Gaza

‘We’ll Come for You Next’: Israel Threatened to Kill Teen Journalist in Gaza—Then Did

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

Journalist Hassan Hamad holds a photo of Ismael al-Ghoul and Rami al-Rifi, Palestinian reporters also killed by Israel in Gaza. (Photo: Maha Hussaini/X)

“Western journalists and editors should hang their heads in shame for their outrageous silence in the face of these crimes,” said one professor.

Journalists around the world expressed outrage Monday over the Israeli military’s killing of a teenage Palestinian reporter who continued showing the world the destruction of Gaza despite threats to his life—and at the Western media’s silence on the story.

Hassan Hamad, 19, whose work appeared on Al Jazeera and other outlets, was killed Sunday in an Israeli drone strike on his home in the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, The Palestine Chronicle reported. The bombing followed multiple text messages warning Hamad to stop recording images of Israel’s assault on Gaza, which has killed or injured nearly 150,000 Palestinians and for which the close U.S. ally is on trial for genocide at the International Court of Justice.

Palestinian journalist Maha Hussaini posted a photo of one threatening WhatsApp message sent to Hamad. It read, “Listen, if you continue spreading lies about Israel, we’ll come for you next and turn your family into… This is your last warning.”

Hussaini said that Hamad also received “several calls from an Israeli officer ordering him to stop filming in Gaza.”

“He didn’t comply,” she wrote. “He was killed today.”

A colleague of Hamad’s wrote on the slain journalist’s X account:

With great sadness and pain, I mourn the journalist Hassan Hamad… Hamad, the journalist who is not yet 20 years old, resisted for a whole year in his own special way. He resisted when he was away from his family so that they would not be targeted. He resisted when he was suffering to find an internet signal and would sit for an hour or two on the roof of the house to send videos that reach you in seconds. Yesterday, since 10:00, he was moving between the bombed areas and returning to search for an internet signal, then returning to cover the places of the remains, suffering from an injury he sustained in his leg. Nevertheless, he completed filming. At 6:00 am, he called me to send me the last video. After a call that did not exceed a few seconds, he was saying, “Hey, hey, it’s done,” and he hung up. This is a feeling that no human being can bear. Hassan also resisted the occupation and left a mark and left a message that we will complete after him.

Journalists and others posted graphic video footage of pieces of Hamad’s remains being collected and placed in a shoebox.

“I will never forget the silence of the media industry about this,” Al Jazeera executive producer Laila Al-Arian wrote in a social media post containing the video.

Thomson Reuters Foundation deputy editor-in-chief Barry Malone responded to Hassan’s killing by asking, “If you’re a journalist and you’re not speaking out in solidarity… why?”

Anthropology professor Jason Hickel said that “we can never unsee the images of journalist Hassan Hamad’s remains, after he was assassinated by Israeli forces.”

“Western journalists and editors should hang their heads in shame for their outrageous silence in the face of these crimes,” he added.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists says that “at least 128 journalists and media workers, all but five of them Palestinian, have been killed—more journalists than have died in the course of any year since CPJ began documenting journalist killings in 1992.”

“All of the killings, except two Israeli journalists killed in the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel, were carried out by Israeli forces,” the group added. “CPJ has found that at least five journalists were specifically targeted by Israel for their work.”

Gaza’s Government Media Office (GMO) said Sunday that 175 media workers have been killed in the embattled enclave over the past year.

The press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has filed multiple complaints at the International Criminal Court—whose chief prosecutor is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leaders—alleging “war crimes against journalists in Gaza.”

Responding to Hamad’s killing, RSF said that Israel’s “impunity must end.”

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

Continue Reading‘We’ll Come for You Next’: Israel Threatened to Kill Teen Journalist in Gaza—Then Did

‘Increasing Destruction’: Israel Continues Bombing Campaign Across Lebanon

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

Heavy black smoke billows from the site of an Israeli air raid that targeted an area in a Beirut suburb on October 5, 2024. (Photo: Marwan Naamani/picture alliance via Getty Images)

“Complete blocks are being destroyed one after another,” Al Jazeera reported.

Israeli forces continued attacks on the outskirts of Beirut and in southern Lebanon on Saturday.

There were 13 Israeli strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut overnight and another five on Saturday, one of which may have been targeted at paramedics, according toAl Jazeera. The number of casualties is not yet clear.

“There is increasing destruction and it’s clear that complete blocks are being destroyed one after another,” Al Jazeera‘s Ali Hashem reported from Beirut.

“One strike hit near the airport, and we understand another missile hit near a paramedic team to prevent them from getting to the scene of the bigger strike,” he reported.

The Israeli military issued evacuation warnings for certain suburban areas south of Beirut on Friday night, indicating attacks would follow, The New York Times reported.

Israeli forces unleashed a “huge strike” on the same area earlier Friday in an attempt to kill Hashem Safieddine, the presumed successor to recently assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, according to the Times. Al Jazeera reported that “bunker buster” bombs were believed to be used in the Friday attack, as they were in Nasrallah’s killing. It’s not clear if Safieddine was killed, though media reports indicate that he likely was.

Israel’s military also continued attacks in southern Lebanon on Saturday.

“From northern Israel, I can see dark gray clouds of dust and smoke rising above two [Lebanese] villages as warplanes zoom overhead and the sound of artillery echoes through the area,” the Times‘ Natan Odenheimer reported Saturday.

An Israeli strike in northern Lebanon killed Hamas commander Saeed Ali on Saturday, the armed Palestinian group said. Hamas has a longstanding presence in Lebanon.

