hell

With unwavering US support, Israel resumes its genocidal assault on Gaza

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

Night airstrike on Gaza in 2024. Photo: Wafa

Israel resumed its genocidal violence against the people of Gaza a day before the Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu was set to stand trial for corruption and face rallies against his move to dismiss the Shin Bet chief.

Israel resumed its genocidal aggression on Gaza in the early hours of Tuesday, March 18, with a series of airstrikes that killed over 400 Palestinians, many of them women and children. Hundreds more were injured.

Shortly after the attacks were launched, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that Israel consulted the United States on its intention to launch aerial attacks on the besieged enclave.

“As President Trump has made it clear – Hamas, the Houthis, Iran, all those who seek to terrorize not just Israel, but also the United States of America, will see a price to pay. All hell will break loose,” Leavitt emphasized.

Israel determined to continue its genocide

Briefly after the deadly assaults took place in Gaza, Israeli officials delivered statements that confirmed Israel’s intention to proceed with the genocide indefinitely.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a recorded speech on Tuesday that the airstrikes, which targeted Gaza, are “only the beginning” and that all ceasefire talks going forward will be held “under fire”.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened that if Hamas does not release all Israeli captives, “blows will only increase and intensify”.

The resumption of the genocide came after Israel obstructed negotiations on the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire and prisoners for captives swap deal. It also followed more than two weeks of Israel’s full blockade on humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

It’s worth noting that Israel reportedly committed hundreds of violations of the ceasefire agreement in its first phase, which included:

  • killing civilians
  • home demolitions
  • land bulldozing
  • preventing displaced persons from returning to their home regions
  • military advances beyond the agreed-upon withdrawal lines
  • obstructing reconstruction
  • airspace violations
  • delaying prisoners’ releases

Despite these violations, Hamas continued to accelerate their end of the agreement, releasing more captives than promised in an effort to begin second-phase negotiations in good faith.

Reactions to the resumption of the war 

All major Palestinian factions have categorically condemned Israel’s unilateral violation of the ceasefire deal and demanded that the deal’s guarantors and mediators, as well as the rest of the international community take immediate action to stop the return to genocide.

Hamas

For its part, Hamas vehemently condemned Israel’s actions and accused the Trump administration of being complicit in Israel’s resumption of the genocide in Gaza. “The US administration’s admission that it was informed in advance of the Zionist aggression confirms its direct complicity in the war of extermination against our people,” it said in a statement.

“This admission once again reveals America’s blatant complicity and bias towards the occupation, and exposes the falsity of its claims about its commitment to calm,” Hamas added.

“With its unlimited political and military support for the occupation, Washington bears full responsibility for the massacres and killing of women and children in Gaza,” the movement stressed, calling upon the international community to take urgent action “to hold the occupation and its supporters accountable for these crimes against humanity.”

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) held the US accountable as well, labelling it as a partner in the massacres committed by Israel against the Palestinians in Gaza.

Islamic Jihad 

For its part, the Islamic Jihad movement confirmed that “the renewed aggression will neither give Israel the upper hand over the resistance nor extricate Netanyahu and his regime from the crises they are escaping from. Rather, it will further weaken them and accumulate more failures, leaving them humiliated and submissive.”

Ansar Allah

The Supreme Political Council of Ansar Allah in Yemen issued a statement holding Israel and the US “fully responsible for violating the ceasefire agreement, thwarting all efforts to move to the second phase, remilitarizing the seas, and escalating tensions in the region.”

The council further warned the two countries “to bear the consequences and repercussions, no matter how severe.”

Ansar Allah’s response was not limited to issuing a statement, as the armed forces affiliated with the movement targeted Israel’s Nevatim airbase in the southern occupied territories on Tuesday, using a Palestine-2 hypersonic ballistic missile.

Hezbollah

Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah issued a statement, denouncing the “US full partnership” and the “shameful silence” of the international community to the decision of “Netanyahu’s terrorist government to turn against the ceasefire and resume the war.”

