CrossFireArarbia

US ‘Appalled’ by Smotrich’s Starvation of Gaza Remarks

CrossFireArabia
August 9, 2024

The US administration is “appalled” by remarks made by the Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich Monday of starving the entire population of Gaza as “justified and moral” to release the Israeli prisoners.

“We are appalled by these comments and reiterate that this rhetoric is harmful and disturbing,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement to The Times of Israel according to the Quds News Network.

The statement added that US President Joe Biden and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken have repeatedly stressed “the need to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, remove any obstacles to the flow of aid and restore basic services for those in need”.

Meanwhile British Foreign Secretary David Lammy called on the Israeli occupation government to retract and slam Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s remarks on starving the entire population of Gaza.

He said in a post on X, “There can be no justification” for the statements. “International law could not be more clear – the deliberate starvation of civilians is a war crime,” Lammy added.

International law could not be more clear – the deliberate starvation of civilians is a war crime.

There can be no justification for Minister Smotrich’s remarks and we expect the wider Israeli government to retract and condemn them.
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) August 7, 2024

Speaking at a conference hosted by the Israel Hayom outlet on Monday, Smotrich expressed support for blocking aid to the Gaza Strip but said Israel lacked international legitimacy to do so.

“We are bringing in aid because there is no choice,” the far-right minister said.

“We can’t, in the current global reality, manage a war. Nobody will let us cause two million civilians to die of hunger even though it might be justified and moral until our hostages are returned,” he added.

He said that Israel needed “international legitimacy for this war”.

For about 10 months, the Israeli occupation has imposed a tight siege on the Gaza Strip, extremely limiting the flow of life-saving essential food and medical items.

In June, independent UN investigators said Israel was using starvation on the Palestinian population as a weapon of war. The hunger crisis has led to the death of dozens of people due to malnutrition, mostly children according to the Quds News Network.

News

Tech Firms in Cahoots With Israel Army in Gaza

CrossFireArabia
August 9, 2024

Recent reports reveal that the Israeli army has been leveraging cloud services and AI tools from Amazon, Google, and Microsoft to enhance its military operations in Gaza.

Col. Racheli Dembinsky, commander of the Israeli army’s Center of Computing and Information Systems, confirmed the use of these technologies in a July 10 presentation according to the Quds News Network.

Read "Investigation Exposes Big Tech Ties to Israeli Genocide in Gaza" on SmartNews: https://t.co/HPb1mzUaPL
— billdane.com (@BillDane) August 8, 2024

The army’s use of Amazon Web Services (AWS) for “endless storage” of intelligence data on nearly everyone in Gaza underscores the scale of surveillance and data collection.

As the genocide continues, the role of these companies in military activities shines a light on the intersection of technology and warfare, challenging us to reflect on the responsibilities of global techfirms in such contexts

While these cloud services boost operational efficiency, they also raise serious ethical concerns. The partnership, part of a $1.2 billion deal known as Project Nimbus, has sparked protests among employees of these tech giants, some of whom were dismissed after speaking out.

News

Israeli Soldiers Wake up to Rats on Their Faces

CrossFireArabia
August 8, 2024

Rats and dogs are attacking Israeli soldiers at the Netzarim crossing that divides Gaza according to the Israeli Walla website.

The situation has become so bad the Israeli soldiers are complaining more and more to their superior officers about the lack of hygiene in their headquarters.

According to Israeli website Walla, Israeli occupation soldiers in #Gaza are facing unexpected threats from rats, stray dogs, and diseases.

Soldiers are reported being awakened by rats running over their faces and are experiencing health issues due to rodent infestations
1/2 pic.twitter.com/JPsLLfX77P
— Bin Ghalib (backup account) (@bgh2_ac3b) August 8, 2024

According to the website, soldiers are complaining that a large number of mice and rats in the area looking for food and intruding into the outposts where the troops are staying. Soldiers are also fearful from the increase in diseases because of the lack of sanitation.

Walla stated that one of the soldiers said a pack of dogs attacked him. “There were also cases when we woke up to a rat running on our faces, soldiers who turned an entire area into a huge mess,” he said.

