Gaza

Israeli Minister Threatens to Turn Occupied West Bank Into Ruins ‘Like in the Gaza Strip’

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

Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister, speaks during a rally with supporters in the southern Israeli city of Sderot on October 26, 2022.
 (Photo: Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP via Getty Images)

One advocate responded: “Take this seriously. If extremists like Smotrich get their way they will do to the West Bank exactly what they have done to Gaza.”

Israel’s forces have killed at least 36,224 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in less than eight months, and far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Thursday threatened to similarly attack the illegally occupied West Bank.

Smotrich, leader of the Religious Zionism party, shared on social media a video he recorded in Bat Hefer, following similar posts a day earlier. The Times of Israel reported that the minister’s comments came after Palestinians’ gunfire from Tulkarem in the West Bank toward the Israeli settlement.

“Our message to the neighbors beyond the fence in Tulkarem, Nur Shams, Shuweika, and Qalqilya: We will turn you into ruined cities like in the Gaza Strip if the terror you are exerting on the settlements continues,” Smotrich said in Hebrew, according to a translation from Al Jazeera.

NPR international correspondent Aya Batrawy pointed out that not only is Smotrich an advocate of illegal Israeli settlements—he has a home near Kedumim—but also “his role as finance minister means he oversees budgets, like police and army.”

Rohan Talbot, director of advocacy and campaigns of the U.K.-based Medical Aid for Palestinians, said of Smotrich’s remarks: “Take this seriously. If extremists like Smotrich get their way they will do to the West Bank exactly what they have done to Gaza. Starting with the refugee camps and Area C communities (to a certain extent it has already begun).”

Since the Hamas-led October 7 attack on Israel, Israeli forces and settlers have killed over 500 Palestinians in the West Bank.

Ibrahim Hooper, national communications director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim civil rights group in the United States, issued a statement about multiple recent events, including the minister’s comments.

“Every day, we see Israel’s far-right government targeting civilian infrastructure vital to the lives of ordinary Palestinians, whether in Gaza or the West Bank,” Hooper said. “This ongoing destruction has one goal—to make life unbearable for the Palestinian people and to force their removal from the land of Palestine.”

CAIR also “condemned the far-right Israeli government’s destruction of a vegetable market in the West Bank city of Ramallah,” explaining: “During a raid, Israeli stun grenades and tear gas canisters ignited the blaze that consumed a large portion of the market. Some 200 shops and stalls were impacted.”

The group further pointed out that the devastation in Ramallah followed Israeli forces bombing a pair of encampments in and near Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, attacks that killed dozens of Palestinians displaced by the war—which over 30 countries have argued to the International Court of Justice amounts to genocide.

Smotrich has come under fire for other statements since Israel launched its retaliation for the October 7 attack. Just last month, in what critics called blatantly genocidal language, he advocated for “total annihilation” of Gaza.

In January, Smotrich said that the mass expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza would be a “humanitarian solution” and “a small country like ours cannot afford a reality where, four minutes away from our settlements, there is a hotbed of hatred and terror, where there are 2 million people who wake up every morning with the desire to destroy the state of Israel.”

Smotrich made similar remarks before the current escalation, declaring in March 2023 that an entire Palestinian town should be “wiped out” by Israel and that “there’s no such thing as Palestinians because there’s no such thing as a Palestinian people.”

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

Continue ReadingIsraeli Minister Threatens to Turn Occupied West Bank Into Ruins ‘Like in the Gaza Strip’

Children die of malnutrition as Rafah operation shifts threat of famine in Gaza

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https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/02/children-die-malnutrition-rafah-famine-gaza-israeli-troops-aid-strip

Palestinians gather to receive the humanitarian aid supplies airdropped into Khan Younis, Gaza, on 28 May. Photograph: Ashraf Amra/Anadolu/Getty Images

Arrival of Israeli troops in the southern border town has choked aid supplies, as hunger deepens in southern Gaza

Fayiz Abu Ataya was born into war and knew nothing else. Over his first and only spring, in a town stalked by hunger, he wasted away to a shadow of a child, skin stretched painfully over jutting bones.

In seven months of life, he had little time to make a mark beyond the family who loved him. But when his death from malnutrition was reported last week, it sounded a warning around the world about a rapidly deepening crisis in central and southern Gaza, triggered by the Israeli military operation in the southern town of Rafah.

At least 30 child victims of malnutrition have been recorded in Gaza, but almost all died in the north, until recently the area with the most extreme shortages of food and medical care, where a top US aid official said famine had taken hold in some areas.

The arrival of Israeli troops in Rafah in May shifted the grim calculus of threat in the strip.

“The ongoing situation in Rafah is a disaster for children,” said Jonathan Crickx, chief of communication for Unicef in Palestine. “If nutrition supplies, especially ready-to-use therapeutic food, used to address malnutrition among children, cannot be distributed, the treatment of more than 3,000 children with acute malnutrition will be interrupted.”

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https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/02/children-die-malnutrition-rafah-famine-gaza-israeli-troops-aid-strip

Continue ReadingChildren die of malnutrition as Rafah operation shifts threat of famine in Gaza

Thousands across Britain demand an end to Israel’s merciless onslaught of Gaza

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/thousands-across-britain-demand-an-end-to-israel-merciless-onslaught-of-gaza

A Pro-Palestine protester lies on the ground in Bradford Photo: Neil Terry / Neil Terry Photography

THOUSANDS of people took to the streets in towns and cities across Britain at the weekend to demand a halt to Israel’s merciless onslaught and continuing slaughter in Gaza.

