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Category: War

U.S. scrambling to prevent Israel-Hezbollah war amid Gaza ceasefire push

U.S. scrambling to prevent Israel-Hezbollah war amid Gaza ceasefire push

Barak Ravid reports: The Biden administration has grown extremely concerned that escalating violence between Israel and Hezbollah in recent days will deteriorate into an all-out war — and is scrambling to prevent it, according to U.S. officials. Why it matters: Amid the highly sensitive push to reach a ceasefire deal in Gaza, a full-blown war with the Lebanese militant group would dramatically exacerbate the regional crisis and draw the U.S. deeper into the conflict. Behind the scenes: The Biden administration has cautioned Israel in recent weeks against the…

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The suppression of dissent inside Israel: A Palestinian professor arrested for opposing genocide

The suppression of dissent inside Israel: A Palestinian professor arrested for opposing genocide

The New York Times reports: Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, a Palestinian professor at a prominent Israeli university, first waded into the debate over the Gaza war by joining academics worldwide in signing a letter that called for a cease-fire. It branded Israel’s assault on the territory a “genocide” and the leaders of her university responded by urging her to resign. That was soon after the war began on Oct. 7. Months later, the professor drew even more scrutiny for saying it was…

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Jewish U.S. army intel officer quits over Gaza. He says ‘impossible’ not to see echoes of Holocaust

Jewish U.S. army intel officer quits over Gaza. He says ‘impossible’ not to see echoes of Holocaust

  We speak with U.S. Army Major Harrison Mann, the first military and intelligence officer to publicly resign over the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza. Mann left his role at the Defense Intelligence Agency after a 13-year career, saying in a public letter explaining his resignation that “nearly unqualified support for the government of Israel … has enabled and empowered the killing and starvation of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians.” Mann submitted his resignation on November…

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Israel’s war on Gaza takes record toll on journalists

Israel’s war on Gaza takes record toll on journalists

Committee to Protect Journalists: The Israel-Gaza war has taken an unprecedented toll on Gazan journalists since Israel declared war on Hamas following its attack against Israel on October 7, 2023. As of June 11, 2024, CPJ’s preliminary investigations showed at least 108 journalists and media workers were among the more than 38,000 killed since the war began, making it the deadliest period for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992. Journalists in Gaza face particularly high risks as they try to cover the conflict during the Israeli ground assault, including…

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‘Worse than Guantanamo’: The prison holding suspected ISIS fighters

‘Worse than Guantanamo’: The prison holding suspected ISIS fighters

  More than 50,000 ISIS suspects and their families are being held in a constellation of some 27 detention facilities across Syria, by the US backed Syrian Democratic Forces. Officials warn the prisons and camps present a major security threat that needs to be dealt with. Human rights groups describe them as legal black holes and a stain on the world’s conscience. CNN’s Clarissa Ward travelled to Syria and gained unprecedented access to some of the detention centers.

U.S. presses Hamas to accept deal that Netanyahu calls a ‘total lie’ as Hamas welcomes UNSC resolution

U.S. presses Hamas to accept deal that Netanyahu calls a ‘total lie’ as Hamas welcomes UNSC resolution

Reuters reports: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday urged Arab leaders to pressure Hamas to accept a ceasefire proposal outlined ten days ago by U.S. President Joe Biden to end the eight month-long war in Gaza. Blinken is on his eighth visit to the region since Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, triggering the bloodiest episode in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The trip comes as Washington seeks to increase pressure on Hamas to agree to a ceasefire…

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Ben Gvir says Gantz’s departure an opportunity to ‘stop the humanitarian policy’ in Gaza

Ben Gvir says Gantz’s departure an opportunity to ‘stop the humanitarian policy’ in Gaza

The Times of Israel reports: National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir calls last night’s departure from the coalition by National Unity chief Benny Gantz “a very big opportunity,” arguing that in recent months the former war cabinet minister’s centrist party had “put a spoke in the wheels of the war machine.” Gantz, alongside Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was one of three voting members of the decision-making war cabinet. Speaking to reporters ahead of his far-right…

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Outrage over ‘massacre’ in Gaza as Israel rescued four hostages

Outrage over ‘massacre’ in Gaza as Israel rescued four hostages

The Guardian reports: Israeli attacks in central Gaza killed scores of Palestinians, many of them civilians, amid a special forces operation to free four hostages held there, a death toll that has caused international outrage. At least 274 Palestinians were killed and 698 wounded in Israeli strikes on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, Gaza’s health ministry said on Sunday. The Israeli military said its forces had come under heavy fire during the daytime operation. The EU’s top diplomat,…