According to Al Jazeera, which cited Israeli media reports, the Israeli military is planning to expand its ground incursion into southern Lebanon, which began earlier this week, and to conduct “large-scale assaults” on Lebanon, Iran, and Gaza. The media outlet didn’t provide details.

Iran fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday, principally targeting military facilities. Iran said the strikes were retaliation for Israeli assassinations of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders. Most of the strikes were intercepted by Israeli and U.S. forces.

Observers are now watching closely to see how Israel responds, and what role the U.S.—Israel’s chief diplomatic ally and military supplier—might play. President Joe Biden said Friday that he’d advise Israel to consider “alternatives” to striking Iranian oilfields.

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

Continue Reading‘Increasing Destruction’: Israel Continues Bombing Campaign Across Lebanon

Israel Steps Up Attacks in Gaza and Lebanon

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

Palestinians mourn the loss of loved ones in Israeli attacks in Khan Younis, Gaza on October 6, 2024. (Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The Israeli military announced a “new phase” of the war in Gaza while conducting its most severe airstrikes so far in Beirut.

Israeli forces stepped up attacks in both the Gaza Strip and Lebanon overnight and into Sunday.

Israeli forces bombed a mosque and a school-turned-shelter in Gaza, killing 26 and injuring dozens more, according to the Palestinian health ministry; the Israeli military described the two sites as Hamas “command and control centers” but provided no evidence.

The Israeli military also on Sunday announced a “new phase” of the war in Gaza, issuing new evacuation orders that cover most of the northern part of the enclave, The New York Timesreported. The military said it would send more soldiers and weapons to Gaza to “destroy terrorist infrastructures and undermine Hamas’ capabilities until all the war’s goals are achieved.”

Al Jazeera‘s Moath al-Kahlout reported that “the situation here in northern Gaza is deteriorating as the Israeli army intensifies its bombing.” He said that children, women, and journalists were among the victims.

“An entire family was killed by the Israeli army in the overnight attacks,” he added.

Meanwhile, Israel conducted the “most severe” airstrikes so far on Beirut, “pounding” the city overnight, according toThe Guardian. The strikes were in southern Beirut and its suburban outskirts, which are seen as a Hezbollah stronghold and have been heavily targeted by Israeli forces for the past two weeks.

Al Jazeera journalist Ali Hashem, reporting from Beirut, described a “massive air strike” on Sunday near the city’s international airport—an area that Israel has been bombarding for days. He said that daytime strikes are particularly harrowing.

“During the nights there are warnings,” Hashem reported. “During the days there are no warnings.”

Hashem said that emergency services have been prevented from getting into the suburban area where many of the strikes are taking place.

The Lebanese health ministry said Sunday that 23 people were killed and 93 injured in Israeli strikes on Saturday.

The Israeli military continues to advance its ground incursion in southern Lebanon. On Sunday, it ordered people in 25 villages to evacuate immediately, “signaling it’s expanding its ground offensive,” Al Jazeera reported

Filippo Grandi, the United Nations’ high commissioner for refugees, visited Beirut on Sunday and called for a cease-fire—saying it was “desperately needed”—and international humanitarian aid.

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

Continue ReadingIsrael Steps Up Attacks in Gaza and Lebanon

Protesters spray blood red paint on factory making F-35 components

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/protesters-spray-blood-red-paint-factory-making-f-35-components Many articles from the Morning Star today

Home Farm Road, where L3Harris Factory operates, covered in fake blood with the message ‘L3Harris KILLS KIDS’

ACTIVISTS targeted an arms factory in Brighton which makes parts for fighter jets used by the Israeli military on Thursday.

The protesters sprayed the L3Harris factory with fake red blood and scrawled “L3Harris kills kids” near the entrance.

The firm continues to make bomb release mechanisms for F-35 fighter jets, which were excluded from the government’s embargo on 30 arms licences to Israel last month.

The jets have been used to drop 2,000lb bombs on Gaza and now in Israel’s attacks on Lebanon.

Locals have been campaigning for the factory’s landlord Paxton Access to evict the firm from the premises.

The community-wide campaign, spearheaded by StopL3Harris, has also called on the local council as freeholders of the land to shut it down.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/protesters-spray-blood-red-paint-factory-making-f-35-components Many articles from the Morning Star today

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy says that UK is suspeding 30 of 350 arms licences to Isreal. He also confirms the UK government's support for Israel's Gaza genocide.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy says that UK is suspeding 30 of 350 arms licences to Israel. He also confirms the UK government’s support for Israel’s Gaza genocide.
Continue ReadingProtesters spray blood red paint on factory making F-35 components

Hezbollah leader agreed to ceasefire hours before assassination, Lebanese Foreign Minister says

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/hezbollah-leader-agreed-to-ceasefire-just-hours-before-assassination-lebanese-foreign-minister-says

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, October 3, 2024

HEZBOLLAH agreed to a ceasefire hours before its leader Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated in an Israel air strike on Beirut, Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said today

The sensational claim came during an interview with Christiane Amanpour on US broadcaster CNN.

Mr Habib said that Mr Nasrallah’s agreement to the ceasefire had been communicated to both the US and French governments.

He confirmed that they had told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who reportedly welcomed the initiative.

The Lebanese prime minister also said he had heard that US special envoy for the Middle East Moss Hochstein was in the process of being dispatched to Lebanon to negotiate a temporary ceasefire before the assassination took place.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/hezbollah-leader-agreed-to-ceasefire-just-hours-before-assassination-lebanese-foreign-minister-says

Continue ReadingHezbollah leader agreed to ceasefire hours before assassination, Lebanese Foreign Minister says