from #Reuters
Exclusive: Some US officials say in internal memo #Israel may be violating international law in #Gaza
...included repeatedly striking protected sites and civilian infrastructure; "unconscionably high levels of civilian harm to military advantage"; taking little action ... to hold to account those responsible for significant civilian harm and "killing humanitarian workers and journalists at an unprecedented rate."
#WCK / Spanish PM says Israeli explanation of aid workers attack is 'insufficient and unacceptable'
[...] "That is unacceptable and insufficient, and we are awaiting a much stronger and more detailed clarification, after which we'll see what action to take,"
[…] The White House held a scaled-down #iftar dinner on Tuesday to celebrate Islam's holy month of #Ramadan, after some invitees turned the president down over frustrations in the Muslim community over his policy toward the Israel-Gaza war.
[…] Emgage Action, a Muslim American advocacy group, said it declined an invitation to Tuesday's dinner, citing Biden's "continued unconditional military aid to Israel," which they say has led to a "humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions."
[…] One of the attendees, Dr. Thaer Ahmad, an emergency room doctor who spent at least three weeks in Gaza, told CNN that he walked out of Tuesday's meeting before it ended.
[…] "Out of respect for my community, out of respect for all of the people who have suffered and who have been killed in the process, I needed to walk out of the meeting," Ahmad said.
#Palestine / Spain to recognise Palestinian statehood by July, leader says
[…] State news agency EFE and newspapers El Pais and La Vanguardia cited Sanchez as making the informal remarks to the travelling press corps late on Monday in the Jordanian capital, Amman, on the first day of visits to Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
[…] He expected Spain to extend recognition to the Palestinians by July, he said, adding that he believed there would soon be a "critical mass" within the European Union to push several member states to adopt the same position, according to EFE.
#Gaza / Israeli airstrike on Gaza kills seven working for food aid NGO
Hearing about the Israeli airstrike on Gaza which killed seven working for food aid NGO #WCK, I was reminded immediately of Meron Rapoport’s post about how Israel is sabotaging aid efforts. See Israel's Policy of Calculated Disorder in Gaza https://kolektiva.social/@oatmeal/112133541637687094.
There’s nothing much to add. At this point it does seem Israel is doing its best to sow chaos by killing foreign aid workers; as well as locals it agreed could assist in securing the deliveries.
[…] "This is not only an attack against #WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war," said Erin Gore, chief executive of World Central Kitchen.
[cont’d] UK summons Israeli ambassador over killing of aid workers
Foreign Ministry:
[…] "I set out the Government's unequivocal condemnation of the appalling killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers, including three British Nationals," Britain's Minister for Development and Africa, Andrew Mitchell, said.
[…] "I requested a quick and transparent investigation, shared with the international community, and full accountability."
Foreign Secretary David Cameron:
"Israel must urgently explain how this happened and make major changes to ensure safety of aid workers on the ground," Cameron said in the post.
[cont’d] #UK / Sunak: Britain urges Israel to investigate death of aid workers in Gaza
"We're asking Israel to investigate what happened urgently, because clearly there are questions that need to be answered," Sunak told reporters during a visit to northeast England.
from #Reuters :
Israeli forces left Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Monday after a two-week operation by special forces who detained hundreds of suspected Palestinian militants and left a wasteland of destroyed buildings.
[…] Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on Saturday that "famine" in Gaza can be dealt with in a short time if Israel opened the land crossings for aid to enter.
#Gaza / World court orders Israel to take action to address Gaza famine
[…] "The court observes that Palestinians in Gaza are no longer facing only a risk of famine (...) but that famine is setting in,"
[…] The judges added that this could be done "by increasing the capacity and number of land crossing points and maintaining them open for as long as necessary".
The court ordered Israel to submit a report in a month after the order to detail how it had given effect to the ruling.
#Palestine / Israel will stop working with UNRWA in Gaza, government spokesperson says
[…] "UNRWA are part of the problem, and we will now stop working with them. We are actively phasing out the use of UNRWA because they perpetuate the conflict rather than try and alleviate the conflict," spokesperson David Mencer told reporters.
Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir on "Face the Nation," October 1973 https://kolektiva.social/@oatmeal/112156039778990147 (on the Palestinian refugees issues, which is a result of Israel’s 1948 ethnic cleansing Israel never accepted responsibility for)
#Gaza / Israel besieges two more hospitals, demands their evacuation
[...] The Palestinian Red Crescent said one of its staff was killed when Israeli tanks suddenly pushed back into areas around Al-Amal and Nasser hospitals in the southern city of Khan Younis, amid heavy bombardment and gunfire.
