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Category: War

MSF dismisses Israeli claim of ‘regrettable incident’ in strike against aid workers in Gaza

MSF dismisses Israeli claim of ‘regrettable incident’ in strike against aid workers in Gaza

Reuters reports: The Doctors Without Borders medical charity (MSF) said on Thursday it rejected Israel’s position that an airstrike which killed seven aid workers was a “regrettable incident”, saying many humanitarian personnel have been attacked previously. Seven workers from World Central Kitchen, which provides food relief in crisis and conflict zones, were killed when their convoy was hit on Monday night shortly after they oversaw the unloading of 100 tons of food brought to the Palestinian enclave by sea. “We…

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Former supreme court judges say UK arming Israel breaches international law

Former supreme court judges say UK arming Israel breaches international law

The Guardian reports: A fourth former supreme court justice has put his name to a letter warning Rishi Sunak that the UK is breaching international law by continuing to arm Israel, as the number of legal experts signing the letter rose to more than 750. Lord Carnwath joins Lady Hale, who was president of the UK’s highest court, and lords Sumption and Wilson, in urging ministers to act to prevent the “plausible risk” of genocide in Gaza. Another new signatory…

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In Gaza, Israel unleashed a rogue army in which ‘every commander makes his own rules’

In Gaza, Israel unleashed a rogue army in which ‘every commander makes his own rules’

The Times of Israel reports: [O]n Tuesday evening, the Haaretz daily spoke to unnamed military sources who revealed that the cause of the strike [killing seven World Central Kitchen staffers] was undisciplined, rogue commanders, not a lack of coordination between the IDF and the WCK. A source in the intelligence branch told Haaretz that the IDF’s Southern Command “knows exactly what the cause of the attack was: in Gaza, everyone does as they please.” Army regulations require final approvals from…

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José Andrés: Let people eat

José Andrés: Let people eat

José Andrés, the founder of World Central Kitchen, writes: In the worst conditions you can imagine — after hurricanes, earthquakes, bombs and gunfire — the best of humanity shows up. Not once or twice but always. The seven people killed on a World Central Kitchen mission in Gaza on Monday were the best of humanity. They are not faceless or nameless. They are not generic aid workers or collateral damage in war. Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, John Chapman, Jacob Flickinger,…

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‘The machine did it coldly’: Israel used AI to identify 37,000 Hamas targets

‘The machine did it coldly’: Israel used AI to identify 37,000 Hamas targets

The Guardian reports: The Israeli military’s bombing campaign in Gaza used a previously undisclosed AI-powered database that at one stage identified 37,000 potential targets based on their apparent links to Hamas, according to intelligence sources involved in the war. In addition to talking about their use of the AI system, called Lavender, the intelligence sources claim that Israeli military officials permitted large numbers of Palestinian civilians to be killed, particularly during the early weeks and months of the conflict. Their…

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‘Not a normal war’: Doctors say children have been targeted by Israeli snipers in Gaza

‘Not a normal war’: Doctors say children have been targeted by Israeli snipers in Gaza

The Guardian reports: Dr Fozia Alvi was making her rounds of the intensive care unit on her final day at the battered European public hospital in southern Gaza when she stopped next to two young arrivals with facial injuries and breathing tubes in their windpipes. “I asked the nurse, what’s the history? She said that they were brought in a couple of hours ago. They had sniper shots to the brain. They were seven or eight years old,” she said….

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Palestinian American doctor explains why he walked out of Biden meeting

Palestinian American doctor explains why he walked out of Biden meeting

  President Biden held a meeting at the White House with Arab and Muslim leaders and activists Tuesday amid ongoing criticism for his stance on the Israel-Hamas war. Dr. Thaer Ahmad, a Palestinian American emergency physician from Chicago who traveled to Gaza earlier this year, said he walked out of the event after delivering a note to Mr. Biden from an 8-year-old. “Face the Nation” moderator and CBS News chief foreign correspondent Margaret Brennan spoke with Dr. Ahmad about his…

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Israel’s habit of targeting and killing humanitarian workers

Israel’s habit of targeting and killing humanitarian workers

  The Times of Israel reports: Speaking to Channel 12, a senior Israeli official echoed the fears that the incident could be a turning point in the war. Channel 12 reported that Israeli officials fear the WCK deaths and disruptions to aid deliveries will exacerbate famine concerns. Other aid agencies may also stop their operations, which would leave Israel forced to choose between taking over food distribution — effectively making it a military governor of Gaza — or ending the…

