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Category: War

Israelis see starvation as a tool for applying pressure on Palestinians

Israelis see starvation as a tool for applying pressure on Palestinians

The Times of Israel reports: War cabinet member Benny Gantz and observer Gadi Eisenkot have suggested temporarily limiting the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip so its distribution will no longer be controlled by Hamas, Israeli television reported Wednesday. According to Channel 12 news, the two National Unity party ministers believe that limiting the entry of aid for a short amount of time could create pressure for an alternative body to take responsibility for distributing aid among the…

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South Africa says all states must stop funding Israel’s military

South Africa says all states must stop funding Israel’s military

Reuters reports: All states have an obligation to stop funding and facilitating Israel’s military actions in Gaza after the World Court made clear those actions could be genocidal, South Africa’s foreign minister said on Wednesday. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) last week ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent its troops from committing genocide and take steps to improve the humanitarian situation of Palestinians in Gaza, in a case brought by South Africa. It stopped…

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EU agrees €50bn package for Ukraine as Viktor Orbán bows to pressure

EU agrees €50bn package for Ukraine as Viktor Orbán bows to pressure

The Guardian reports: A robust and united position among EU member states convinced Viktor Orbán to end his “blackmail” and support a €50bn (£43bn) funding package for Ukraine, European prime ministers have said. The Hungarian prime minister, who had been vowing to block the funds since December, performed one of the fastest U-turns seen at a leaders’ summit after six weeks of brinkmanship. There was relief that the deal was finally done but also a sense of fury among leaders…

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Unless Israel changes course, it could be legally culpable for mass starvation

Unless Israel changes course, it could be legally culpable for mass starvation

Alex de Waal writes: Gaza is experiencing mass starvation like no other in recent history. Before the outbreak of fighting in October, food security in Gaza was precarious, but very few children – less than 1% – suffered severe acute malnutrition, the most dangerous kind. Today, almost all Gazans, of any age, anywhere in the territory, are at risk. There is no instance since the second world war in which an entire population has been reduced to extreme hunger and…

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We oppose axing UNRWA mid-war, senior Israeli official says amid global funding halt

We oppose axing UNRWA mid-war, senior Israeli official says amid global funding halt

The Times of Israel reports: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government does not support the immediate discontinuation of UNRWA, a senior Israeli official said on Tuesday as a host of Western countries moved to suspend funding for the UN relief agency for Palestinians amid allegations that roughly a dozen of its employees took part in Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught and hundreds more are either operatives or have close ties with members. “If UNRWA ceases operating on the ground, this could…

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Cameron claims UK will consider recognising Palestinian state but not everyone is buying it

Cameron claims UK will consider recognising Palestinian state but not everyone is buying it

Middle East Eye reports: British Foreign Secretary David Cameron’s suggestion that the UK is considering recognising a state of Palestine has been dismissed as “PR” and a “masterclass in mental gymnastics” by legal experts and Palestinian advocates. Speaking to the Conservative Middle East Council in the House of Commons on Monday night, Cameron said that the Palestinian people would have to be shown “irreversible progress” towards a two-state solution. “We should be starting to set out what a Palestinian state…

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The ICJ ruling’s hidden diplomacy

The ICJ ruling’s hidden diplomacy

David Kaye writes: The court’s order is, despite its apparent moderation, damning. It has allowed litigation to move forward on South Africa’s claim that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, placing a virtual sword of Damocles over not only Israel in its future conduct in Gaza, but also those, such as the United States, that have given it such strong support. It has found plausible South Africa’s assertion that Palestinian rights must be protected against genocidal acts. Even Israel’s appointee…

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Biden’s efforts to buy votes don’t impress young Black voters who stand in solidarity with the oppressed

Biden’s efforts to buy votes don’t impress young Black voters who stand in solidarity with the oppressed

NBC News reports: If only young voters knew more about what Biden has done to erase billions in student loan debt, for example, they’d feel differently, the president’s allies contend. In an interview before the church service [in Sumter, SC], Clyburn summoned one of his security aides, a Black man in his 40s, who described his delight in getting a letter telling him that his and his wife’s student loan debt totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars had been wiped…

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Hamas regroups in northern Gaza to prepare new offensive