The Lebanese resistance group pointed out that the renewed aggression “confirms that this rogue entity and the US administration do not respect any commitments and agreements and that they are two sides of the same coin that thirsts for blood and knows only the rhetoric of killing and destruction.”

International condemnation

A number of countries also condemned the resumption of the aggression, or expressed their concern about the repercussions of the escalation in the region, including: China, Russia, Egypt, Qatar, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Türkiye, France, United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, and Australia.

The United Nations, including Secretary-General António Guterres, sharply condemned Israel’s aggression, with Guterres saying he was “outraged” by the airstrikes.

People’s movements and organizations across the globe that have been mobilizing for the past 16 months against Israel’s genocide in Gaza also responded to Israel’s attacks and called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

The International Peoples’ Assembly (IPA) condemned that, “The US has directly supported Israel’s renewed aggression, offering unlimited political and military backing while pushing for further escalation with inflammatory rhetoric and threats. This aggression extends beyond Palestine, with attacks on Yemen, fueling regional tensions and conflict. Meanwhile, the international community remains silent and fails to act on these escalating violations.“ The IPA called for people across the world to mobilize from March 18 to 30 “to reject the escalation of Zionist aggression on the people of Gaza and to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people”.

On March 18, people in major cities in the United States, Morocco, Italy, and other countries, were already on the streets demanding an arms embargo on Israel and a return to the ceasefire.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad mourn leaders, including IJ spokesperson Abu Hamza

Hamas announced in a statement on Tuesday that a number of its governmental leaders were killed in the Israeli attacks across the war-torn strip.

The movement confirmed in a press statement that among those assassinated were the Head of Government Issam al-Dallis, Deputy Minister of Justice Ahmed al-Hitta, Deputy Minister of Interior Major General Mahmoud Abu Wafa, and Director General of the Internal Security Service Major General Bahjat Abu Sultan.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Jihad movement announced the assassination of its iconic masked spokesperson and leader, Naji Abu Seif, who was long known by his nom de guerre Abu Hamza.

Naji Abu Seif aka Abu Hamza was killed in Israeli airstrikes on March 18.

Mourning Abu Hamza, the movement said in a statement: “The martyred spokesperson was known as a voice of the resistance, fearing no reproach in his devotion to Allah, eloquent in his speech, and courageous in his heroic positions in defense of the resistance and the rights of our people, never wavering in his stance.”

Netanyahu resumed the war to evade his own political crisis

Several analysts suggest that Netanyahu resorted to resuming the war on Gaza to escape from an imminent political impasse, especially as he was set to testify in his corruption trial on Tuesday.

Taking the resumption of the war as a pretext, Netanyahu submitted a delay request to the concerned court saying: “Hours ago, the IDF commenced a military operation in the Gaza Strip. This morning at 11, an urgent security consultation will take place that will include the prime minister, defense minister and heads of the IDF security apparatus.”

Some consider the war option was also a savior for Netanyahu, as mass demonstrations were planned to take place in Jerusalem during the week to protest his declared intention to fire the chief of the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) Ronen Bar.

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

Experiencing issues with this image not appearing. I suspect because it's so critical of Zionist Keir Starmer's support of and complicity in Israel's genocides.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpA
Continue ReadingWith unwavering US support, Israel resumes its genocidal assault on Gaza

‘Unhinged’ Trump Vows ‘There Will Be All Hell to Pay’ If Hostages Not Released

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

A woman holding a girl reacts after Israeli airstrikes hit the Ridwan neighborhood of Gaza City, Gaza on October 23, 2023.  (Photo: Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“Someone tell Trump that Israel already unleashed hell on Gaza, and hostages were not released.”

In an early signal of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s foreign policy plans for when he returns to office next month, the Republican said Monday “there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East” if Hamas does not release hostages taken from Israel, the occupying military force in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Trump demanded hostages seized during the October 7 attack of last year be released or his promised retribution would follow. Nearly 45,000 Palestinians have already been killed—mostly civilian men, women, and children—since Israel launched a full-scale invasion of Gaza in the wake of the Hamas-led operation.

