CrossFireArabia
20-year-old Palestinian administrative detainee Ahmad Tazaaz’a, from Jenin, died, Sunday, in the Israeli prison of Megiddo.
His family says he had no prior health issues prior to his detention nine months ago.
His death brings the death toll among detainees to 76 since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, during which extreme violence, including torture and starvation, has been widely used against the detainees.
CrossFireArabia
Around 2,400 Israeli artists and architects have signed two separate petitions demanding an immediate end to Israel’s starvation policy, forced displacement of Palestinians and war crimes in Gaza, Israeli media reported Sunday.
The Walla news outlet said that approximately 1,000 Israeli cultural figures including prominent names in music, theater, literature and film signed a petition calling for “an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.”
“We, the artists of Israel, refuse to be complicit — against our will — in the atrocities committed in Gaza: the killing of children and civilians, starvation, displacement and the senseless destruction of Gaza’s cities,” the petition said according to Anadolu.
“We appeal to decision-makers: Stop! Do not issue unlawful orders. Do not commit war crimes. Do not abandon ethical and humanitarian principles or the values of Judaism,” it added.
The petition concluded with a clear demand: “Stop the war. Bring the hostages home.”
A second petition, also reported by Walla, was signed by nearly 1,400 visual artists, designers and architects. It described the situation in Gaza as “horror on a historic scale” and warned of a deepening humanitarian catastrophe.
“The Israeli public bears responsibility for what is happening just a few kilometers away,” it stated.
Earlier Sunday, the Gaza Health Ministry said the number of Palestinians who have died from starvation caused by the Israeli blockade has reached 175, including 93 children, since Israel’s genocide began in October 2023.
The Israeli army, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 60,800 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
CrossFireArabia
By Ali Saada
The visit of US envoy Steve Witkoff to the Gaza Strip is nothing more than a certificate of good conduct to war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu and his gang, and an endorsement for them to continue their war of starvation and to implementing their plan, which aligns with the desires, wishes, and dreams of Donald Trump and his “Gaza Riviera.”
It is an attempt to abort, calm, and cool the growing international outcry and anger over the massacres perpetrated against those awaiting aid, and an attempt to whitewash the ugly face of the US administration.
This is a propaganda and media appearance, drenched in blood, at the expense of the suffering and lives of Gaza’s children and women, by officials who lack even the most basic sense of humanity. This is intended to present a “false” image of the humanitarian situation, to downplay the impact of the images of famine and starvation spreading globally, and to suggest that the situation is under control.
What the occupation wants is an agreement that preserves its interests and ensures the removal of Hamas from power. This agreement may include arrangements for the “transfer of the population of the Gaza Strip,” without committing to reconstruction or substantially alleviating the humanitarian situation.
The agreement should be limited to the entry of aid, a partial withdrawal, a prisoner exchange, and a permanent ceasefire.
In any case, the US administration bears full responsibility for the worsening famine in the Gaza Strip. According to dozens of UN organizations and civil society institutions, including Israeli “human rights” organizations, as well as press and human rights reports, the occupation is committing genocide and, along with American snipers and mercenaries, has transformed aid distribution centers into death traps.
The US aid company has become a lethal criminal tool contributing to the engineering of hunger and the killing of civilians, in a scheme that goes beyond starvation and killing to the destruction of the foundations of Palestinian life and existence, as a starting point for the forced displacement project. The US administration is an essential part of the war of starvation against the Palestinian people, working directly to support the occupation and cover up its crimes.
Wittkoff’s visit to the US aid company is an official American cover for continuing its crimes against the starving and an attempt to point to a blatant moral collapse. It is an attempt to beautify the image of the occupation and fabricate lies about the reality of aid. The truth is that famine is spreading and expanding in the Strip, amid the blocking of aid, the closure of crossings, and the creation of chaos in Gaza by aid-stealing gangs operating under Israeli protection.
Witkoff’s visit is clear evidence of the need to include the United States in the cases before the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, as a de facto partner and complicit in the genocide and war crimes committed in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
This article was originally published in Arabic in Al Sabeel electronic newspaper in Amman.
