… on a quiet day, I can hear her breathing

Tag: ceasefire

  • US Peace Advocates ‘Utterly Condemn’ Biden Decision to Send Israel 1,700 500lb Bombs

    Spread the love

    Original article by JAKE JOHNSON republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

    Palestinian rescue workers search the rubble of a house destroyed by an Israeli airstrike on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on July 6, 2024. 
    (Photo: Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

    “The Biden administration is fully culpable for the slaughter of civilians in Gaza, and should be held accountable for its role in aiding and abetting Israel’s shocking war crimes.”

    The Biden administration’s decision this week to lift a pause on the transfer of 500-pound bombs to the Israeli military drew outrage from U.S. peace advocates who warned the weapons would be used to commit additional war crimes in the Gaza Strip, which has been pulverized by nine months of relentless Israeli attacks.

    Sara Haghdoosti, executive director of Win Without War, said in a statement Thursday that “we utterly condemn” the administration’s decision to release a shipment of 1,700 500-pound bombs to Israel’s military, which has killed more than 38,000 people in Gaza since the Hamas-led October 7 attack. The shipment was paused in May as Israel prepared to launch its deadly assault on Rafah.

    “We are dismayed because these bombs will almost certainly be used to kill more innocents in Gaza, where indiscriminate bombing continues and where a starvation crisis only worsens,” said Haghdoosti. “And if they are not used there, they risk being used to terrible effect in Lebanon, where civilians would again bear the brunt of a disastrous possible war between Hezbollah and the Israeli government.”

    “We are perplexed because the White House is, yet again, using arms transfers to directly undermine its stated policy aims—both to secure a cease-fire and protect civilians in Gaza, and to avoid a full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah that would devastate the region,” Haghdoosti continued. “Releasing this transfer signals to the Israeli government that, if cease-fire talks again stall, the war in Gaza can continue and that a massive conflict with Hezbollah can begin, with no real U.S. pushback.”

    President Joe Biden “must reverse this decision, which makes no sense as politics or policy,” she added.

    Biden, who is facing mounting calls to drop his reelection campaign, was not asked about the reversal during his closely watched press conference at the conclusion of NATO’s 2024 summit in Washington, D.C. late Thursday.

    The administration’s decision to lift the pause came following what The Washington Post described as “a pressure campaign by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and pro-Israel lobbyists in the United States, including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, demanding the resumption of all weapons shipments regardless of their lethality.”

    Last month, Netanyahu—who is facing a possible arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC)—released a video complaining that the administration was “withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel.”

    The U.S. is Israel’s top arms supplier and has sent Israel billions of dollars worth of weapons and other military equipment since October 7—weaponry that Israel has repeatedly used to commit atrocities in Gaza.

    An unnamed administration official told the Post that the U.S. was mostly concerned about the 2,000-pound bombs that were part of the initially planned shipment, rather than the 500-pound bombs. The 2,000-pound bombs will remain on hold, the official said.

    Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) joined Win Without War in demanding that the Biden administration walk back its decision to lift the pause on the 500-pound bombs, warning that “providing such massive, explosive weapons with wide-area effects despite Israel’s systematic and deliberate deployment of such bombs in built-up civilian areas throughout Gaza further exposes U.S. officials to liability for war crimes prosecution.”

    “This week alone, Israel used U.S. weapons to strike a school during a soccer game killing scores of children, and ordered the forced evacuation of hundreds of thousands of desperate civilians from Gaza City,” said DAWN senior adviser Josh Paul, who resigned from the U.S. State Department last year over the Biden administration’s continued arming of Israel.

    “Lifting a suspension on the delivery of 500lb bombs meant to prevent the invasion of Rafah, only to then send Israel those bombs to enable the further destruction of Gaza City, is not only an act of perversity but a lawless one as well,” Paul said.

    Raed Jarrar, DAWN’s advocacy director, called on the ICC to “investigate U.S. officials for their complicity in the genocidal atrocities in Gaza, insisting on providing Israel with some of the most lethal weapons in the world despite full knowledge that Israel is using them unlawfully against Palestinian civilians.”

    “The Biden administration is fully culpable for the slaughter of civilians in Gaza, and should be held accountable for its role in aiding and abetting Israel’s shocking war crimes and crimes against humanity,” Jarrar added.

    Original article by JAKE JOHNSON republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

    Failed US Military Pier Offered ‘Humanitarian Gloss’ as Israel Starved Gaza

    Entire Families Among Dozens of Bodies Recovered After Israel’s Gaza City Onslaught

  • Nasser Hospital overwhelmed as Israel issues more evacuation orders

    Spread the love

    Original article by Peoples Health Dispatch republished from peoples’ dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

    Israel continues to besiege the Nasser Medical Complex. Photo: via Palestine Chronicle

    Patients and staff were forced to leave the European Gaza Hospital following new orders from Israel, increasing pressure on the few remaining medical centers in the south

    Nasser Hospital in the Gaza Strip has faced a surge of patients after the European Gaza Hospital was emptied following evacuation orders from the Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) on July 1.

