The international press continues to shed light on the developments in Israel's war on the Gaza Strip and the difficulties facing its forces there, as well as the possibility of the confrontation expanding to other fronts in the region.

An article in Foreign Policy magazine questioned Israel's ability to win what it called the "battle of the tunnels," noting that destroying the Gaza tunnel network is a cumbersome and slow process.

The article pointed to questions that began to be raised by experts and analysts that cast doubt on the success of the Israeli occupation army in its struggle with the tunnels, and called for drawing lessons from this “campaign.”

The French newspaper Le Monde said, in a report from occupied Jerusalem, that the extreme right in Israel is confusing the war government, making it unable to determine options other than continuing a war that seems to have no end.

The newspaper added that the past few days have brought to light all the contradictions of Benjamin Netanyahu's government, pointing to the intensity of pressure from nationalists in the government on Netanyahu, which forced him to cancel some meetings.

In an article in the Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post, writer David Brin said that the most important lesson in the Gaza war is that absolute victory is no longer possible as was the case in 1967.

Brin added that Israel's opponents today have become very strong and the geopolitical conditions are very complex. He continued, saying, "It is unfortunate that the next day for Israel in Gaza means the beginning of dealing with Lebanon as the next battlefield."

In turn, Amos Harel saw in an article in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that military confrontation may be the only remaining option in the north.

The article warned that the situation on the northern front is no less complicated than in Gaza, and that it is likely to deteriorate further, “not only because Hezbollah and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) will seek to avenge the killing of Saleh Al-Arouri, but also because Israel is in an already complicated situation, which may "It pushes it to take broader military action."

As for the American newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, it quoted a senior American official - whose name was not mentioned - in his comment on the tension in the Red Sea that Washington is walking on a tightrope in the region. The official called on regional actors to use their influence to avoid escalation, stressing that the United States It will defend its ships and crews crossing the region.

He expected his country's talks with Israel regarding Gaza to be difficult, reiterating the existence of differences between the two parties regarding who will rule the Gaza Strip after the war.

As for the British Economist magazine, it analyzed what it called the confusion of European diplomacy regarding the war in Gaza, and its analysis concluded that Europe is divided, and that this happens whenever the European Union needs to deal with a crisis outside its space.

It said that what is worse than the division in opinion is the inability of Europeans to make their voices heard, and "the war in Gaza has once again reminded them of this fact."

Source: Al Jazeera + American press + British press + French press

Today, Sunday, Israeli occupation forces assaulted a young Palestinian near the town of Ainabus, south of Nablus.

Medical sources said that the occupation forces severely beat a young man (29 years old) from the town of Zeta while he was near the town of Ainabus, and he was transferred to Rafidiya Hospital to receive treatment.

Three Palestinians, including a 4-year-old girl and a woman, were killed this evening, Sunday, by Israeli forces, allegedly in an “attempt to thwart” a run-over attack near the “Ras Biddu” checkpoint, which separates the towns of Biddu and Beit Iksa, northwest of the occupied city of Jerusalem.

Eyewitnesses reported that the occupation forces opened fire on two vehicles as they passed through the checkpoint, wounding two people (a man and a woman) who were in the same vehicle, claiming that they had tried to carry out a ramming attack.

Israeli media confirmed that they died of critical injuries.

A child who was in another vehicle was also hit by occupation bullets, and Israeli ambulance crews quickly announced that she had died as a result of her injury “accidentally.”

Today, Sunday, Israeli occupation forces arrested four citizens from the town of Jabal Mukaber, south of occupied Jerusalem.

Local sources reported that the occupation forces stormed the town and arrested: Osama Al-Jalil, Thaer Khalil, Bahjat Khalil, and Hussam Shteiwi, and imposed financial fines on the residents.

In the same context, the occupation forces obstructed the movement of citizens and searched their vehicles at the Shuafat Camp military checkpoint, north of occupied Jerusalem.

In another context, the occupation authorities extended the detention period of the young man Abdullah Jaber from the Old City of occupied Jerusalem until next Sunday, and he has been detained since the nineteenth of last month.

By Denijal Jegić

German support for Israel is used as a cover to ramp up racist anti-immigration policies and downplay homegrown anti-Semitism.

­­­­­­Since Israel launched its latest war on Gaza, Germany has stood firmly by its ally. Even as warnings of a genocide committed by Israeli forces have mounted, the German government has not budged. On October 12, Chancellor Olaf Scholz proclaimed that “there is only one place for Germany” which is “side by side with Israel” and indeed it has not moved from this stance. 

The German government has not only provided wide-ranging political and diplomatic support for Israel, but has also fast-tracked arms exports to facilitate the­­­ Israeli slaughter of Palestinian civilians.

The German political elite has vehemently rejected calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and relentlessly repeated the false claim that under international law, Israel has the “right to defend itself” from the Palestinian population it occupies. It continues to disregard decades of apartheid and ethnic cleansing.

The German political elite has justified its stance with the alleged feeling of guilt for the Holocaust and the need to make amends by supporting Israel, considering its security “Germany’s reason of state”. But under the cover of “acting morally” and “atoning for its crimes”, German politicians and officials are actually seeking to further normalize anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racism, justify more draconian anti-immigration policies, and downplay the persisting anti-Semitism among white Germans.

Anti-Palestinianism as a state policy

The marginalization of Palestinians within German society and the suppression of pro-Palestinian activism are not a new phenomenon in Germany. Long before October 7, the anti-Palestinian tactics of the German authorities were already escalating. Protests were banned, pro-Palestinian voices, including those of Jewish activists, were silenced, and cultural events and award ceremonies were cancelled.

It is thus unsurprising that the crackdown on protests and police violence have increased in recent weeks. Numerous pro-Palestinian demonstrations have been banned, sometimes only minutes before they were supposed to begin, or allowed to take place only with heavy police presence. Bureaucrats have cited threats to public safety and potential display of anti-Semitism as reasons for the bans.

Hundreds of protesters were detained in the first weeks after Israel launched its war on Gaza. Many have experienced police violence and some have been put under investigation for incitement to hatred. Even anti-Zionist voices among the small Jewish minority have come under attack. The freedom of speech in regards to pro-Palestinian activism has also been suppressed. Recently, the Federal Ministry of the Interior banned the slogan “from the river to the sea”, considering it a call to destroy Israel. The state of Bavaria has labelled the phrase a “symbol of terrorism”.

The Christian Democratic Union (CDU), one of Germany’s leading parties, has also made clear that the words “free Palestine” have no place in Germany and denounced the phrase as “a war cry of an internationally active terror gang”, claiming it would mean “the extinction of the Jewish state, the only democracy in the region, by Islamist terrorists”. Free speech has been under attack in educational institutions as well. With German universities following the government’s pro-Israel stance, students who have protested on campus have faced police violence and smear campaigns in the media.