Dr Khairi Janbek
It is hoped that the appeals for more recognitions of the Palestine state in the UN General Assembly in New York will increase pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition partners to drastically change course and make the Palestinian state a reality.
Notwithstanding the US neutrality recognition, at least as things stand now, coupled with the increased efforts from the European Union, Israel stands to be ostracized in the international community.
One point remains rather curious however, is UK’s Premier Keir Starmer’s condition being that Britain will recognize a Palestinian state if Israel refuses to accept a ceasefire on Gaza.
For all intents and purposes, it seems what Starmer is interested in, is basically a ceasefire and then Palestinian state, but then again this is for the British government to ponder on in the face of the rolling train of recognitions.
But what does this recognition entails in practical terms? It basically means the stalled Oslo negotiations since 1993 are to be revived again, and if need be on different terms than what was envisioned before. Here one says different terms because the Oslo agreements were guaranteed by the world powers and nothing came out of them.
Indeed much more must be done by the world community, especially that now, we have a more difficult and intransigent Israeli government which needs above all else to accept, at least in principle, the two-state solution.
But also and at the same time time, the recognition of a Palestinian state entails the recognition of a Palestinian leadership with the ability and responsibility to represent the Palestinian people.
One supposes there is a general consensus on that now since the current PNA has become defunct and its current leadership obsolete in front of the immense responsibilities and tasks ahead.
In brief, it would be a mere rhetorical smokescreen to call on recognizing a Palestinian state without actually paving the way for the creation of such a state by totally changing the current PNA leadership via honest elections supervised by the international community and which represent the will of the Palestinian people.
Of course one cannot but insist, that the Arab role in the newly envisaged peace process is crucial. One also cannot help but think that the role of Saudi Arabia will be crucial for the next phase. For start, the precondition of Saudi for any form of dealings with Israel, is for the latter to accept the principle of two-state solution, and in fairness it must be clarified that the French-Saudi initiative which led Emmanuel Macron to recognize a Palestinian state was supposed to be declared in in Paris.
But now due to this effort, it has become an international case at the UN. Israel has failed with all of its endeavors to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia without giving any concessions, mainly the acceptance of the precondition of the recognition of the two-state solution, and now it is facing both the pressure of the international community and the condition of the Saudis, especially they shift their strategy from the UAE to India, and without the Saudis they will have nothing in the Gulf.
But still there is the bleeding wound of Gaza, the wound which can never start to heal without a collective Arab effort led by the Saudis which takes back to the conundrum of Israel’s acceptance of the principle of Palestinian state. Only then can Saudi Arabia lead the Arab effort, to first of all disarm Hamas, give an amnesty to Hamas members, and exile its leadership out of Gaza, in the hope of rehabilitating the strip and start in earnest the reconstruction efforts.
CrossFireArabia
This is a statement made by Jolien Veldwijk, CARE Palestine Country Director
The testimonies of our colleagues and partners, combined with the analysis of technical experts are clear – famine is happening in Gaza. Palestinians are suffering a manmade famine, caused by Israel’s siege and the deliberate obstruction of aid, and fueled by the inaction of world leaders. The haunting images of emaciated children are evidence of a failure of humanity to act. Using starvation as a weapon is a war crime under international humanitarian law.
More than 100 deaths from malnutrition have been recorded already. Sadly, we know this will accelerate in the coming days. It is already too late to save the lives of many of the most vulnerable, including the elderly, disabled and infants. Over 40% of pregnant and breastfeeding women are severely malnourished, while nearly one in five children under the age of five in Gaza City is acutely malnourished. Bringing people back from the brink of starvation requires specialized medical treatment, not just food and water. For many, especially children, the damage will be permanent.
After more than 20 months of political inaction, world leaders must finally take decisive action. We urge the international community to finally secure an immediate and lasting ceasefire, the release of hostages and arbitrarily detained people, and full, safe, unhindered, immediate and sustained access to principled humanitarian aid to all people in need in Gaza. Israeli authorities must end the siege on Gaza, immediately open all border crossings to let aid in and allow humanitarians to do our jobs safely.
For media inquiries, please email [email protected], or contact Sulafah Al-Shami, CARE’s Regional Communications Advisor, MENA, [email protected]