    The European Gaza Hospital, with a capacity of approximately 650 beds, had about 320 patients at the time of the evacuation. All patients, staff, and families fled by the evening of the next day, fearing the hospital would be surrounded, besieged, and raided by the IOF—a pattern observed in other medical centers since October 7. While some patients were transported by ambulances, others had no choice but to walk 10 kilometers to Nasser Hospital.

    “We have heard that patients have traveled on their own, either arriving at Nasser Hospital in beds or being walked by their families,” reported Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

    Read more: Al-Shifa hospital director freed after 7 months of detention and torture

    Although international organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), supported the translocation of equipment and supplies to Nasser Hospital, the situation remains unsustainable. MSF reports that departments designed to host approximately 50 patients have recently admitted double that number.

    MSF staff also warned that patients are now lying on blankets on the floor due to a shortage of mattresses and beds.” The team has put nails on the wall so we can hang the intravenous fluids and medication we need to give patients, but it’s a very difficult situation, and the team is exhausted,” said MSF nurse activity manager Cristina Roldán.

    “Overall, it’s a comprehensive issue—from shortages of beds and supplies to the lack of surgeons. With yet another hospital closed, patients’ lives are even more at risk,” commented Javid Abdelmoneim, another MSF staff member at Nasser Hospital.

    The supply of medicines and fuel to the 15 partially operational hospitals in Gaza remains far below what is necessary. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that health infrastructure in Gaza needs at least 80,000 liters of fuel per day, while only 90,000 liters overall entered the Strip on July 3. Consequently, those organizing and delivering humanitarian aid and health workers are forced to make impossible choices about fuel allocation and delivery of care.

    The obstruction of humanitarian aid by the IOF, along with ongoing physical attacks impeding movement within Gaza, has severely continued to hamper planned humanitarian missions. The United Nations reported that between July 1 and 4, of the 13 planned missions to northern Gaza, only one proceeded as scheduled. Nine missions were impeded, two were canceled for logistical and security reasons, and one was denied access.

    The combination of attacks and lack of essential supplies continues to exacerbate health problems in the area. Nutritious food is unavailable to an overwhelming majority of Gaza’s population, especially in the north, contributing to issues like anemia in children. “No commercial food supplies have reached the area [Jabaliya] for nearly two months, and the prices of the few products available on the local market are exorbitantly high,” the UN stated.

    No improvement in the state of health and healthcare in Gaza can be foreseen unless there is an immediate and sustained ceasefire.

    Original article by Peoples Health Dispatch republished from peoples’ dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

    Zionist Keir Starmer is quoted "I support Zionism without qualification." He's asked whether that means that he supports Zionism under all circumstances, whatever Zionists do.
    Zionist Keir Starmer is quoted “I support Zionism without qualification.” He’s asked whether that means that he supports Zionism under all circumstances, whatever Zionists do.
    Vote For Genocide Vote Labour.
    Vote For Genocide Vote Labour.

  • Over 20,000 Children Missing in Gaza, With ‘Unknown Number’ in Mass Graves: Report

    Spread the love

    Original article by JAKE JOHNSON republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

    A woman stands holding a child surrounded by the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, Gaza on June 23, 2024.
     (Photo: Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty Images)

    “No parent should have to dig through rubble or mass graves to try and find their child’s body,” said the Save the Children’s regional director for the Middle East.

    The humanitarian group Save the Children estimated Monday that around 21,000 kids are missing in the Gaza Strip as Israel’s military continues its assault on the enclave, reducing much of the Palestinian territory to rubble.

    Roughly 4,000 kids are likely buried under that debris, according to Save the Children, while at least 17,000 are unaccompanied, an “unknown number” are in mass graves, and others have been “detained and forcibly transferred out of Gaza, their whereabouts unknown to their families amidst reports of ill-treatment and torture.”

    A child protection specialist with Save the Children said that the group finds more unaccompanied children every day in Gaza, where parents and entire families have been wiped out by Israel’s relentless bombing campaign and ground invasion.

    “We work through partners to identify separated and unaccompanied children and trace their families, but there are no safe facilities for them—there is no safe place in Gaza,” said the Save the Children specialist. “Besides, reuniting them with family members is difficult when ongoing hostilities restrict our access to communities, and constantly force families to move.”

    “Neighbors and extended family members who have taken in lone children are struggling to meet their basic needs, such as shelter, food, and water,” they added. “Many are with strangers—or completely alone—increasing the risk of violence, abuse exploitation, and neglect.”

    “We desperately need a cease-fire to find and support the missing children who have survived, and to prevent more families from being destroyed.”

    More than 14,000 children have been killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip since October 7, and many others have experienced devastating psychological and physical trauma, including the loss of limbs. Dozens of children have also been starved to death in recent months as Israel’s blockade hinders the flow of lifesaving humanitarian assistance.