Pro-Palestinian symbols, such as the keffiyeh scarf, have been banned by some institutions. In one school in Berlin, a teacher physically assaulted a student who raised the Palestinian flag. This systematic suppression of pro-Palestinian activism reflects the dystopian-like reality in Germany in which opposition to genocide is viewed as an act of disloyalty to the German state and could thus justify criminalization. 

The German authorities have clearly identified anti-Palestinianism as a national interest and a state policy. They wholeheartedly support Israel’s existence in its current apartheid form which requires continuous violence against the indigenous Palestinian population. This is, of course, not in contradiction to Germany’s own genocidal history and continuous racism.

Blaming immigrants for German racism

The genocide in Gaza has further strengthened the already omnipresent xenophobic and racist sentiments in Germany. The German authorities have actively sought to portray Muslims and Arabs in particular, and ethnic minorities in general, as dangerous to German society. 

On November 8, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called on Germans of Palestinian and Arab descent to distance themselves from Hamas and anti-Semitism. Thus, he implicitly put an entire demographic under general suspicion of terrorism, as the Palestinian resistance movement has been designated a “terrorist organization” by the German state.

A little more than a week later, a draft law was submitted to the German parliament that tied German citizenship to a formal commitment to “Israel’s right to exist”. A month later, the state of Saxony-Anhalt issued its own decree, demanding from applicants for citizenship to declare their support for “Israel’s right to exist”.

In November, Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann said in an interview: “We do not want anti-Semites to become German citizens.” The claims that immigrants pose a terror risk and carry and spread anti-Semitism have been used as a justification to change Germany’s migration and refugee policy.

CDU leader Friedrich Merz said Germany could not accommodate more refugees from Gaza, claiming, “We have enough anti-Semitic young men in the country.” Already, legal measures are being taken to decrease immigration. In October, the federal government backed a draft law allowing for a tougher deportation policy that would make it easier to expel rejected asylum seekers. But the unhinged racist and xenophobic sentiments in the country are not only reflected in policies. They now define what appears to be a society-wide consensus captured in a manifesto published by German right-wing tabloid BILD, lecturing immigrants on how they needed to behave in Germany.

Referencing the arrival of Arab refugees in the past decade, the newspaper laid out 50 points of instruction on what is permissible or not accepted in Germany. The introduction to the manifesto states: “Our world is in chaos, and we are right in the middle of it. Since the terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel, we are experiencing a new dimension of hatred in our country – against our values, democracy, and against Germany.” Then it goes on to declare that Germany must say “NO!” to anti-Semitism and that “we love life, not death”, “we say please and thank you”, “we don’t wear masks or veils” and “we don’t marry off children. And men can’t have more than one wife.” The rabid Islamophobia of the manifesto is more than apparent. But beyond that, it reflects the absurdity of white Germans considering themselves “under threat” and “victims” at a time when the Palestinian population is facing genocide in their own homeland. 

It also exposes the deep-rooted white supremacy in German society. Indeed, the reaction of the German authorities to what is going on in Gaza demonstrates that they want to strengthen and solidify racist hierarchies in German society: white Germans at the top and people from “the Third World”, including victims of Israeli violence, at the bottom, doing in silence dirty menial jobs and being expected to show their gratitude and “integrate” into German society.

Covering up German anti-Semitism

But there is something even more pernicious about misrepresenting anti-Semitism in Germany as a foreign “import”, brought to the country by non-white immigrants. This increasingly popular lie obfuscates Germany’s brutal, anti-Jewish history and somehow dumps blame for the suffering of Jewish people onto Palestinians who are victims of a European racist, settler-colonial regime.It also covers up the German society’s anti-Semitic present. Anti-Jewish sentiment still persists in Germany. According to official statistics, the vast majority of documented anti-Semitic incidents are committed by the political right.

It is not coincidental that the far-right party AfD has reached an all-time peak in popularity in recent weeks. According to polls from mid-December, it is now standing at 23 percent, second only to the right-wing CDU and far ahead of any of the parties in the current governing coalition.

AfD representatives have glorified German ethno-nationalism and downplayed the crimes of the Nazi regime while consistently insisting that immigrants are anti-Semitic and demanding that the federal government prioritize combatting “imported anti-Semitism”. This combination of Zionism and toxic German nationalism may further fuel racist violence against minorities, including the Jewish community. Germany’s anti-Palestinianism needs to be viewed not as a reaction to, but rather a continuation of, Germany’s racist crimes. Palestinians and other victims of Israeli and German violence have never been considered human enough.

Like Germany’s colonial genocides and its support for apartheid in South Africa and racist regimes elsewhere – which never received sufficient attention in public discourse – its role in the genocide in Palestine upholds racist hierarchies and its own self-image as a “civilized” and “morally superior” nation.

The German-backed slaughter of Palestinians thus serves to strengthen the fantasies of white, ethnic German supremacy.

By Nayef Zidani

Several Israeli journalists and analysts indicated today, Sunday, that the confrontation between the Israeli occupation army and the Lebanese Hezbollah may deteriorate into a wide-scale war if diplomatic efforts fail. Some of them considered that the main war front has shifted from Gaza to Lebanon due to the escalation of battles, especially Yesterday, Saturday.

Journalist Yossi Yehoshua wrote in Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper that although Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah is “sending signals about his search for a strategy to exit the current round of fighting, yesterday the party bombed a strategic target in the Northern Command.”

Yehoshua considered that, “Three months after the strike on Israel by Hamas in the south, and despite the presence of a large number of occupation soldiers still fighting today in the Gaza Strip, Gaza is no longer the main war front,” adding: “ Even if Israel and Hezbollah had not planned for things to deteriorate this way, we can no longer close our eyes and talk to ourselves about another normal day of battles. The events of the weekend indicated another escalation, even if Hezbollah has not yet launched missiles over long distances that would cost it the declaration. "Officially, there is a wide-scale war, and it is clear that the escalation may get out of control."

The Israeli writer pointed out that “Hezbollah not only intensively launched dozens of rockets towards Israeli military targets, but it also fired towards a strategic target in the Northern Command” as part of the response to the assassination of Saleh Al-Arouri, deputy head of the political bureau of Hamas, while the occupation army, in turn, bombed several Targets in Lebanon.

Despite the escalation, the writer saw that efforts are still continuing to avoid escalation: “International efforts are continuing in an attempt to reach a formula that leads to calm, and Nasrallah’s recent speech seemed like his exit strategy from the round of battles,” but despite this, “this does not convince Defense Minister Yoav Galant indicated that Israel also prefers the diplomatic path, but at the same time hinted that time is running out.

The newspaper indicated that Israel informed Amos Hockstein, the American mediator between Lebanon and the Israeli occupation, who visited Israel last Thursday, that Israel will not give up its request to “remove the threat on the front line.”