Hamas regroups in northern Gaza to prepare new offensive

The Guardian reports: Hamas militants have returned to northern Gaza, where they are mobilising against Israeli forces and rebuilding a system of governance, aid officials, Gaza residents, analysts and Israeli officials say. Elsewhere in Gaza, Hamas administrators and police maintain firm control of the south, where much of the population is concentrated, though civil order is breaking down in central regions. The apparent resurgence of Hamas in areas seized and cleared by Israeli troops during the nearly four-month offensive underlines…

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A pediatrician’s two weeks inside a hospital in Gaza

A pediatrician’s two weeks inside a hospital in Gaza

Isaac Chotiner interviewed Dr. Seema Jilani, a senior technical adviser at the International Rescue Committee who went to Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza to aid the humanitarian effort there in December: We worked alongside the Palestinian physicians and nurses there, and we really think it’s important to work alongside them and learn from them. We were in one of the last enduring emergency rooms in central Gaza. Within the two weeks that I was there, I saw it go from…

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Harvard students file civil rights complaint over harassment for Palestinian advocacy

Harvard students file civil rights complaint over harassment for Palestinian advocacy

Middle East Eye reports: Students at Harvard University submitted a civil rights complaint against the institution on Monday, claiming that it failed to provide adequate support or protection to students facing harassment due to their Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim identities or for advocating for Palestinian rights. The complaint was filed by the Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA) and nearly a dozen students, including Muslim students and others who have reported experiencing harassment for their pro-Palestine stance during protests on…

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Black pastors pressure Biden to call for a cease-fire in Gaza, warning him of grave risk to his re-election

Black pastors pressure Biden to call for a cease-fire in Gaza, warning him of grave risk to his re-election

The New York Times reports: As the Israel-Hamas war enters its fourth month, a coalition of Black faith leaders is pressuring the Biden administration to push for a cease-fire — a campaign spurred in part by their parishioners, who are increasingly distressed by the suffering of Palestinians and critical of the president’s response to it. More than 1,000 Black pastors representing hundreds of thousands of congregants nationwide have issued the demand. In sit-down meetings with White House officials, and through…

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U.S. funds IDF despite minister of national security along with 10% of Israeli Jews supporting terrorism

U.S. funds IDF despite minister of national security along with 10% of Israeli Jews supporting terrorism

Last year, Ruth Margalit wrote in the New Yorker about Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir: Ben-Gvir, who entered parliament in 2021, leads a far-right party called Otzma Yehudit, or Jewish Power. His role model and ideological wellspring has long been Meir Kahane, a Brooklyn rabbi who moved to Israel in 1971 and, during a single term in the Knesset, tested the moral limits of the country. Israeli politicians strive to reconcile Israel’s identities as a Jewish state and a…

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In federal court, Palestinians accuse Biden of complicity in genocide

In federal court, Palestinians accuse Biden of complicity in genocide

The Intercept reports: At the hearing [in Oakland, CA], U.S. Judge Jeffrey S. White went to some length to state the impact of Israel’s war on Palestinian civilians and the U.S. government’s support for it but indicated the case might ultimately hinge on questions of jurisdiction. “The Palestinian people are living in fear and without food, medical care, clean water, or sufficient humanitarian aid. Defendants — the president of the United States and his secretaries of state and defense —…

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Secret EU plan ‘to sabotage Hungarian economy’ revealed as anger mounts at Orbán

Secret EU plan ‘to sabotage Hungarian economy’ revealed as anger mounts at Orbán

The Guardian reports: Officials in Brussels have reportedly drawn up a secret plan to sabotage Hungary’s economy if Viktor Orbán decides this week to again block a €50bn support package for Ukraine. The plan, reported by the Financial Times, reflects the fury mounting across European capitals at what one diplomat called the “policy of blackmail” being pursued by the Hungarian prime minister, who leads the bloc’s most pro-Russia state. The FT said the strategy involved targeting Hungary’s economy, weakening its…

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Embattled UN agency warns its aid operation in Gaza is ‘collapsing’ over a wave of funding cuts

Embattled UN agency warns its aid operation in Gaza is ‘collapsing’ over a wave of funding cuts

The Associated Press reports: The head of the main U.N. aid agency in the war-battered Gaza Strip warned late Saturday that its work is collapsing after nine countries decided to cut funding over allegations that several agency employees had participated in the deadly Hamas attack against Israel four months ago. Philippe Lazzarini, head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, said he was shocked such decisions were taken as “famine looms” in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. “Palestinians in Gaza did…

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