention of Israel-haters) live reasonably well, certainly compared to their Arab brothers in Syria, Iraq, and every other Arab country, except for the oil and gas producing nations. In Gaza, Israelis believe, the Palestinians even had a state in every respect. And yet, despite all this, they chose a deadly, treacherous, and forced campaign of terror."
[...] "Against the backdrop of this distorted reality perception, it's no wonder that the Israeli national anger towards the Gazan Palestinians, the Israeli indifference to their suffering, and especially the sense of national joy, sometimes suppressed and sometimes bursting forth, in the face of fragmented information about the scope of the destruction and killing in Gaza – a joy that is evident to anyone who lends an ear to the whispers of the Israeli public on the street – are the main and total characteristics of the Israeli view of the current war."
[...] "In light of all this, it would not be far-fetched to assume that the refusal to direct the Israeli media spotlight towards the civilian victims of the IDF's pointless strategic campaign in Gaza stems, in part, from the fear of shaping public opinion in Israel, lest it arouse overly explicit and intense feelings of joy and celebration among the broader Israeli public. This would certainly not contribute to improving Israel's already tarnished image in the world."
[*] Prof. Dmitry Shumsky is Israel Goldstein Chair in the History of Zionism and the New Yishuv at the Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry, and Director of the Bernard Cherrick Center for the study of Zionism, the Yishuv, and the State of Israel at the Hebrew University.
[cont'd] Israel's Media Silence: Fear of Exposing National Joy Over Gaza Suffering [Prof.
Dmitry Shumsky]
So why is Israeli media coverage of the war on Gaza so biased, focusing solely on the Israeli narrative while downplaying the suffering of Palestinian civilians? Here's another perspective on the disturbing complicity of Israeli media in the on going massacre in Gaza:
[translation of key paragraphs from the article:]
[...] "Apparently, as many critics of the Israeli media believe, the avoidance of presenting the enormous dimensions of the killing and suffering of the civilian population in Gaza stems from the fear that exposing Israelis to these horrific images could shake their faith in the sacred morality of the IDF and lead to doubts about its combat policies - which could harm national morale during wartime."
[...] "Israelis do not acknowledge that before the murderous attack on Israeli civilians on October 7, the Palestinians lived under oppressive conditions and a denial of basic human and national rights by Israel (it should be emphasized: this in no way justifies or normalizes the brutality of Hamas on October 7). Most Israelis are convinced that the Israeli-Palestinian situation prior to October 7 was normal and even understandable from the Palestinian perspective. In their eyes, the occupation, not to mention apartheid, are inventions of anti-Semites; and in fact, they believe that the Palestinians living beyond the Green Line (another invention of Israel-haters) live reasonably well, certainly compared to their Arab brothers in Syria, Iraq, and every other Arab country, except for the oil and gas producing nations. In Gaza, Israelis believe, the Palestinians even had a state in every respect. And yet, despite all this, they chose a deadly, treacherous, and forced campaign of terror."
[...] "Against the backdrop of this distorted reality perception, it's no wonder that the Israeli national anger towards the Gazan Palestinians, the Israeli indifference to their suffering, and especially the sense of national joy, sometimes suppressed and sometimes bursting forth, in the face of fragmented information about the scope of the destruction and killing in Gaza – a joy that is evident to anyone who lends an ear to the whispers of the Israeli public on the street – are the main and total characteristics of the Israeli view of the current war."
[...] "In light of all this, it would not be far-fetched to assume that the refusal to direct the Israeli media spotlight towards the civilian victims of the IDF's pointless strategic campaign in Gaza stems, in part, from the fear of shaping public opinion in Israel, lest it arouse overly explicit and intense feelings of joy and celebration among the broader Israeli public. This would certainly not contribute to improving Israel's already tarnished image in the world."
[*] Prof. Dmitry Shumsky is Israel Goldstein Chair in the History of Zionism and the New Yishuv at the Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry, and Director of the Bernard Cherrick Center for the study of Zionism, the Yishuv, and the State of Israel at the Hebrew University.