Hezbollah's continued focus on the north

For his part, the military analyst in the newspaper "Haaretz", Amos Harel, believes that Israel is still containing the current situation in the north, and considers it the least bad thing. Regarding the intense missile attacks yesterday, Harel said that they "did not result in any casualties, but they targeted sites further south." "More importantly, is the main target around which the launch operations were focused, Jabal al-Jarmaq (Meron in Hebrew), where the northern air surveillance unit of the Israeli Air Force is stationed, and where radars monitor all movement in the Syrian and Lebanese airspace." .

Harel considered, "At the present time, the most likely possibility is that Hezbollah will continue to focus on the north of the country, and not try to expand the confrontation to its center (i.e., launch missiles over greater distances). However, these estimates can be misleading."

Harel continues that the limits of bombing between the two parties seem satisfactory to Israel so far: “We have reached a situation in which Israel considers that the large-scale shooting, which has been ongoing for three months, and which led to the evacuation of tens of thousands of its citizens from their homes, is the least bad option. As long as the response Hezbollah appears within the current scope, while Israel is also limiting the scope and intensity of its attacks.

As for the Israeli writer and commentator Zvi Barel, he considered, in an analytical article in the Haaretz newspaper, that Hassan Nasrallah “sees that there is an opportunity to settle the borders, but the military confrontation has its own rules,” and that “the front closest to deterioration is the Lebanon front.”

Bar'el added, "The Secretary-General of Hezbollah fulfilled his promise yesterday to avenge the assassination of Al-Arouri, but he is still moving cautiously in the deterrence equation. The organization's approval of the final demarcation of the land borders between Israel and Lebanon may push the diplomatic channel between the two parties forward. But there are still many problems." Obstacles in the way."

Barel points out that there is an opportunity to reduce the escalation: “At the same time, Nasrallah also had an important statement that may strengthen the diplomatic channel between Israel and Lebanon,” by which he means Nasrallah’s indication, during his last speech, of the existence of a historic opportunity to liberate all Lebanese territory and establish the equation that prevents the (Israeli) enemy is violating Lebanon’s sovereignty, which the Israeli writer considered a call by Nasrallah to demarcate the land borders between Israel and Lebanon, which may constitute a way out of the war and prevent its deterioration, adding that the American mediator Amos Hockstein is trying to push in this direction.

On the other hand, the writer pointed out that “completing the demarcation of the borders, especially in the Shebaa Farms area, will require overcoming a difficult political obstacle that does not relate only to Lebanon or Israel. Israel claims - and the United Nations supports its claim - that these lands were under Syrian sovereignty, and that it occupied them in The Six-Day War. Therefore, any border settlement in the Shebaa Farms will take place within the framework of negotiations with Syria and not with Lebanon. Lebanon, for its part, claims that the region is subject to its sovereignty.”

Bar'el said, "The main question is whether the Lebanese government and American mediation efforts will succeed in severing the relationship between Gaza and Lebanon, and essentially, whether the violent dialogue between Israel and Hezbollah will not mix the cards and cause a comprehensive confrontation that may turn into a regional war?"

Source: Alaraby Aljadeed

Today, Sunday, an Israeli minister and parliamentarian launched new calls to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, despite widespread Palestinian, regional and international criticism of these calls.

Today, the extremist Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, spoke about the “day after” the war and the future of the residents of Gaza, who have been subjected to a devastating Israeli aggression for more than three months.

The extremist minister and head of the “Jewish Power” party told the official Kan channel: “I am in favor of encouraging voluntary immigration,” and added, speaking about the Palestinians in Gaza: “Take them and send them to the countries that want to receive them,” according to his claim.

The extremist minister continued his statements, saying: “I believe that hundreds of thousands of them will rise up and leave Gaza today.”

Displacement of the population of the Gaza Strip

Since last October 7, the Israeli army has launched a devastating aggression against Gaza, which as of yesterday, Saturday, left 22,722 martyrs, 58,166 wounded, massive infrastructure destruction, and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, according to the Gaza Strip authorities and the United Nations.

For his part, Knesset Member Danny Danon said: “If there is a person who wants to leave Gaza, and there is a country that can receive him, this is correct from a humanitarian point of view,” he claimed.

Danon added in an interview with the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth published on Sunday: “I was the first to raise the issue of the displacement of Gazans on the agenda.”

Danon, who previously served as Israel's permanent representative to the United Nations, continued: "Let us not mislead the public. Not all Gazans will leave, but if each country receives ten thousand Gazans, the number could reach hundreds of thousands."

About 2.4 million Palestinians live in Gaza, who, even before the current war, were suffering from catastrophic conditions, as a result of an ongoing Israeli siege of the Strip since 2006.

Arab and international condemnations

The statements of Ben Gvir and the extremist Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, regarding the necessity of displacing the Palestinians from Gaza, sparked angry Palestinian, regional, and international reactions.

Last week, Kan quoted Smotrich as saying, “More than 70% of the Israeli public supports a humanitarian solution to encourage voluntary immigration of Gaza Arabs and their absorption in other countries.”

Meanwhile, Ben Gvir said on the “X” platform: “We must strengthen the solution to encourage the migration of Gaza’s residents, as this is the correct, just, moral and humane solution.”

Western countries, including the United States, France, Britain, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, and Slovenia, in addition to the European Union, condemned these statements and officially announced their rejection of the displacement of Gaza’s residents as it violates international law.

Arab and Islamic countries, including Qatar, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, also condemned the Israeli calls to displace Gazans from their land, stressing that they represent contempt for international laws and agreements and aim to liquidate the Palestinian cause.

The Washington Post newspaper had indicated the day before yesterday, “The fate of the people of the Gaza Strip is still ambiguous, and returning to its north is fraught with dangers, while the voices of the extreme right in Israel are getting louder regarding their displacement.”

The newspaper pointed out that the controversial proposals presented by some Israeli officials to evacuate Gaza residents to camps in Egypt or other countries, sparked divisions with Washington, Europe, and the United Nations.

It added that these proposals could amount to ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian Strip, which is the basis on which South Africa built its complaint to sue Israel in the International Court of Justice.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced on Sunday that the death toll from the Israeli war on the Strip had risen to 22,835 dead since October 7.

The ministry said, in a statement on the Telegram platform: “On the 93rd day of the brutal Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip... the Israeli occupation is committing 12 massacres against families, claiming 113 dead and 250 injuries during the past 24 hours.”

It reported that “the toll of the Israeli aggression has risen to 22,835 dead and 58,416 injuries since October 7th.”

The previous toll, which the ministry announced on Saturday, was 22,722 dead and 58,166 wounded, in addition to massive infrastructure destruction and an unprecedented humanitarian disaster.

The American "Time" magazine published a report prepared by Mallory Muench in which she said that last month, Reham Shaheen's daughter cried all day from hunger, and the crying made her sick, and she fell asleep while waiting to finish cooking the only meal she ate that day.

Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, Shaheen has been stuck in Jordan, far from her home, her husband, and her three children in Gaza. She said: “I spent two days unable to eat, thinking about my daughter, who could not get food.” She says that the family receives flour from the United Nations, but it is not enough to feed 24 people living in the same tent in Rafah, south of Gaza. They struggle to get canned food or goods at the market, where prices have risen tenfold, and they have to wait hours in queues to get what little.

Children and the elderly come to hospitals due to poor nutrition, and lose weight quickly if they are exposed to infection, says Professor Nick Maynard, a senior surgeon at Oxford University Hospital and a leading expert in emergency clinical medicine, in an audio message to the magazine.

But the situation on the ground in Gaza is worse than Maynard described from a distance, with drones whizzing in the background all the time. He says that humanitarian relief organizations have always sounded sirens that Gaza is facing famine. The United Nations said that one in four suffers from hunger, and one in every 9 families in some areas of Gaza spends the day and night without food. In a report published by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, it was estimated that 2 million people in Gaza will face severe levels of food insecurity, and one in four families will face famine-like conditions.

After the Hamas attack on Israel in October, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant ordered a total blockade on Gaza: “There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, and everything will stop.”

On October 16, Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz (now Foreign Minister) said that he opposed lifting the blockade, while National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said, on October 17, that no aid should enter Gaza as long as the Hostages held by Hamas.

Israel began allowing aid to enter Gaza on October 21, but human rights organizations and legal experts point to these Israeli statements and actions that led to the hunger crisis as evidence of the use of starvation as a weapon in the war on Gaza.

International law covering war stipulates that “the intentional use of starvation of civilians as a means of war, depriving them of materials indispensable for their survival, and deliberately obstructing the access of food supplies” is considered a violation.

Catriona Murdoch of Global Rights Compliance, a leading legal expert who has studied starvation in Syria, South Sudan, Yemen and Ukraine, says that when it comes to Israeli rhetoric, “it's really blatant in terms of declaring their intentions.”

In response to questions from the magazine, Colonel Elad Goren, head of the Civil Department, “Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories,” which supervises the entry of aid into Gaza, said, “The narrative about a siege is not entirely true.” Goren said that Israel provides 28 million liters of water daily to Gaza, has allowed 126,000 tons of aid to enter since the beginning of the war, and this week increased the number of trucks from 70 to 126 trucks.

Goren said: “According to our assessment based on our dialogue with the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations, there are sufficient quantities of food in Gaza, and we will continue to push for humanitarian organizations to obtain more trucks at the border and distribute them. However, we heard voices calling for more support for Gaza.”

He added: “We did not stand, and we will not stand, in the face of distributing humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, who are not part of terrorism, and they are not our enemies.”

However, Juliette Tohme, Director of Communications at the United Nations Agency UNRWA, told the magazine that the number of trucks, including trucks loaded with commercial goods, had decreased from about 500 trucks, during official work and since the beginning of the war. Adding that there is not enough support. In the last week of December, the United Nations said that food support reached 8% of the population in need.

Jeremy Lawrence, spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the magazine that, “because of Israeli restrictions, the level of life-saving humanitarian assistance reaching the Gaza Strip is minimal, and far below the survival needs of the civilian population.” “.

Goren said that Israel is prepared to increase what the United Nations receives, and that other groups must increase their capabilities in terms of the number of trucks and workers, extend working hours, improve packaging operations and implement a QR system to track delivery.

The United Nations responded to Israel's accusations that it was responsible for the gap in aid access. In December, Secretary-General António Guterres said that the way Israel is managing the military campaign "created many obstacles." The United Nations said it was unable to deliver aid this week due to “delays and prevention” as well as military operations.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in an email that support is hampered by security risks and restrictions on movement, including constant inspections and long lines at checkpoints and destroyed streets. The office’s statement said: “Support operations inside Gaza face continuous bombardment, as relief workers have been killed, and some humanitarian convoys have been shot at.”

Tohme said that the Israeli army opened fire on an aid convoy that was heading south between Gaza City and the Nuseirat camp, on December 28. In response to the report, Goren said: “This is a war zone, and we facilitate the entry and movement of many humanitarian organizations, and if there are allegations, we will deal with the information, investigate it, and respond to the agency.” UN officials say a ceasefire and easier, unrestricted passage of commercial goods is necessary to prevent famine.

Some legal experts believe that international laws have been violated, and Human Rights Watch built on statements by Israeli officials and interviews with residents in the Gaza Strip regarding food shortages, and evidence of bombing and destruction of infrastructure and sources, and accused Israel, in a report in December , responsible for starvation as a war crime.

The use of starvation and siege as part of war is not new. It was used in the Biafran War in Nigeria, the siege of Sarajevo in Bosnia, in Syria, and against the Tigray region in Ethiopia.

In an article published by Alex de Waal, director of the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University, he said that the destruction of life-necessary materials in Gaza “exceeds any man-made famine that has occurred in the past 75 years.”

He told De Waal that starvation warnings were issued: “If you do not modify your behavior based on the reactions, you will become responsible because you acted with the knowledge that this would be the result.” Regarding Israel’s actions in Gaza, he replied: “The fact that they continued to launch this attack, knowing the outcome, is reckless and a crime of the second degree, amounting to a crime against humanity according to the legal arguments of scholars.”

Murdoch comments that circumstantial evidence is sufficient to prove starvation as a war crime, and if the information is found and the behavior continues, and that it will lead to starvation of civilians, then the supervisors will be held responsible.

She added that starvation, as a war crime, had never been brought to trial before. But her organization submitted a report in which it argued that it was happening in South Sudan, and she wanted her group to be allowed to conduct an independent investigation in Gaza. The issue could be addressed before the International Court of Justice, which will discuss, next week, the request from South Africa, which mentioned starvation.

But the case may last for years. We will not do much for Shaheen’s family at the present time.

Source: Sama News

Israeli media revealed, on Sunday, January 7, 2024, that three ministers from the “National Camp” party led by Benny Gantz will not participate in the weekly government session on Sunday, due to the attack on the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army, Herzi Halevy.

The Hebrew “Walla” website said that Benny Gantz, Gadi Eisenkot, and Hailey Trooper from the “National Camp” will not participate in the weekly government session, and this is not the first time that these ministers have not attended the weekly meeting since the formation of the emergency government, as they were absent previously for reasons and agenda. Government not directly related to the war effort.

Last Friday, official and private Hebrew media revealed a deep crisis that unfolded in the “cabinet” session on Thursday evening, after ministers in Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, attacked Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy, after the announcement. He expressed his intention to form an investigation committee into the events of last October 7, and the course of the war in the Gaza Strip.

In addition to objecting to the formation of the committee, the ministers also objected to “the presence of the former Army Minister and former Chief of the Army Staff, Shaul Mofaz, at its head.”