Of the 251 people taken captive last year, 63 are believed to be still alive in Gaza, according toThe Washington Post‘s tracker, which was updated last week. So far, 117 others have been freed or rescued and 71 have been confirmed killed.

After dining with Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Israel’s prime minister, at the Trump International Golf Club in Florida Sunday night, the U.S. president-elect made his threat about the hostages on his Truth Social platform Monday afternoon.

“Everybody is talking about the hostages who are being held so violently, inhumanely, and against the will of the entire World, in the Middle East,” Trump wrote. “But it’s all talk, and no action! Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity.”

“Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America,” Trump added. “RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!”

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Stephen Pollard, editor-at-large The Jewish Chronicle, responded that “this is the message the president of the USA should have sent on October 8, 2023.”

Noting Pollard’s comments, Rohan Talbot, director of advocacy and campaigns at the U.K.-based Medical Aid for Palestinians, said: “Genuinely interested to know what Stephen thinks the U.S. could have supported Israel to do in Gaza beyond what it currently has. Nukes?”

“This statement is unhinged—’there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East,'” Talbot added.

Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer in the School of Security Studies at King’s College London, said, “Someone tell Trump that Israel already unleashed hell on Gaza, and hostages were not released.”

Drop Site News highlighted that “Trump’s statement—which follows a video released over the weekend by Hamas’ armed wing featuring U.S.-Israeli captive Edan Alexander and explicitly addressing Trump—does not acknowledge that Netanyahu has repeatedly sabotaged cease-fire deals that could have freed Israeli hostages. It also appears timed to position himself to claim credit for any progress in cease-fire talks, as negotiations between Hamas and Egyptian mediators are already underway.”

As the American Jewish outlet Forward reported Monday:

The White House is attempting a final push to get… a deal done. President Joe Biden said last week that the cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon had created an opportunity to reignite stalled negotiations for a similar deal in Gaza. “We will use every day we have in office to try to generate as much progress towards that end as possible,” Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, said Sunday morning on ABC‘s “This Week.”

Given the failed efforts in the past, the families of the American hostages are hoping Trump could leverage his popularity in Israel and his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take immediate action during the transition period. “Trump must not wait until he is inaugurated to help reach a deal that secures the freedom for Edan, six other Americans, and the rest of the hostages,” Adi and Yael Alexander, the parents of Edan, said on Saturday.

Despite an abundance of evidence showing how Israel is using U.S. weapons to slaughter civilians in Gaza and severely restricting the flow of humanitarian aid while claiming to target Hamas, Biden and Congress have refused to cut off arms to Netanyahu’s government. In fact, just hours after the cease-fire between the Israeli government and Hezbollah took effect—a deal that Israel has since violated approximately 100 times—the Financial Times reported last week that “Biden has provisionally approved a $680 million weapons sale to Israel.”

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

Continue Reading‘Unhinged’ Trump Vows ‘There Will Be All Hell to Pay’ If Hostages Not Released

‘Heartbreakingly Devastating’: US Reportedly Plans to Approve $680 Million in Arms to Israel

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

The Israeli military launched an airstrike on the al-Qassam Mosque and its surroundings in Gaza City’s Nuseirat refugee camp on November 27, 2024.
 (Photo: Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“The Biden administration seems to be ready and willing to keep piling more and more, despite Gaza descending into what President Biden just yesterday described as ‘hell,'” said Amnesty International USA.

Just hours after a cease-fire between the Israeli government and Lebanese group Hezbollah took effect, the Financial Times revealed that “U.S. President Joe Biden has provisionally approved a $680 million weapons sale to Israel,” which has also spent the past nearly 14 months decimating the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip.

Citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, the British newspaper reported that “U.S. officials recently briefed Congress on the plan to provide thousands of additional joint direct attack munition kits to Israel, known as JDAMS, as well as hundreds of small-diameter bombs.”