Also other soldiers claim there is a phenomenon of dog packs or stray dogs, probably not vaccinated, and some of them tried to attack soldiers who had to use live fire to defend themselves. In one case, soldiers saw a dog carrying a human skull.

Reserve soldiers said that in many places in the “corridor” there are no toilets, so the soldiers in the large outposts defecate in bags or bottles.

Culture

Gaza Novelist Determined to Rebuild His Library

CrossFireArabia
August 8, 2024

In the Shati Camp novelist well-known Yousri Alghoul is determined to rebuild his library that was decimated along with his house by an Israeli airstrike.

Alghoul’s turned his personal library of about 3,000 books, into a “community space” in his home in 2022. The library was hit by an Israeli airstrike in the fall of 2023, and he lost his home and his precious books.

“Most of these books were literary works….novels and short stories and poems,” he tells Arablit Quarterly, adding that however, he is not giving up.

Dear friends
Here is a fundraising for our fellow writer and dear friend Yousri Alghoul, who grew up in a refugee camp in Gaza & lives now in North Gaza, to create a public library for the community.
Plz read his story 👇🏽donate & share 🙏🏻https://t.co/Q3iSRGsz1v
— Saba Hamzah سبأ حمزة (@Saba_Hamzah) June 9, 2024

Undeterred, Alghoul today is trying to rebuild his library to its former status and has started a fundraising campaign on GoFundMe to buy books according to TRT.

“My vision is to create a community library for refugees in my community in North Gaza that stands as a testament to our resilience and culture, and our unwavering belief in the power of knowledge.”

Today his name is trending on the social media as a novelist who will not be deterred despite the death and destruction meted out by the Israeli army on the Gaza population and communities.

In the Shati refugee camp, Palestinian novelist Yousri Alghoul, whose library and home were destroyed by an israeli airstrike, has turned adversity into opportunity. pic.twitter.com/eG9VmKHLBG
— Jordan 🇮🇩🇵🇸 (@Mhmmd_Jordan) August 8, 2024

Today he leads informal poetry workshops for children, encouraging them to express their experiences despite the dire circumstances. Over 80% of Gaza’s schools have been damaged or destroyed, but the young poets continue to write.

Notable works include those from: Raouf Yousri Abdel Raouf Al Ghoul (12 years old): “I am a broken-necked bird, My existence among the rubble.” Mahmoud Al Hanawi (10 years old): “The birds of the sky wept, and the stars in the sky faded…”

On 13 July 2024, barely two weeks after mentoring the children, Alghoul’s friend was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Shati camp, and injuring him. He remains in a hospital but the young poets of Gaza are safe. They continue writing poems to bear witness to the war in Gaza.

Israeli airstrikes have deliberately targeted most universities, colleges, and schools in Gaza. According to the United Nations, more than 80 percent of Gaza’s schools have been damaged or destroyed since October 7, 2023.

The UN reports over 16,000 Palestinian children have been killed, more than 34,000 injured, and 17,000 orphaned. Gaza’s water capacity has plummeted by 94%, leading to severe shortages and a rise in waterborne diseases, including polio. Famine has also intensified due to the destruction of agriculture and delays in humanitarian aid according to the Quds News Network.

News

Horrific: Israeli Bombs 17 UNRWA Schools in July

CrossFireArabia
August 8, 2024

The UN Human Rights Office is horrified by the unfolding pattern of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) strikes on schools in Gaza killing internally displaced Palestinians seeking shelter there. Strikes on at least 17 schools just in the last month reportedly killed at least 163 Palestinians, including children and women – suggesting a failure to comply with the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precautions in carrying out these attacks.

🔴ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER WAR CRIME, ANOTHER MASSACRE🔴@Hind_Gaza reports on the bombing of @UNRWA school in #Gaza, where the blood of the victims is still pooled on the floor.