Gantz holds Netanyahu responsible and attacks him

Gantz said in previous statements last Friday that the attack by a number of ministers on the army chief of staff was “a politically motivated act.”

In a clear criticism of the prime minister, Gantz said, “He (Netanyahu) bears the responsibility for correction and choosing between unity and security and politics.”

Gantz stressed that at the present time, “what is important is security and unity, and therefore the basic discussion must be held to discuss the continuation of the fighting, and as quickly as possible.”

Gantz's statements are the first threat of its kind to Netanyahu since he joined the war ministerial council last October.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation, quoting Israeli ministers, said that Netanyahu and other ministers “are already trying to build a discourse that places blame on the security apparatus for the events of last October 7.”

The American administration fears that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to expand the war on Gaza to Lebanon, and enter into a comprehensive war against Hezbollah, with the aim of keeping him in office.

Today, Sunday, the Washington Post newspaper quoted American officials as saying that Netanyahu may seek to expand the war, contrary to the advice of the US administration, “as a basis for his political survival against the backdrop of internal Israeli criticism of his government’s failure to prevent the October 7 attack.” Officials expected that the Israeli army would face difficulties in a war against Hezbollah.

American officials told the Washington Post that Hezbollah wants to avoid a major escalation in the war with Israel, and Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah confirmed in a speech on Friday the party’s intention to respond to the Israeli aggression (the assassination of Saleh Al-Arouri in the southern suburb of Beirut), and at the same time He himself hinted at the possibility of negotiations regarding demarcating the borders with Israel to restore the occupied Shebaa Farms lands.

The newspaper indicated that secret estimates prepared by the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) indicated that the Israeli army is expected to face difficulties in achieving its goals in the war against Hezbollah, in parallel with the continuation of the war on Gaza, while much of the resource is distributed on several fronts.

An official at the US National Security Council considered that Hezbollah poses a "legitimate threat" to Israel, and said that "the Jewish state has the right to defend itself."

“The risk of Israel launching an attack on Hezbollah has never gone away, but there has been broader concern about escalation in recent weeks, especially since Israel announced a temporary withdrawal of several thousand troops from Gaza,” White House and State Department officials said.

The official explained that "the Military Intelligence Agency assessed that the escalation in Lebanon would lead to the dispersal of Israeli forces."

He said, "The pilots are tired, and the planes must be maintained and re-equipped. They will face more dangerous missions in Lebanon than in Gaza, where Hamas has few anti-aircraft defenses that would enable it to shoot down attacking planes (unlike what Hezbollah has)." 

The report was based on the statements of more than 12 diplomats and US administration officials. They pointed out that the American fear is that a large-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah would cause much greater human losses and damage than the Second Lebanon War in 2006, based on the size of Hezbollah’s missile arsenal, especially long-range and accurate missiles.

According to the newspaper, Hezbollah will attack areas deep inside Israel, on a larger scale than attacks in the past, and strike “sensitive targets” such as petrochemical industries and nuclear reactors. It is also estimated that Iran will use militias and other arms in the region.

The head of the “National Camp” bloc and the minister who is a member of the Israeli war cabinet, Benny Gantz, commented on the American newspaper’s report, and wrote in his account on the “X” platform, “The situation in which the residents of the northern borders are unable to return to their homes requires a quick solution.” The world must remember that the one who started the escalation was the terrorist organization Hezbollah.”

Gantz repeated the Israeli claim that "Israel is interested in a political solution. If this does not happen, the State of Israel and the Israeli army will remove this threat. All members of the war cabinet are partners in this position. The only consideration is Israel's security. This is the duty of any state towards its citizens."

A young Palestinian was killed today, Sunday, by Israeli occupation forces during confrontations in the town of Abwein, north of Ramallah.

The Ministry of Health announced the death of Ahmed Mahmoud Hussein Muhareb (28 years old), from the village of Jaljaliyya and residing in Abwein, as a result of being shot in the abdomen by occupation forces, in the town of Abwein.

Large forces from the occupation army stormed the town of Abwein from its two main entrances towards the towns of Sinjil and Aroura, north of Ramallah, and raided several neighborhoods there, and violent confrontations broke out, during which poison gas bombs and live bullets were fired at the citizens.

According to local sources, 3 citizens were injured by live bullets in the abdomen and foot, including a critical injury in the abdomen, and the Ministry of Health announced the death of one of them later.

With the death of the young man Muharib, the number of killed in the Jenin and Ramallah governorates since dawn on Sunday has risen to 8, including 4 brothers.

Journalist Hamza, son of colleague Wael Al-Dahdouh, was killed in an Israeli bombing that targeted journalists west of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip.

The Israeli bombing targeted Hamza and a group of journalists west of Khan Yunis, while he was working on the Al Jazeera crew in that area, to which civilians were displaced as a result of the Israeli bombing of several areas in the Gaza Strip.

A number of family members of journalist Wael Al-Dahdouh, including his wife, son, daughter, and grandson, were previously killed in an Israeli bombing that targeted a house to which they were displaced in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip.

“I am not ‘for’ a binational state but we have no other solution”

In his fascinating work which has just been published in Le Seuil, the historian Shlomo Sand raises the question of a two-state solution and returns to the genesis of Zionism to try to see more clearly and to hope despite all this crazy violence . 

Interview By Vincent Remy

To imagine, at the height of current violence, that Israelis and Palestinians could one day live side by side, within a binational state, seems like a crazy utopia. However, as the Israeli historian Shlomo Sand highlights in his new work, Two Peoples for One State?, this is what many Jewish intellectuals settled in Palestine, from the end of the 19th century and until the creation of Israel in 1948, ardently wished. 

Many Zionist thinkers feared that an exclusive Jewish state in a land populated predominantly by Arabs would lead to endless conflict. None wanted “a two-state solution”, which the entanglement of populations now seems to make impossible. Would there be no other perspective than confinement, repression, displacement, expulsion? Rereading the history of Zionism, with Shlomo Sand, gives hope.

Written before the massacres perpetrated by Hamas and the bombing of Gaza, would your book be different if you wrote it today?

From my introduction, I wrote that, due to the growing alliance between religion and radical nationalism, on both sides, Israeli and Palestinian, we were condemned to experience catastrophes. An English publishing house asked me to add a more optimistic afterword! Certainly, no one could envisage the incredible shock of October 7, this savagery of Hamas. I am also distressed by the thousands of Palestinian civilians we are killing in Gaza. But Ariel Sharon [co-founder of Likud, an Israeli right-wing party, and who was a minister several times, until leading the government between 2001 and 2006, editor's note] was the first builder of Hamas, which he saw as a counterweight to 'PLO. He did everything, like Benyamin Netanyahu, to promote its emergence. I add that in Israel everyone knows that Yahya Sinouar, the little Stalin of Hamas, is the child of a family from Ashkelon, who took refuge in the Khan Younes camp in 1948. Abdessalam Yassine, founder of Hamas, was born near Ashkelon, also pushed with his family to Gaza by Israel. To refuse to see that 60% of Gazans came from the places where we Israelis now live is to be blind. We cannot understand October 7 without knowing History.