The Biden administration’s decision to advance the sale was subsequently confirmed by Reuters, which reported that “the package has been in the works for several months. It was first brought to the congressional committees in September then submitted for review in October.”

Human rights advocates critical of Israel’s assaults on Lebanon and Gaza—which has led to a genocide case at the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant—responded with alarm to the new reporting.

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“If these reports are true, it’s heartbreakingly devastating news,” said Amnesty International USA. “These are the weapons that our research has shown were used to wipe out entire families, without any discernable military objective.”

Amnesty highlighted a trio of resolutions from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) that would have halted some arms sales to Israel. Although they failed to pass the Senate last week, the group was among several that noted over the course of three votes, 17, 18, and 19 senators supported halting weapons sales, “sending a clear signal that U.S. policy must change.”

“Yet, the Biden administration seems to be ready and willing to keep piling more and more, despite Gaza descending into what President Biden just yesterday described as ‘hell,'” Amnesty added Wednesday. “Sending more weapons that have been used to maim and kill with impunity doesn’t just put in jeopardy Palestinian lives and the elusive cease-fire the president is seeking, but also President Biden’s own legacy.”

The Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project declared Wednesday that “President Biden is spending the final days of his presidency going against the will of most Americans, U.S. law, and international law.”

“The weapons included in this package have been used by Israel in numerous apparent war crimes,” the organization noted. “On July 13, 2024, Israel attacked a so-called ‘safe zone’ in al-Mawasi, in which internally displaced Palestinians were sheltering, killing at least 90 people and injuring hundreds more. A CNN investigation found that Israel carried out this attack with at least one JDAM.”

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John Ramming Chappell, an adviser on legal and policy issues at the Center for Civilians in Conflict, similarly stressed that “these are the very same weapons that for months Israeli forces have used to kill Palestinian civilians and violate international humanitarian law.”

“Continuing arms transfers risks making the United States and US officials complicit in war crimes,” he said. “These arms sales are unlawful as a matter of both U.S. and international law. They are immoral. The congressional committees of jurisdiction can and must place a hold on the sales.”

Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now, pointed out that “aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity is itself a crime for which U.S. officials may (and should) face prosecution at the ICC.”

Neither the U.S. nor Israel is a state party to the Rome Statute of the ICC, though Palestine is. Both the Biden administration and President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for national security adviser have attacked the warrants for Israeli leaders.

In a speech to Israelis on Tuesday, Netanyahu said that one of the reasons for the cease-fire in Lebanon “is to give our forces a breather and replenish stocks. And I say it openly, it is no secret that there have been big delays in weapons and munitions deliveries. These delays will be resolved soon. We will receive supplies of advanced weaponry that will keep our soldiers safe and give us more strike force to complete our mission.”

According to the Financial Times:

U.S. officials have denied there is any explicit link between the cease-fire deal and approval for the latest weapons delivery. While the cease-fire deal includes a so-called side letter from the U.S. to Israel, setting out Washington’s support for a certain freedom of Israeli action, people familiar with the text said it included no guarantees of weapon sales.

U.S. officials also deny that there have been deliberate delays to weapons shipments, aside from shipments of 2,000-pound bombs, which Biden paused earlier this year over concerns about their use in densely populated areas of Gaza.

The Times of Israelreported that Biden’s State Department declined to confirm the advancement of the package but said that U.S. support for Israel in the face of Iran-backed threats is “unwavering” and all weapon transfers are carried out in line with federal law.

“We have made clear that Israel must comply with international humanitarian law, has a moral obligation and strategic imperative to protect civilians, investigate allegations of any wrongdoing, and ensure accountability for any abuses or violations of international human rights law or international humanitarian law,” the State Department said.

As of Wednesday, officials in Gaza said the death toll had hit at least 44,282 Palestinians with another 104,880 people injured.

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

Continue Reading‘Heartbreakingly Devastating’: US Reportedly Plans to Approve $680 Million in Arms to Israel