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Evidence of Israel’s war crime of perfidy during operation to rescue hostages

Evidence of Israel’s war crime of perfidy during operation to rescue hostages

Geneva Convention, Article 37 — Prohibition of perfidy 1. (c) The feigning of civilian, non-combatant status This evidence of Israel's war crime of perfidy comes not from Palestinians but a right-wing Israeli newspaper: "the special force entered Nuseirat with a truck carrying 'furniture' for displaced persons….driven by a female soldier in civilian clothes." https://t.co/3Nzv1uxMT8 — Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) June 9, 2024 Israel Hayom reports: In Gaza, it is reported that the special force entered Nuseirat with a truck carrying “furniture”…

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With Gantz resignation, Netanyahu loses centrist partner at pivotal moment in the war. Will anything change?

With Gantz resignation, Netanyahu loses centrist partner at pivotal moment in the war. Will anything change?

Jacob Kornbluh writes: [Senior war cabinet minister Benny] Gantz’s departure will heighten U.S. and international pressure on Netanyahu. “The government is losing the protective shield that Gantz provided,” said Dan Arbell, a scholar-in-residence at the Center for Israel Studies at American University. “It will put it in a position of being greatly scrutinized for missteps and miscalculations and increase the possibility of international actions.” But it could also boost Netanyahu’s standing among his right-wing base. The government still maintains a…

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Nesrine Malik on ‘the forgotten genocide’

Nesrine Malik on ‘the forgotten genocide’

  On April 15, Nesrine Malik wrote: One year ago today, Sudan descended into war. The toll so far is catastrophic. Thousands are dead, and millions are displaced, with hunger and disease ravaging all in the absence of aid. The UN has called the situation “one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent history”, afflicting about 25 million people. The Sudanese people are suffering what has become the largest displacement crisis in the world. The war was both sudden and…

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Israel rescues hostages from Gaza, leaving trail of death and destruction

Israel rescues hostages from Gaza, leaving trail of death and destruction

The Washington Post reports: Israel’s military staged a blistering operation to rescue four hostages from the central Gaza Strip on Saturday, leaving hundreds of Palestinians dead or wounded in its wake and marking a much-needed political victory for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is under both domestic and international pressure to wind down the nine-month-long war. The Israel Defense Forces said it retrieved Almog Meir Jan, 21; Andrey Kozlov, 27; Shlomi Ziv, 40; and Noa Argamani, who turned 26 in…

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Haaretz: ‘The countdown has begun’ for the collapse of Israel

Haaretz: ‘The countdown has begun’ for the collapse of Israel

Al Mayadeen English summarizes an editorial from Haaretz published on June 7: Recent internal events suggest that Zionism is on a path to demise, and unless leaders take swift action, the existential countdown has already started, Haaretz warned in its Friday op-ed. The newspaper mentioned the “Flag March” in occupied al-Quds, which took place earlier this week and saw Israeli settlers storming the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque and violating its sanctity, attacking Palestinians and journalists, in addition to other Israelis, describing…

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Netanyahu will block any attempts at peace

Netanyahu will block any attempts at peace

Alon Pinkas writes: If you think reports of Netanyahu rejecting an Israeli proposal are bizarre, think again. After all, this isn’t so much George Orwell’s 1984 but Benjamin Netanyahu’s 2024. The moment the Israeli leader stipulated that Israel would “reserve the right to return to war”, it was clear that the “Israeli proposal” presented by the US president, Joe Biden, last Friday, to end hostilities with a three-part hostage release and ceasefire deal, was dead in the water. Netanyahu wasn’t…

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‘We have normalised horror’ says UNRWA official, after Israeli strike on school

‘We have normalised horror’ says UNRWA official, after Israeli strike on school

The Guardian reports: Mass casualty incidents caused by the Israeli military offensive in southern Gaza are becoming normalised in the west and leading to a sense of fatalism inside Gaza itself, according to Sam Rose, the director of planning for the Palestinian relief agency Unrwa. He was speaking after an Unrwa school at Nuseirat was bombed by Israeli forces leaving at least 33 dead, including 12 women and children. “When everyone is living in cramped, overcrowded conditions, we always said…

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