The actions marked almost eight months of weekly protest as Israel’s attack on the southern Gazan city of Rafah continued with the death toll passing 36,000 — over half of them women and children.

Protests in London were marred by the arrest of seven young people calling for a ceasefire and for a halt to Britain’s supply of arms to Israel.

The arrests happened as about 250 supporters of direct action group Youth Demand marched past Waterloo Underground station carrying placards and chanting “All eyes on Rafah!” and “Stop arming Israel!”

Youth Demand had warned earlier on social media that they intended to block roads and bridges in London.

Protester Olivia Burnett, from Leeds, said: “The time for non-disruptive marches is over.

“When you connect to what is happening to the people in Rafah, you realise we have to do whatever is necessary to end the hell they are living through.

“What are we willing to do to stop babies being burned alive? The answer must be: whatever it takes.”

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/thousands-across-britain-demand-an-end-to-israel-merciless-onslaught-of-gaza

Continue ReadingThousands across Britain demand an end to Israel’s merciless onslaught of Gaza

Palestine and climate activists demand British Museum cut its links with Gaza genocide through its BP sponsorship

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/palestine-and-climate-activists-demand-british-museum-cut-its-links-with-gaza-genocide-through-its-bp-sponsorship

Palestine and climate activists protest outside the British Museum, June 1, 2024 Photo: Ron F / BP or not BP

A COALITION of Palestine and climate activists demanding the British Museum end its links with the Gaza genocide through its BP sponsorship forced the London museum to close on Saturday.

Activist theatre group BP Or Not BP assembled a mosaic in the museum’s main hall — reference to the current Legion exhibition about the Romans — with lettering saying Drop BP: End Oil Sponsorship.

Energy Embargo for Palestine and Parents for Palestine meanwhile delivered a programme of events for children in the museum’s courtyard that included dabke, a traditional dance of Palestine, and a display of banners with slogans such as “Palestinian Children Deserve Life, Drop BP!”

The museum announced a new 10-year £50 million sponsorship deal with the fossil fuel giant in December, shortly after BP had secured gas exploration licences off the coast of Gaza from Israel.

Non-governmental organisations warned that such procedures could encroach on Palestinian maritime boundaries and amount to the war crime of pillaging.

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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/palestine-and-climate-activists-demand-british-museum-cut-its-links-with-gaza-genocide-through-its-bp-sponsorship

Continue ReadingPalestine and climate activists demand British Museum cut its links with Gaza genocide through its BP sponsorship

Tens of thousands to surround White House on June 8 in protest of Rafah invasion

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

Photo: Craig Birchfield

The people of the United States challenge Biden’s complicity in the Israeli genocide in Gaza, demand Biden end aid to Israel

Tens of thousands of people will are mobilizing to surround the White House on June 8 in protest of Biden’s complicity in the Israeli genocide in Gaza, principally the brutal invasion of Rafah, which takes more and more Palestinian lives each day. 

Biden had claimed in the past that the invasion of Rafah by Israel would be a red line, and even threatened to withhold weapons shipments (while actually halting some shipments of bombs) over the threat of invasion. 

“I made it clear that if they go into Rafah—they haven’t gone in Rafah yet—if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities—that deal with that problem,” Biden said during a CNN interview on May 8.

Nevertheless, Biden did nothing after Israel’s threats of invasion escalated into reality. The recent tent massacre horrified billions across the globe after Israel bombed forcibly displaced Palestinian families—using US-made munitions. To this day, Biden continues his unconditional support for Israel.

Despite Biden’s earlier statements, he recently claimed that the recent massacre did not cross any of his “red lines.” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday that “as a result of this strike on Sunday, I have no policy changes to speak to.”

“The Israelis are going to investigate it. We’re going to be taking great interest in what they find in that investigation. And we’ll see where it goes from there,” Kirby said.

Ahead of the mass mobilization, Layan Fuleihan of the People’s Forum said, “Biden has blood on his hands!” She added, “Genocide is a red line! Over 13,000 children murdered by Israel, is a red line! We will march in Washington D.C. to remind him that the people of this country refuse to be complicit in these war crimes!”

The mass demonstration on June 8 has been called by a diverse range of Palestinian diaspora formations as well as anti-imperialist groups. These include the Palestinian Youth Movement, National Students for Justice in Palestine, U.S. Palestinian Community Network, the People’s Forum, Al-Awda: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, Palestinian Feminist Collective, the ANSWER Coalition, U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights, Arab Resource and Organizing Center, International Jewish Anti Zionist Network, Writers Against the War on Gaza, Healthcare Workers for Palestine, and Palestine Popular University.

“How many more homes have to be destroyed, how many children need to be killed, until this government takes definitive action to stop Israel’s war crimes. We are tired of hearing that Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are ‘concerned about the civilian death toll’. If they were really concerned about what Israel was doing, they would suspend all aid and tell Israel to accept one of the many ceasefire deals that is on the table. This genocide needs to end, and Biden has the power to do it,” said Celine Qussiny of the Palestinian Youth Movement.

“On June 8th, tens of thousands will show Biden that the people are his red line — we refuse to allow him to continue the genocide against the people of Gaza! Instead of a red line, Biden gave a green light to Netanyahu’s invasion of Rafah by agreeing to send more U.S. bombs and missiles. While the government that speaks in our name arms the genocidal Israeli regime to the teeth, the people want freedom for Palestine,” said Brian Becker, National Director of the ANSWER Coalition. 

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

Continue ReadingTens of thousands to surround White House on June 8 in protest of Rafah invasion