Thousands of refugees are sheltering in schools. So desperate, that they remain even after the bombing. pic.twitter.com/Ko6Pg44oNt
— Niz (@NizMhani) June 6, 2024

Such attacks are escalating. In the span of the last eight days, at least seven schools were targeted. On 27 July, Khadija School and the adjacent Ahmad Al Kurd School in Deir al Balah were struck, killing at least 30 Palestinians, reportedly including 15 children and 8 women. On 1 August, Dalal Moghrabi public school in Ash Shujaiyeh neighborhood in eastern Gaza City was struck killing 15 Palestinians, including children, followed on 3 August, by an attack on Hamama School and the adjacent Huda School in Shake Radwan in Gaza City, with initial reports indicating at least 16 Palestinians were killed, including children and women.

“A woman who took refuge in Al Mawasi said to us: ‘They told me to move to Rafah, then they told me it was no longer safe so I moved to Mawasi and here I am, my son was killed and my daughter is paralyzed.’ No place is safe in Gaza” @JulietteTouma @RTE https://t.co/Mn6fHr5a4o pic.twitter.com/uqFmEclaRB
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) August 8, 2024

On 4 August, Hassan Salame and Nasser Schools in An Nassr area in western Gaza City were attacked almost simultaneously, with initial reports suggesting at least 25 Palestinians, including children and women, were killed.

All seven schools were reportedly serving as shelters for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) while Khadija school was also serving as a field hospital. The Israeli military claims that Khadjia, Dalal Moghrabi, Hamama, Hassan Salame and Nasser schools were being used by “Hamas operatives”. Meanwhile, in the last four weeks, the UN Human Rights Office has recorded another 10 strikes on schools across Gaza.

While the collocation by armed groups of military objectives with civilians or the use of the presence of civilians with the objective of shielding a military objective from attack constitute violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) it does not negate Israel’s obligation to comply strictly with International Humanitarian Law, including the principles of proportionality, distinction and precaution when carrying out military operations. Israel, as the occupying power, is also obliged to provide the evacuated populations with basic humanitarian needs, including safe shelter.

🚨 The IOF once again bomb𝖊d the area where it carried out a horrific ma
𝔞ssacre (leading to 35 m𝔞rtyrs and 100 wounded) at the Khadija School in Deir Al-Balah in the central #Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/NaQSL5dSNq
— Moon 519 (@Semirehmani519) August 6, 2024

The UN Human Rights Office calls once more for an immediate cease-fire.

The Office is also extremely concerned by Israeli security forces’ (ISF) use of lethal force in the West Bank as it reportedly killed nine Palestinians on 3 August, five of which appeared to have been planned extra-judicial executions. According to information gathered by the UN Human Rights Office, including statements by Israeli authorities, ISF raided western areas of Tulkarem in the early morning of 3 August 2024, withdrawing after about two hours.

At around 06:20 am, ISF targeted a Palestinian vehicle on a road in Tulkarem with two consecutive airstrikes and killed five Palestinian men inside the vehicle, claiming that they were on the way to carry out a “terrorist attack”. At around 12:30 pm, after a raid by the ISF in south-western Tulkarem, ISF and four Palestinian armed men on a side road in Tulkarem engaged in an exchange of fire. The ISF then launched an airstrike against the four men, killed them.

Injured children arrive at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital after the IOF bombed Khadija School, which houses displaced people, in Deir al-Balah, in the central #Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/152dQW67n1
— MIB 63 (Truth Seeker) (@mib_63) August 3, 2024

The planned killing of individuals who do not represent an imminent threat to life as well as the regular recourse to military tactics and weapons of war in law enforcement operations in the occupied West Bank raises concerns of unnecessary or disproportionate, and unlawful, use of force.

On 4 August, in another disturbing incident, a Palestinian man from Salfit, occupied West Bank, reportedly stabbed and killed two Israelis and injured two others in Holon, Tel Aviv, after irregularly crossing into Israel. ISF reportedly shot and killed the assailant on the spot.

For more information and media requests, please contact:
UN Human Rights office at [email protected]

Tag and share
Twitter @OHCHR_Palestine
Facebook UN Human Rights Palestine

Reliefweb