But to contextualize is not to excuse?

I oppose the theses of Jean-Paul Sartre and Frantz Fanon which justify the violence of the oppressed. Because violence creates new reasons for oppression. Worse, all the national liberation movements that have used it have become oppressive. I have no illusions about Hamas. But we are currently the oppressors. I refuse the term genocide in Gaza, but we are killing women and children by the thousands, and this is not the first time. Above all, we are waging this war without having the slightest political project.

You talk about Israelis as colonizers. Isn't this a provocation?

The first Zionists were all aware of being Zionists! A century ago, Vladimir Jabotinsky, founding father of the Zionist right, recognized that the arrival of Jews in Palestine was akin to a colonial enterprise and that it was logical that the Arabs would violently oppose it. The wandering people had to impose themselves by force by erecting a “wall of steel”. Jabotinsky, like his heir Menachem Begin, was more honest than the Zionist left. At the time, the Zionist myth of origins, according to which Jews returned to the land of their ancestors, did not excite many people. Until 1924, when two million Jews from Eastern Europe had emigrated to America, only 65,000 had chosen Palestine [the State of Israel would not be created until twenty-four years later, Editor's note]. The Jews were also wise enough to know that it was not very intelligent to come to the Middle East. It was the closure of the North American border to Jews (Immigration Act of 1924), then the Nazi laws of Nuremberg in 1935 which led to immigration. Europe vomited us, the Jews, onto the Arabs of Palestine. And we pay for it, with blood on both sides.

However, you show, among the pioneers of Zionism, strong pacifist currents.

We especially know the majority thought, which goes from Theodor Herzl to David Ben-Gurion, that of the socialist, secular, atheist Zionists. And warriors. To my great surprise, I discovered many other sensitivities, supported by all kinds of movements and parties. All of whom, however, stood out as bearers of an ethic: we arrive in this new country to reside there in the company of its inhabitants, not to replace them. Among them, many believers. A pioneer of spiritual Zionism, Ahad Ha'am, born near Kyiv and died in Tel Aviv in 1927, wanted to create a spiritual center that would save Judaism from assimilation and revive the Hebrew language. But he demanded “caution and respect” towards the Arabs. Four years later, during the clashes with the Arabs, Judah Leon Magnes (founder in 1925 of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem) continued to express pacifist positions, like Martin Buber. He went to Washington in 1948 to convince President Wilson not to create a Jewish state. In this, he joined Hannah Arendt who wanted a binational state, otherwise, she said, there would be a war every ten years.

Much of the Zionist intelligentsia, including Ben-Gurion, believed, for example, that the inhabitants of Palestine were descendants of the Hebrews.

Were their ideas in the minority?

Not all their ideas. Much of the Zionist intelligentsia, including Ben-Gurion, believed, for example, that the inhabitants of Palestine were descendants of the Hebrews. Arthur Ruppin, founder of the Brit Shalom movement, also said that the Arabs “two thousand years ago were called Jews” and thought that we would achieve a cultural understanding with them, “better than with Europe”. As for the linguist Yitzhak Epstein, he insisted that, in his school, Jewish immigrants also learn the Arabic language – which today few Israeli Jews, including me, master. Bilingualism gives strength to Israeli Arabs, who all speak Hebrew, and I hope that they will be the vanguard that unifies the two populations, since they have already established a linguistic bridge. However, even in Haifa, where Jews and Arabs live together, Arabs do not feel quite belonging to a state that does not define itself as Israeli, but as a Jewish state. Which means that this state belongs more to the Jews of Paris than to my Arab colleagues in Haifa. If we do not understand this injustice, we do not understand the conflict.

From the moment some Jews speak of them as a racial people, European anti-Semitism has won.

Are you no longer for the two-state solution?

Eight hundred and fifty thousand Israelis, and among them six ministers, live in the West Bank, and these people will not be torn from the place where they live. Two million Arabs are integrated into Israel. I don't see how we can be separated. I am for a kind of federation as advocated by Menachem Begin. People on the left bristle at the name of Begin, even though he is less extremist than Netanyahu! In his speech before the Knesset in 1977, he declared that Israel, in order not to become Rhodesia (which practiced radical apartheid), had to integrate the Arabs of Judea, Samaria and Gaza, offering them the possibility of acquiring nationality. Israeli, and even land in Israel. It did not aim for a binational state, but a democratic one, which would lead to an “original cultural mix”. This proposal aroused fear from the Israeli right and rejection from the left.

The Israelis no longer want this solution…

Israeli national consciousness is not republican, as in France, with universalist bases, it is ethnocentric. However, Zionist nationalism is incapable of defining a Jewish people, with a common origin other than religion. So some persist in looking for Jewish genes, an absurd thing when we know, for example, that an entire kingdom in southern Arabia, Himyar, present-day Yemen, converted to Judaism in the 5th century. If you drive through Israel, you can see that we are all very different! For a national consciousness to be born, it was necessary to create this myth of exile and dispersed people. From the moment some Jews speak of them as a racial people, European anti-Semitism has won.

There is no future here for my grandchildren without the Palestinians.

Isn’t the refusal of a binational solution primarily dictated by fear?

I am willing to admit that the mental basis of nationalism is fear, the enemy of equality and rapprochement, but it also sometimes pushes people to look for solutions. How can we think that we will keep the Palestinian refugees of 1948 forever in an enclave like Gaza? Until now, there was contempt among Israeli Jews for the Palestinians, because of their weakness. This contempt was so deep that it prevented any compromise. I understand that it shocks, but violence creates a form of respect. Vladimir Jabotinsky, who came from the Russian Empire, understood that only force was respected. For my part, I am not “for” a binational state, I say that we have no other solution. There is no future here for my grandchildren without the Palestinians. So I am for a federation, a confederation, whatever. Remember that the peaceful Swiss, before the Confederal State of 1848, were tearing each other apart! We must fight against Hamas, but give hope to those who agree to live alongside us. We must recognize the tragedy of 1948, and partially correct the injustice suffered. It is a painful process but we have no choice.

Source: TÉLÉRAMA

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken continues his extensive tour in the Middle East on Sunday in Jordan, calling for avoiding the expansion of the scope of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

Blinken arrived in Amman last night after two stops in Türkiye and Greece. On Sunday, he is scheduled to hold talks with Jordanian King Abdullah II and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, and visit one of the World Food Program centers in the capital, according to what an official in the delegation accompanying him confirmed.

