#Palestine / ‘Instead of a scream’: the Palestinian artist who does a Gaza drawing every day
[…] Drawing and posting online daily became the only way to reassure my friends, after all communication and social media were cut but later partly restored. My drawings, in which I document the war with all its cruel scenes, have become the message through which I inform friends: “I am still alive.”
#Gaza / Settlers looted and desecrated food intended for Gaza in front of soldiers, peace activists were attacked, and two trucks were set on fire
Dozens of settlers and far-right Israelis looted yesterday the humanitarian aid trucks making their way to the Strip through the Tarqumiya crossing near Hebron. The humanitarian aid was blocked at two points in the area south and west of Hebron Hill - near the Tarqumiya checkpoint and near the Negohot settlement. After being blocked and looted, two trucks were set on fire near the Tarqumiya checkpoint.
B'Tselem stated that the looting continued for hours, "in front of soldiers and police officers, as well as security personnel at the crossing, who did not lift a finger to stop the desecration of food. This conduct by the Israeli authorities grossly violates the interim orders of the International Court of Justice, which demanded that Israel allow the supply of humanitarian aid to Gaza."
#Palestine / Israelis beat a Palestinian truck driver because they thought he was transporting aid to the Gaza Strip.
Israeli civilians stopped two trucks in the area of the Givaat Assaf settlement in the occupied West Bank and unloaded their contents, because they thought they were carrying aid to the Gaza Strip. These were regular Palestinian trade trucks, and after the settlers unloaded the goods from them - they set tires on fire and threw a stone that hit one of the drivers in the head. #IDF and Border Police forces are present at the scene.
#Palestine / Right-wing Israeli ministers call to reoccupy Gaza and push for the transfer of Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip
Thousands of Israelis joined a march on the so called Israeli “Independence Day”, calling for resettling the Gaza Strip and facilitating the transfer of Palestinians from Gaza. Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir spoke at the march advocating resettling Gaza with Israeli forces and settlers.
Ben-Gvir said the "true solution" is for Israel to "return to Gaza now" and to "encourage what he calls “voluntary emigration" of Gazans, concluding "It is moral!" An MK from the Religious Zionism party blamed the 2005 Israeli withdrawal from Gaza for recent violence, stating "The responsibility for the October 7 massacre lies with those who expelled the Jews from Gush Katif."
#US / Union Theological Seminary trustees endorse divestment from ‘companies profiting from the war in Palestine’
[...] “Our investment policies will continue to adapt, guided by our values, to strengthen the resolve that undergirds our decision today, [...] We do not take this step lightly, and we do so with all humility, recognizing that our work on the global stage is far from finished. Although our investments in the war in Palestine are small because our previous, strong anti-armament screens are robust, we hope that our action today will bring needed pressure to bear to stop the killing and find a peaceful future for all.”
#US / Union Theological Seminary trustees endorse divestment from ‘companies profiting from the war in Palestine’
[...] “Our investment policies will continue to adapt, guided by our values, to strengthen the resolve that undergirds our decision today, [...] We do not take this step lightly, and we do so with all humility, recognizing that our work on the global stage is far from finished. Although our investments in the war in Palestine are small because our previous, strong anti-armament screens are robust, we hope that our action today will bring needed pressure to bear to stop the killing and find a peaceful future for all.”
#US / Ben & Jerry's board says anti-War campus protests are essential to democracy
[…] The company sees the current pro-Palestinian campus protests as part of a "rich history of free speech and non-violent protest" that is essential to a strong democracy.
#Gaza / UN says Gaza death toll still over 35,000 but not all bodies identified
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) last week changed the breakdown of fatalities it publishes from Gaza, based on official sources in the Strip, so that the number of women and children killed was cut in half. The UN explained this evening (Monday) that the change stems from the fact that in recent reports it relied on a breakdown from Hamas' Ministry of Information, but at the end of April it received an updated breakdown from the Gaza Ministry of Health. However, the UN emphasized that the overall death toll of around 35,000 remains the same (not including missing persons).
Israeli media is celebrating this updated report while omitting the important parts:
[1] OCHA is doing its job and updating its statistics when more data becomes available,
and most importantly,
[2] OCHA numbers now only include IDENTIFIED bodies it receives from the Gaza Ministry of Health,
[3] the overall death toll of people killed by IDF has not changed and it is still and astonishingly 35,000 … a testament to the barbaric nature of the indiscriminate revenge attack on Gaza by Israel.
[…] Haq said those figures were for identified bodies - 7,797 children, 4,959 women, 1,924 elderly, and 10,006 men - adding: "The Ministry of Health says that the documentation process of fully identifying details of the casualties is ongoing."
That's right @plink. #Hamas is still functioning and killing JudeoNazis. The #Zionists Entity is desperate. Like a pouting spoiled child with a broken toy ... if it can't have #Gaza it will destroy it. They demolished #Rafah's civilian airport today. #WarCrimes like that mean nothing to these #Nazis. They need to be destroyed, and they will be. @palestine@israel
[...] The conference, organised by the International Islamic Charitable Organization (IICO) and the UN's humanitarian coordination agency OCHA, said the funds would be dispersed over two years, with the possibility of extension, in efforts to support life-saving humanitarian interventions in the Palestinian territory.
