Poll: Israelis Support ‘Gang Rape’ of Palestinian Detainee

A recent poll by the Israeli institute for national security studies has highlighted a troubling trend in Israeli public opinion regarding military accountability. The survey shows that a majority of Israelis support only disciplinary action for soldiers, who were filmed gang-raping and severely abusing a Palestinian detainee, rather than criminal prosecution according to the Quds News Network.

65% of Israelis surveyed believe that the soldiers should be addressed through internal military discipline only, rather than facing criminal charges. In contrast, only 21% advocate for criminal prosecution.

Last week, the Israeli military attorney’s office and defense lawyers agreed on the release to house arrest of the five soldiers, who were filmed while raping a Palestinian man in the notorious Sde Teiman detention camp.

The poll also sheds light on broader sentiments towards Israel’s adherence to international law and moral standards in warfare. When asked whether Israel should comply with international legal norms and ethical standards during conflict, 47% of respondents said the occupation state should not.

The survey findings show significant alignment between public, official, and military positions in the occupation state regarding Israel’s policy of impunity on the international stage. Additionally, the poll queried how Israelis would advise their children regarding military service. A substantial 30% indicated they would encourage their children to enlist in combat roles.

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British Diplomat Resigns Over UK Arms Sales to Israel

A British Foreign Office official who worked on counter-terrorism has resigned in protest over arms sales to Israel. He said the British government “may be complicit in war crimes”.

His resignation is trending on the social media with commentary.

Mark Smith, who worked at the British Embassy in Dublin, wrote to colleagues on Friday that he had raised concerns “at every level” of the Foreign Office but to no avail.

Smith in his letter of resignation said he had previously worked on evaluating arms export licensing in the Middle East for the government, and that his colleagues “every day” were seeing “clear and indisputable examples” of war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law by Israel in Gaza.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office declined to comment on individual cases, but said the government was committed to upholding international law according to JO24.

One blogger states: “We wait with bated breath for this extremely serious matter to be covered by all of the mainstream media and for government ministers to be rigorously questioned.”

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Israeli Snipers Shoot Journalist Salma Al Qadoumi

Journalist Salma Al Qadoumi is just the latest to be shot in the back by Israeli gunfire in the Gaza Strip.

The incident is trending on the social media. The shooting occurred near Al Hamad City, north west Khan Yunis, Sunday.

 Videoclips show her taken from the ambulance on a stretcher and inside the Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Dier Al Balah in west central Gaza.

Nurses, doctors and people are shown around the wounded journalist.

The journalist appears to be awake but anxious, worried and in pain. 

She was part of a group of journalist that gathered around the Hamad City covering displaced people

One video captured by a Palestinian media worker shows an Israeli tank accelerating towards a group of Palestinian journalists in Khan Yunis, shooting directly at them as they were running. It was this attack that injured journalist Salma al-Qadoumi in the back.

Since 7 October 2023 168 journalists have been killed covering the Israeli onslaught on Gaza.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists say this is the bloodiest and most violent war against journalists since the CPJ begun reporting in 1992.

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Gaza: A Children’s Graveyard

In a recent statement, the UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini revealed that the number of children killed by Israel in Gaza in just over four months surpasses the total number of children killed worldwide in four years.

Eight months ago, just two months into the ongoing Israeli genocide that started soon after 7 October 2023 when Israel waged a full-scale war on the Gaza Strip, a World Health Organization official reported that an average of one Palestinian child was killed every 10 minutes in Gaza.

He described the war as “humanity’s darkest hour.”

Today the number of Palestinians killed, many of which are women and children, stand at over 40,000 through non-stop Israeli bombardment. This is while the number of Palestinians that have been killed has passed the 92,000-mark.

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Israel Kills Over 40,000 Palestinians Since 7 Oct.

The number of those civilians killed in Gaza surpassed 40,000 over the months since 7 October, 2003 stated the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Thursday.

The figure is trending on the social media and is being recorded by different websites. The Health Ministry has stated that 51.4 percent of the death are women and children.

Just as the latest numbers were being announced  three were killed in Biet Hanoon, north Gaza, by a missile fired by an Israeli reconnaissance plane bringing the total number to 40005.

The numbers can be broken down still for the percentage of children killed stand at 33 percent out of the total dead, 18.4 percent for women and 8.6 percent of elderly persons.

“To those who doubt the numbers of killed, I say that every martyr has a name, a picture and a story pointed out the Director-General of the Health Ministry Dr Munir Al Bursh.

Meanwhile General Secretary of the National Palestinian Initiative Dr Mustapha Al-Barghouti that “The crimes of the occupation will not stop as long as their perpetrators escape punishment.”

A Health Ministry statement added that some 92,401 others have been injured in the 10-month-old offensive.

“Israeli forces killed 40 people and injured 107 others in three ‘massacres’ of families in the last 24 hours,” the ministry said.

“Many people are still trapped under rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added according to the Anadolu, the Turkish news agency.

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