“We must ensure that the conflict does not expand” from the Gaza Strip, where the war has entered its fourth month, Blinken said on Saturday evening, at Chania Airport on the Greek island of Crete.

He added, "One of the real fears is the border between Israel and Lebanon, and we want to do everything possible to ensure that the situation does not escalate."

Since the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, Lebanese Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged daily bombing across the border. Fears of escalating tension on this front increased after Saleh Al-Arouri, deputy head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), was martyred in an air strike attributed to Israel in the southern suburb of Beirut last Tuesday.

Yesterday, Saturday, the party announced the launch of more than 60 missiles towards an “air control base” in northern Israel, placing this within the framework of the “initial response” to Al-Arouri’s assassination. Israel, in turn, launched a series of raids on areas in southern Lebanon.

Ensure that the conflict does not expand

Blinken noted, “Many of the conversations we will have over the coming days with all of our allies and partners will revolve around actions they can take using their influence and relationships to ensure that this conflict does not expand.”

The Israeli aggression on Gaza, which entered its fourth month on Sunday, raises fears of its escalation with increasing violence not only on the Israeli-Lebanese border, but also in Iraq, Syria and the Red Sea.

The Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip, accompanied by a ground attack launched on October 27, led to the death of more than 22,700 people, the majority of whom were women and children, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

Blinken stressed "the necessity of preventing the expansion of the conflict, increasing humanitarian aid, reducing civilian casualties, working for a lasting regional peace, and progressing toward the establishment of a Palestinian state."

Blinken arrived in Istanbul on Friday evening as part of a regional tour to discuss ways to avoid the expansion of the conflict in the region after 3 months of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, and to push for the introduction of additional aid to the Gaza Strip.

Bloomberg News quoted a senior American official accompanying Blinken on his trip as saying that Washington is seeking to mobilize Ankara’s support for plans to govern the Gaza Strip after the war.

Perceptions of the next day

The same source added that Blinken will convey a message to the region that Washington will respond to attacks targeting its interests, adding that America expects the Arab partners to convey the message that Blinken carries to Iran.

It is expected that perceptions of the “day after” the end of the war in the Gaza Strip, including the reconstruction and management of the Strip, will be at the heart of the talks that Blinken will hold with Arab leaders, who stress that the priority is a permanent ceasefire.

After Jordan, Blinken will head to Qatar, which played the role of mediator in the truce between Israel and Hamas late last November, which allowed the release of hostages from Gaza in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Blinken will conclude his day in Abu Dhabi before heading to Saudi Arabia tomorrow, Monday, then to Israel, where he is expected to hold talks that he stressed “will not be easy.”

Today, Sunday, dozens of settlers stormed the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, amid heavy protection from the occupation police.

The settlers made provocative tours inside the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and performed Talmudic rituals.

Groups of settlers storm Al-Aqsa on a daily basis except Friday and Saturday.

On the 93rd day of the aggression against the Gaza Strip, the Israeli occupation forces, today, Sunday, continue their raids and bombing on several areas in the Gaza Strip, which led to the death and injury of dozens of citizens, the majority of whom are children and women.

Local sources reported that the occupation warplanes bombed, tonight, a house for the Abu Alba family in the Al-Falujah area in the northern Gaza Strip, killing 20 citizens and wounding dozens, in conjunction with violent bombing on citizens’ homes in the Jabalia camp.

It added that the continuous Israeli air and ground bombardment on Al-Wusta Governorate during the night led to the death of about 16 citizens and the injury of dozens.

To the south, occupation warplanes bombed a residential apartment in the Al-Amal neighborhood, west of the city of Khan Yunis.

Medical sources said that a number of injured people, including children, arrived at Abu Youssef Al-Najjar Hospital following an Israeli bombing that targeted a house for the Al-Ajez family in the Al-Zuhur neighborhood, north of the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip.

7 citizens were also killed in an Israeli bombing that targeted a building housing displaced people in Rafah.

Late last night, Israeli occupation aircraft targeted an UNRWA shelter in Al-Maghazi camp, killing 4 citizens, including women, while the occupation forces targeted ambulances and fired bullets directly at them.

Meanwhile, 17 citizens, including 12 children, were killed as a result of the occupation’s bombing of a house west of Khan Yunis, while the number of killed of the Gecko family massacre in Khan Yunis camp rose to 25, including displaced persons.

In an infinite toll, the death toll in the Gaza Strip since the start of the aggression on the seventh of last October has risen to 22,600 dead, more than 70% of whom are women and children, and 7,000 people are missing under the rubble.

About 16 citizens were killed tonight in an Israeli bombing that targeted a house in the city of Khan Yunis and an UNRWA school in the Maghazi camp in the central Gaza Strip.

Local sources reported that occupation aircraft bombed a house in the city of Khan Yunis containing a large number of displaced people, killing at least 12 citizens and wounding 50 others with varying injuries.

The occupation warplanes also bombed an UNRWA school housing displaced people in Al-Maghazi camp in the central Gaza Strip, leading to the death of at least 4 citizens, including a woman.

The quadcopter drone also opened heavy fire on citizens' homes and streets in Al-Maghazi camp, coinciding with warplanes carrying out a fire belt near Al-Sikka Street, west of the camp, and intense fire from the occupation artillery stationed near the entrance to the camp on Salah al-Din Street.

Eyewitnesses reported that a fire broke out east of the Nuseirat camp as a result of continued Israeli bombing.

Local sources indicated that the occupation warplanes launched violent raids on the Tal al-Zaatar area and the city of Deir al-Balah, which led to the death and injury of a number of citizens, coinciding with the occupation warboats firing intensely west of Deir al-Balah.

The Ministry of Health announced the death of 6 Palestinian citizens, at dawn on Sunday, in an Israeli bombing south of the city of Jenin.

The Health Ministry added in a statement that 6 citizens were killed as a result of an Israeli Apache bombing a gathering of citizens near the Martyrs’ Roundabout, south of Jenin.

The Israeli forces stormed the city of Jenin last night, and confrontations took place with young men in a number of areas in the city.

Thousands of Israelis demonstrated on Saturday in the cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa, demanding the dissolution of the Knesset (Parliament) and holding early elections, according to Hebrew media.

The newspaper "Haaretz" (privately) said, "Thousands of Israelis demonstrated this evening (Saturday) in Habima Square in Tel Aviv, demanding the dissolution of the Knesset and holding early elections."

The newspaper indicated that another demonstration was organized in Haifa (north), in which hundreds of Israelis participated against the government of Benjamin Netanyahu.

Opinion polls conducted by Hebrew media over the past few days show that if early elections are held currently, Netanyahu will not be able to form a government, while Minister in the War Council, Benny Gantz, is considered the most likely, according to the polls.

Dozens of citizens were killed and injured, this Saturday evening, during the occupation aircraft and artillery bombardment of the homes of safe citizens in their homes in various areas of the Gaza Strip, focusing on Gaza City, the Central Governorate camps, and the city of Khan Yunis.