#US / Journalists face retaliation for their Gaza war coverage, NWU reports
[...] According to data collected by the #NWU, more than a third of the targets of retaliation were Muslims or people of Middle Eastern or North African descent. As the report highlights, retaliation can come from leaders inside the workplace or from outside individuals or interest groups – A worrying pattern that not only threatens honesty in reporting but also shows problems in how the media industry supports diverse voices.
#Palestine / Impunity persists two years after the Israeli army’s murder of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh
[...] Two years after the murder of Shireen Abu Akleh in the West Bank, and a year after Israel's official apology acknowledging its responsibility, justice has yet to be delivered for the emblematic Al Jazeera journalist. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns this impunity and calls on the international community, especially the United States, to exert pressure on the Israeli army to answer for Abu Akleh’s killing.
With a greenlight from Biden to continue the its invasion into #Rafah, despite evidence of war crimes https://kolektiva.social/@oatmeal/112421478297802310, #IDF is now calling residents of eastern #Rafah to evacuate to the “humanitarian zone” in the coastal al-Mawasi region in southern #Gaza. Similarly IDF called residents of Jabaliya and Beit Lahiya, two neighborhoods in northern Gaza, to evacuate to western Gaza City.
[cont’d] Egypt Increased Patrols Along Gaza Strip Border
The Saudi TV channel #AlHadath reported that #Egypt's border guards have increased patrols along the border with the Gaza Strip. According to the report, "Egypt, Qatar and other Arab countries refused an Israeli proposal to participate in managing the Strip after the war." It was also stated that "The mediators informed Washington of their opposition to Israel continuing to manage the Strip."
[cont’d] EU Chief Charles Michel Condemns Israel's Rafah Evacuation Orders
———
Evacuation orders for civilians trapped in Rafah to unsafe zones are unacceptable.
We call on the Israeli government to respect international humanitarian law and urge not to undertake a ground operation in #Rafah.
Crossing points must be fully functioning and allow essential humanitarian assistance to get through amidst raging famine. #Gaza
All efforts must continue to secure an agreement for a lasting ceasefire. The EU is committed to a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution.
The establishment of a viable State of Palestine is key in this respect, side by side in peace and security with Israel as reflected in @UN resolution.
[cont’d] U.S. offers Israel intelligence, supplies in effort to avoid Rafah invasion
[…] Administration officials, including experts from the U.S. Agency for International Development, have told Israel it will take several months to safely relocate hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who are now living in decrepit and unsanitary conditions in Rafah. Israeli officials disagree with that assessment.
[…] Biden said Israel has not crossed his “red line” because its forces have not begun invading or bombing densely populated areas of Rafah.
[cont’d] Egypt says to join South Africa ICJ case against Israel
The ministry said in a statement that this announcement comes in light of the “worsening severity and scope of Israeli attacks against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.”
[cont’d] Israeli operations in #Rafah have closed a main crossing point for aid; 360,000 fled
[…] #UNRWA, the main U.N. aid agency in Gaza, estimated that about 360,000 people had fled the southern city since the Israeli military gave its first evacuation order a week ago […] They are moving to empty tracts of land, including Al-Mawasi, a small strip along the coast, designated as an expanded humanitarian area by Israel.
[…] But Shaina Low of the Norwegian Refugee Council aid agency said it was not set up to receive uprooted families. There was "no space to install latrines or water points. There are huge piles of solid waste. My colleague spoke about seeing donkey carcasses on top of trash, so there are all sorts of health concerns," Low said.
[cont’d] #ICJ to hold hearings over Israel's Rafah attacks
[…] South Africa will address the court on Thursday after it asked the ICJ, also known as the World Court, last week to order Israel to cease its Rafah offensive and allow unimpeded access to Gaza for U.N. officials, organisations providing humanitarian aid, and journalists and investigators.
[cont’d] EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell's office: Israel’s continued military operation in Rafah will strain its relationship with the EU
[…] “The European Union is calling on Israel to refrain from further exacerbating the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and reopen the crossing point of Rafah. Should Israel continue its military operation in Rafah, it would inevitably put a heavy strain on the EU’s relationship with Israel,” the bloc warned.
[cont’d] reminder: the #ICJ will convene at 3 PM for an urgent discussion scheduled to last two hours at the request of South Africa to issue new orders relating to the war in Gaza and its cessation, as well as the entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip, following the IDF activities in #Rafah.
South Africa will present its arguments, and tomorrow the Israeli delegation will do so between 10 AM and 12:00 PM.
Israeli media is estimating that there is a possibility that the Court will respond to South Africa's request and issue a #ceasefire order. However, the prevailing view is that Israel will not obey such an order.
[…] The hearings on May 16 and 17 will only focus on issuing emergency measures, to keep the dispute from escalating. It will likely take years before the court can rule on the merits of the case.