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Category: War

Israel PM’s wife Sara Netanyahu accuses Gaza hostage families of ‘helping Hamas’

Israel PM’s wife Sara Netanyahu accuses Gaza hostage families of ‘helping Hamas’

The New Arab reports: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife Sara criticised relatives of hostages in Gaza for “helping Hamas” while accompanying her husband during a meeting with the families on Tuesday, Israeli media reported. Sara Netanyahu told the families of hostages that their public statements critical of her husband’s handling of the war and securing the return of their loved ones was helping Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, according to Israel’s Channel 12. This reportedly provoked angry responses from the…

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Israeli officials’ calls for ‘voluntary’ migration of Palestinians alarm human rights experts

Israeli officials’ calls for ‘voluntary’ migration of Palestinians alarm human rights experts

HuffPost reports: As the reported death toll of the Israeli invasion of Gaza tops 22,000, senior Israeli politicians have grown more explicit in their goal for the Palestinian enclave: the movement of a large number of Gazans out of Gaza entirely. The rhetoric has garnered charges of ethnic cleansing and forced displacement, and a rare rebuke from U.S. officials. But there are no signs of the calls losing steam within Israel. “What needs to be done in the Gaza Strip…

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Ethnic cleansing: Israel in talks with Congo and other countries on Gaza ‘voluntary’ migration plan

Ethnic cleansing: Israel in talks with Congo and other countries on Gaza ‘voluntary’ migration plan

The Times of Israel reports: The “voluntary” resettlement of Palestinians from Gaza is slowly becoming a key official policy of the government, with a senior official saying that Israel has held talks with several countries for their potential absorption. Zman Israel, The Times of Israel’s Hebrew sister site, has learned that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition is conducting secret contacts for accepting thousands of immigrants from Gaza with Congo, in addition to other nations. “Congo will be willing to take…

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Gaza is starving

Gaza is starving

Isaac Chotiner writes: Last month, a United Nations report on hunger described a catastrophic situation in Gaza, where more than ninety per cent of the population has been facing “acute food insecurity,” and where “virtually all households are skipping meals every day.” Much of Gaza is at risk of famine in the next several months. Parents have been going without food to insure that their kids have at least something to eat; where food is available, moreover, prices have skyrocketed,…

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Israeli public figures accuse judiciary of ignoring incitement to genocide in Gaza

Israeli public figures accuse judiciary of ignoring incitement to genocide in Gaza

The Guardian reports: A group of prominent Israelis has accused the country’s judicial authorities of ignoring “extensive and blatant” incitement to genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza by influential public figures. In a letter to the attorney general and state prosecutors, they demand action to stop the normalisation of language that breaks both Israeli and international law. “For the first time that we can remember, the explicit calls to commit atrocious crimes, as stated, against millions of civilians have turned…

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Whoever is behind Kerman bombing risks igniting regional war

Whoever is behind Kerman bombing risks igniting regional war

Julian Borger writes: It is still unclear who is responsible for the double bombing of a crowd in the south-eastern Iranian city of Kerman but whoever is behind the outrage is clearly willing to risk igniting a regional war. In Washington, officials have been pointing towards the possible role of Islamic State or some affiliated Sunni extremist group, and away from the partnership of Israel and the secular Iranian rebel group, the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MeK), who have reportedly been behind previous…

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Bernie Sanders calls on Congress to block funding for Israel’s ‘immoral’ war

Bernie Sanders calls on Congress to block funding for Israel’s ‘immoral’ war

The Guardian reports: Bernie Sanders, the progressive senator of Vermont, issued a statement Tuesday calling on Congress to block additional funding to Israel amid the war in Gaza, where more than 22,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks after Hamas killed 1,200 people in Israel on 7 October. “While we recognize that Hamas’ barbaric terrorist attack began this war, we must also recognize that Israel’s military response has been grossly disproportionate, immoral and in violation of international law,” Sanders…

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Israel assassinates Hamas leader who has been ‘indispensable’ in hostage release negotiations

Israel assassinates Hamas leader who has been ‘indispensable’ in hostage release negotiations

Jason Burke writes: The killing of Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut is the first strike in a campaign of assassinations overseas promised by Israeli officials for several months. The target was carefully chosen – one of the most senior Hamas leaders and the organisation’s main link to Iran and the Lebanon-based militia Hezbollah. Arouri was also influential in the occupied West Bank, where he was born and where violence has soared in recent months. Some Israeli officials also believe that the…