    Conditions for children have further deteriorated since Israel’s invasion of Rafah, which has forced roughly a million people to flee the city. Last month, Israeli forces used U.S.-made bombs in an attack on a Rafah camp sheltering displaced people, killing dozens—including women and children. The United Nations Human Rights Office said that infants were “torn apart” in the attack and people were “trapped inside burning plastic tents, leading to a horrific casualty toll.”

    Save the Children stressed Monday that its count of Gaza’s missing kids is far from conclusive, given the difficulty of collecting accurate information in areas under near-constant attack. The group noted that “confirming identification of a body by the next of kin is almost impossible when whole families have been wiped out and entry restrictions mean the equipment and experts needed cannot get in.”

    Jeremy Stoner, Save the Children’s regional director for the Middle East, said that “families are tortured by the uncertainty of the whereabouts of their loved ones.”

    “No parent should have to dig through rubble or mass graves to try and find their child’s body. No child should be alone, unprotected in a war zone. No child should be detained or held hostage,” said Stoner. “Children who are missing but living are vulnerable, face grave protection risks, and must be found. They must be protected and reunited with their families. For the children who have been killed, their deaths must be formally marked, their families informed, burial rites respected, and accountability sought.”

    “As many have pointed out, Gaza has become a graveyard for children, with thousands of others missing, their fates unknown,” he added. “There must be an independent investigation and those responsible must be held accountable. We desperately need a cease-fire to find and support the missing children who have survived, and to prevent more families from being destroyed.”

    Original article by JAKE JOHNSON republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

    Zionist Keir Starmes is quoted "I support Zionism without qualification." He's asked whether that means that he supports Zionism under all circumstances, whatever Zionists do.
    Zionist Keir Starmes is quoted “I support Zionism without qualification.” He’s asked whether that means that he supports Zionism under all circumstances, whatever Zionists do.

  • Vote Palestine campaign launched to hold candidates to account ahead of general election

    Spread the love

    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/h2nd-vote-palestine-campaign-launched-hold-candidates-account-ahead-general-election

    PALESTINIAN campaigners launched a Vote Palestine campaign today to make justice for the country a core issue in the upcoming general election.

    The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) has crafted six questions for parliamentary candidates, which constituents can electronically send to their local prospective MPs.

    The questions outline concrete actions for candidates to commit to if elected.

    They cover calls for an immediate ceasefire, restoration of funding to United Nations Relief and Works Agency, an arms embargo, support for the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and International Criminal Court to uphold international humanitarian law, suspending trade agreements with Israel and protecting the right to protest, boycott and divest from companies that are complicit in violations of international law.

    …

    PSC director Ben Jamal said: “The last eight months in Gaza have led to a generational shift in attitudes to Israel — a state that not only occupies Palestine and practices a system of apartheid against Palestinian people, but is now committing a genocide with appalling new chapters being seen every day.

    “And this continues with the complicity of UK political leaders who have failed to advocate for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, failed to halt arms exports, and continue to provide political support to Israel.

    “Candidates who normalise massacres, who greenlight genocide, or who endorse a system of apartheid, should not expect support from voters who believe that human rights and international law should be upheld.”

    …

    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/h2nd-vote-palestine-campaign-launched-hold-candidates-account-ahead-general-election

    Zionist Keir Starmes is quoted "I support Zionism without qualification." He's asked whether that means that he supports Zionism under all circumstances, whatever Zionists do.
    Zionist Keir Starmes is quoted “I support Zionism without qualification.” He’s asked whether that means that he supports Zionism under all circumstances, whatever Zionists do.

  • ‘We will not vote for those who normalise massacres’

    Spread the love

    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/we-will-not-vote-those-who-normalise-massacres

    People take part in a national demonstration for Gaza from Russell Square to Whitehall in London, June 8, 2024

    Hundreds of thousands protest across Britain demanding end to Gaza bloodshed

    OVER the weekend, hundreds of thousands of people flooded Britain’s streets, calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and warning political parties to stop arming Israel if they expect support in the upcoming election.

    On Saturday, over 150,000 gathered in London for the 15th national march for Palestine.

    The march took place as Israel carried out a murderous assault on Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza.

    Israeli forces killed at least 274 Palestinians and injured 698 more, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

    Four Israeli captives were freed during the raid.

    Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ignored the horrific death toll, instead describing the release of the captives as a “huge relief.”

    Two days before, an Israeli air strike hit a UN school, murdering 33 people, including nine children.

    Speaking at the rally, Palestine Solidarity Campaign director Ben Jamal accused political leaders of having “normalised massacres.”

    He said: “Now our political leaders are coming before you asking for your vote. Your answer needs to be clear.

    “We will not vote for those who normalise massacres.

    “We will not vote for those who greenlight genocide.

    “We will not vote for those who collaborate with systems of apartheid.”

    He emphasised that justice for Palestinians needs to be forced onto the election agenda like never before.

    Lindsey German from Stop the War said the massive demonstration, which stretched along Whitehall, sent “the loudest possible message to our politicians that the public support an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza.”

    …

    Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/we-will-not-vote-those-who-normalise-massacres