[...] Israeli armoured forces sealed off Al-Amal Hospital and carried out extensive bulldozing operations in its vicinity, the Red Crescent said in a statement, adding: "All of our teams are in extreme danger at the moment and are completely immobilised."
#US / US Congress spending plan backs Israel, suspends funding to UNRWA for a year
If there was any doubt the US is complicit in the mess in Gaza, this vote, which has both Democrats (including Biden) and Republican support, should clear things up...
[…] the State Department appropriations bill continues a ban on U.S. funding for #UNRWA, the main U.N. agency for Palestinians, for at least a year. It also eliminates funding for the UN Commission of Inquiry against Israel and fully funds the annual U.S. security commitment of $3.3 billion for Israel.
#US / Dozens of former U.S. officials urge Biden to take harder line with Israel
Late is better than never …
"Tens of thousands of Gazan civilians have been killed, the majority of whom are women and children […] Civilian killings of this nature and magnitude cannot be justified […] The United States must be willing to take concrete action to oppose such practices, including restrictions on provision of (U.S.) assistance (to Israel) consistent with U.S. law and policy."
#UNRWA / Saudi Arabia boosts funding to UNRWA by $40 million targeting Gaza relief
[…] The donation by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief), which is dedicated to Gaza, comes as UNRWA faces a severe funding crunch after the United States and Britain paused support following Israel's accusations that a dozen of its 13,000 staff in Gaza took part in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on the country.
[…] #Canada, #Australia, and #Sweden have recently restored funding to UNRWA, while several Gulf countries, in addition to Saudi Arabia have increased funding.
#Gaza / EU closer to sanctioning violent Israeli settlers after Hungary allowing proposal to pass through
[…] diplomats said Budapest had now allowed proposed sanctions to pass through the EU system. Some said the sanctions could be approved by EU foreign ministers on Monday but others said more time would be needed.
[…] "There’s an agreement on working group level," said one diplomat.
[…] "The context in the region has worsened," said another, citing a possible reason for Hungary reversing its opposition.
[cont’d] EU agrees on sanctions on Hamas, violent West Bank settlers
[…] The EU created a sanctions regime specifically to target Hamas following the attack on Israel by Hamas on Oct. 7.
It will impose the additional Hamas sanctions before sanctioning the Israeli settlers, diplomats said.
[…] That sequencing was important for EU members close to Israel, such as Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic, which wanted to make clear they were not equating the two groups.
#UNRWA / Australia to resume funding to UN's main Palestinian relief agency
"We have children and families that are starving and we have a capacity along with the international community to assist them," Wong said at a news conference.
"We know that UNRWA is central and vital to delivering that assistance."
#Australia / Israel must change course in Gaza to keep international support
[…] "October 7th was a terrorist attack and the world was rightly very sympathetic to and in solidarity with Israel at that time, […]
I think the world is horrified with the current situation ... and I would say that unless Israel changes its course it will continue to lose support."
#UK / Activist slashes painting of British author of Jewish homeland declaration
"view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people"
[…] "Balfour’s declaration began the ethnic cleansing of Palestine by promising the land away — which the British never had the right to do," Palestine Action said in a caption accompanying the clip.
#GazaFamine / David Cameron: Israel should open its port at Ashdod north of Gaza
[…] U.S. officials said building such a facility could take weeks, yet hospitals in northern Gaza are already reporting children dying of malnutrition. The U.N. says opening up more land routes should remain the priority.
[…] "It's going to take time to build," British foreign minister David Cameron told reporters, adding that Israel should open its port at #Ashdod north of #Gaza for more aid deliveries in the meantime.
#US / Biden to announce Gaza aid port construction in State of the Union speech
[…] In his speech to Congress, #Biden will announce that he has ordered the U.S. military "to undertake an emergency mission to establish a port in #Gaza, working with like-minded countries and humanitarian partners," one of the officials said.
[cont’d] US dispatches aid ship to Gaza after Biden vows to build pier
[…] less than 36 hours after President #Biden announced the U.S. would provide humanitarian assistance to #Gaza by sea. Besson, a logistics support vessel, is carrying the first equipment to establish a temporary pier to deliver vital humanitarian supplies.