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Israel is now ‘a step away from international ostracism,’ says former president following attack on WCK

Israel is now ‘a step away from international ostracism,’ says former president following attack on WCK

The Daily Beast reports: On Tuesday, former Israeli president Reuven Rivlin told IDF Radio that Israel is now “a step away from international ostracism,” according to Haaretz. “We are losing the tremendous morality that all Israeli governments for generations have enjoyed, by the conduct and behavior of the IDF and by the behavior of the State of Israel in everything related to the wars we have waged for 76 years,” Rivlin said. According to the World Central Kitchen, its staff…

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Sen. Bernie Sanders to Netanyahu: ‘stop murdering innocent people’

Sen. Bernie Sanders to Netanyahu: ‘stop murdering innocent people’

  The Times of Israel reports: A virtual meeting on Monday between US and Israeli officials to discuss a potential IDF ground operation in Rafah was reportedly marked by tensions and accusations as Washington expressed deep skepticism over Israeli plans to operate in the southernmost Gaza city. The two-hour video call between US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the American side and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Adviser Tzachi…

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The empty promise of a two-state solution has become an instrument for sustaining Palestinian subjugation

The empty promise of a two-state solution has become an instrument for sustaining Palestinian subjugation

Tareq Baconi writes: After 176 days, Israel’s assault on Gaza has not stopped and has expanded into what Human Rights Watch has declared to be a policy of starvation as a weapon of war. More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed, and the international community has reverted to a deeply familiar call for a two-state solution, under which Palestinians and Israelis can coexist in peace and security. President Biden even declared “the only real solution is a two-state solution” in…

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Syria says an Israeli air strike has destroyed Iran’s consulate building in Damascus

Syria says an Israeli air strike has destroyed Iran’s consulate building in Damascus

  Yahoo News reports: Israel is seeking to weaken the “line of control” from Tehran to its so-called proxy militias abroad by killing senior Iranian military figures, says an ex-MI6 chief. Sir John Sawers, the former head of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, made the remark after suspected Israeli warplanes bombed Iran’s consulate in Damascus, Syria, on Monday in a strike that Iran said killed seven of its military advisers, including three senior commanders. The attack marked a major escalation in…

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Why is Israel targeting Al Jazeera?

Why is Israel targeting Al Jazeera?

  The Committee to Protect Journalists urgently calls on the Israeli government not to close the Jerusalem-based bureau of Qatari broadcaster Al-Jazeera and allow the media to report freely on news events in Israel and Gaza during the current conflict. On Monday, Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed a law allowing the government to halt the broadcasting of Al-Jazeera in Israel. The law grants the communications minister the power, with approval from the prime minister and the security cabinet, to order…

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World Central Kitchen staffers from Britain, Australia, Poland and Ireland murdered by Israelis

World Central Kitchen staffers from Britain, Australia, Poland and Ireland murdered by Israelis

Chef José Andrés‘s World Central Kitchen: WCK teams mobilize across Gaza daily to distribute food to displaced Palestinians. Our 60+ kitchens in southern and central Gaza are cooking hundreds of thousands of meals each day like this mujadara, a comforting dish of rice, lentils, and caramelized onions. #ChefsForThePeople pic.twitter.com/zHF3oVlKCJ — World Central Kitchen (@WCKitchen) April 1, 2024 Heroic @WCKitchen staffers from Britain, Australia, Poland and Ireland who were targeted and killed by Israel while on @chefjoseandres’s mission to deliver food…

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Israeli government is misleading the public, says relative of hostage

Israeli government is misleading the public, says relative of hostage

The Observer reports: In further apparent defiance of Washington’s views, the Israeli military are carving out a buffer zone around Gaza’s borders which would take up 16% of the whole coastal strip, according to Haaretz. Israeli public opinion has to date shown itself largely impervious to US and other international pressure, and support for the Gaza war currently hovers at around 80%. Even more concerning for Washington’s hopes of containing the conflict, there is also more than 70% Israeli public…

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UK must restore UNRWA funding ‘without delay’, MPs and peers say

UK must restore UNRWA funding ‘without delay’, MPs and peers say

The Guardian reports: David Cameron has come under pressure to restore funding to the UN’s humanitarian relief agency in Palestine from a cross-party group of more than 50 MPs and peers. The UK was among a group of countries that halted funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa) amid allegations from Israel that some staff members were involved in the 7 October attacks carried out by Hamas. In a letter to the foreign secretary, the MPs and peers…

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