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International Court of Justice could charge Israel with genocide in Gaza, state officials fear

International Court of Justice could charge Israel with genocide in Gaza, state officials fear

  Haaretz reports: The security establishment and the State Attorney’s Office are concerned that the International Court of Justice at the Hague will charge Israel with genocide in the Gaza Strip – this at the request of South Africa, which petitioned the court over the weekend. Haaretz has learned that a senior legal expert dealing with the matter has in recent days warned IDF brass, including Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi, that there is real danger that the court will…

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Israel plans to continue war on Gaza for the ‘entire coming year’

Israel plans to continue war on Gaza for the ‘entire coming year’

The Times of Israel reports: IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says the military is making adjustments to its deployment in the Gaza Strip, as it anticipates a long war against the Hamas terror group, stretching throughout the entire coming year. “We are adjusting the fighting methods to each area in Gaza, as well as the necessary forces to carry out the mission in the best way possible. Each area has different characteristics and different operational needs,” he says. “Tonight,…

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South Africa files genocide case against Israel at International Court of Justice over Gaza war

South Africa files genocide case against Israel at International Court of Justice over Gaza war

The Guardian reports: South Africa has launched a case against Israel at the UN’s international court of justice (ICJ) accusing the state of committing genocide in its military campaign in Gaza. Israel responded to the allegations “with disgust”, calling South Africa’s case a “blood libel” and urging the ICJ to reject it. Any case at the ICJ is likely to take years to resolve, but South Africa has called for the court to convene in the next few days to…

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Netanyahu says Israel must control Egypt-Gaza border zone

Netanyahu says Israel must control Egypt-Gaza border zone

Middle East Eye reports: Israel’s prime minister has said a narrow strip of land between Egypt and Gaza must be retaken by Israel. “The Philadelphi Corridor – or to put it more correctly, the southern stoppage point [of Gaza] – must be in our hands,” Benjamin Netanyahu said in a press conference on Saturday. “It must be shut. It is clear that any other arrangement would not ensure the demilitarisation that we seek,” he added. The Philadelphi Corridor is a…

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The greatest challenge for journalists in Gaza is staying alive

The greatest challenge for journalists in Gaza is staying alive

Afnan Abu Yahia and Lila Hassan write: Samer Abu Daqqa loved being a journalist. A cameraman for over 20 years with Al Jazeera, Abu Daqqa, 45, had covered at least seven wars. Israel’s war on Gaza, however, would turn out to be his last. While covering an air strike at a United Nations–run school on December 15, Israeli forces shot Abu Daqqa. Intense shelling prevented an ambulance from reaching him—three paramedics were killed trying to get to the area—and he…

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For the safety of Jews and Palestinians, stop weaponizing antisemitism

For the safety of Jews and Palestinians, stop weaponizing antisemitism

Bernie Steinberg writes: For eighteen years I had the great privilege of working as Executive Director of Harvard Hillel. As a leader of Jewish communities on campus, in New England, and around the nation, I have helped cultivate a new generation of Jewish leaders and citizens. I navigated moments of tension and war: the tumultuous 1990s, as the Oslo Accords began to crumble; the Second Intifada; 9/11 and its fallout; the Iraq War; Israel’s Second Lebanon War and its war…

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War without end suits Netanyahu

War without end suits Netanyahu

Simon Tisdall writes: Warnings about a region-wide escalation engulfing the entire Middle East have been circulating since the first fraught days after the 7 October Hamas terrorist atrocities. The most dangerous flashpoint is generally believed to be Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, where lethal clashes between the powerful Shia militia Hezbollah and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have greatly intensified in recent days. Sporadic Israeli airstrikes inside Syria, repeated limited attacks by Islamist militants on US bases in Iraq and…

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Biden continues supporting Israel’s ‘Genghis Khan model of warfare’

Biden continues supporting Israel’s ‘Genghis Khan model of warfare’

The Associated Press reports: For the second time this month the Biden administration is bypassing Congress to approve an emergency weapons sale to Israel as Israel continues to prosecute its war against Hamas in Gaza under increasing international criticism. The State Department said Friday that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had told Congress that he had made a second emergency determination covering a $147.5 million sale for equipment, including fuses, charges and primers, that is needed to make the 155…

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