Local sources reported that occupation warplanes targeted a gathering of citizens near the Saraya Junction in Gaza City, leading to the death of 10 citizens and the wounding of dozens.

It added that three dead were transferred to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the middle of the Gaza Strip, as a result of the occupation aircraft bombing a house for the Khattab family, west of the Nuseirat camp.

Medical sources pointed out that the occupation warplanes targeted a group of citizens on Street 2 between Al-Nuseirat and Al-Zawaida, where a child was killed and others were injured in Al-Zawaida, in addition to the three killed of the camp, coinciding with the occupation’s intense firing of phosphorus bombs towards the tents of the displaced in Al-Nusairat.

Captain Hani Al-Masdar, one of the Palestinian football stars and coach of the Palestinian Olympic football team, was killed as a result of the bombing of Gaza City.

The occupation forces also bombed a house in the Al-Shujaiya neighborhood, east of Gaza City.

Press sources reported that a girl was killed and a number of other citizens were injured, as a result of the occupation bombing a house in the Beit Lahia project in the northern Gaza Strip.

In the south, the director of the Ambulance and Emergency Department of the Red Crescent in the Gaza Strip said that the occupation continues to target Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis to put it out of service.

He added that the occupation artillery and drones were violently bombarding the vicinity of Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.

The occupation warplanes bombed a number of homes in central Khan Yunis, coinciding with heavy artillery shelling on the eastern area of the city. Medical sources reported that a martyr arrived at the European Hospital following a bombing in the Al-Fokhari area, east of Khan Yunis.

Local media reported that 4 citizens, including three children, were killed in a bombing that targeted a house west of Khan Yunis.

A citizen was killed as a result of the occupation’s bombing near the Sufa/Salah al-Din Street intersection in the Al-Nasr neighborhood, northeast of Rafah.

The Ministry of Health announced that the death toll in the Gaza Strip since the start of the aggression on the seventh of last October had risen to 22,600 dead, more than 70% of whom were women and children.

It pointed out that 7,000 people are missing under the rubble, and there is difficulty obtaining accurate numbers about them, due to the ongoing attacks and insufficient rescue missions.

An article published by the British Financial Times stated that fears are increasing about regional escalation with the inability of diplomacy regarding the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, which, as the article stated, threatens to spread in the region.

The article, written by Emile Hakim, director of regional security at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, listed the factors that combine to make the spread of conflict more likely, saying that “wars in the Middle East do not remain within the borders of one country.”

He explained that underlying sentiments and grievances, foreign interference, the absence of a regional security process, and the continuing weakness of local diplomacy all favor proliferation.

He pointed out that, just days after the attack by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on October 7, a large-scale Israeli attack against Hezbollah in Lebanon was averted through American pressure. Since then, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen have become targets and launching pads, adding that the most surprising geopolitical development is the Houthis’ success in disrupting maritime traffic in the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

Getting close to the edge of the abyss

The writer said that the past 10 days show how close the region is to the brink of abyss. He referred to Israel's assassinations of Radhi Mousavi, the "Supreme Iranian Leader" in Syria, and Saleh Al-Arouri, deputy head of Hamas's political bureau in Lebanon, and before that the United States killed an Iraqi leader supported by Iran. The apparent slide toward US-led intervention against the Houthis in Yemen may be a sign of acceleration.

Hakim said that one can rule out an explosion in the region based on the fact that the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel, and the previous American and Israeli assassinations of Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iranian leaders did not spark a broader conflict.

But he also said that the context, scope, pace and perception are different now, with more senior leaders being assassinated and more significant attacks being launched across more theaters in a short period. Meanwhile, the Israeli attack on Gaza continues, antagonizing the region's residents.

Hakim explained that it is not surprising that Iran and Israel will decide whether the conflict will become an all-out war or whether it will remain a competition for regional influence. While Tehran fears the erosion of its credibility and deterrence, Tehran still views its ultimate goals as best achieved through “thousands of small steps rather than costly direct confrontation.”

Diplomacy is a mess

The writer continued to say that, after 3 months of Israel's war on Gaza, the diplomatic picture appears to be in a state of chaos, as the foreign ministers of Arab and Islamic countries who formed a delegation to visit major capitals did not succeed in creating much diplomatic momentum.

Efforts to free Israeli detainees are losing steam, and “well-intentioned” ideas for a so-called day after the war are meaningless if Israel considers Gaza an active zone of military operations, whoever governs it, and refuses to join a process leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Arab governments are doing little to protect maritime navigation. Once again, it is the responsibility of the United States to mobilize a coalition for this purpose, which will inevitably exacerbate anti-US sentiment in the region.

Difficulties facing America

The writer returned to say that the United States deserves “some credit” for preventing a comprehensive regional war so far, but it appears devoid of ideas and unable to spread influence. It seems that the European Union's foreign policy official, Josep Borrell, is the only one who sets clear goals for a peace settlement. But he has no real mandate and little influence over key players.

Hakim concluded his article by saying that the war in Gaza is a reminder that conflicts cannot be frozen and ignored, as has become painfully clear in the past few decades, and that wars cannot be won on the battlefield alone, but must be resolved justly, no matter how complex these conflicts are, and no matter how hard they are to do so. Frustratingly solved.

Source: Financial Times + AlJazeera

Combatants in the field must not delve into combat objectives, nor must they decide whether they are realistic or not. There is no one to ask them either. Their statements, which reach us through the filter of self-censorship and media, include a national story and stories of heroism, and there is no resentment that characterizes war stories in general. They are fighting for their lives and the lives of their friends, and all they want is to return home safely.

They rely on their leadership to do this. Their leadership depends on the government. The government depends on the last person it can rely on. Benjamin Netanyahu cannot be relied upon because the talk is about a bad person. Someone so bad that he could reserve two parking spaces for one car, feel no guilt, and run over a cat, because that's what he wants. A bad person, such as a provocative neighbor and a humiliating manager.

Netanyahu, who stands at the top of the pyramid, will sacrifice the soldier at the base of the pyramid, if this is beneficial to him. He will move the battalions if this is to his advantage. He will also prolong the release of the hostages if it is to his advantage. Does the assassination of Al-Arouri serve to liberate them? It is strange how families of soldiers leave their children's lives in his hands.

The army does not know what the combat objectives are. and we too. Netanyahu is the only one who knows: the goal is time. He tells us to stop time, I don't want to go down. The cost and death toll are irrelevant. In his eyes, time is what will give him power and freedom. For soldiers, time is a greater possibility of death. For hostages, time is death under torture. And time for the evacuees: the demolition of home and livelihood.

Who will defend us before Him?

41 years ago, the Armored Brigade Commander, General Elie Gabaa, warned his officers against entering the outskirts of Beirut. He said that such an entry would lead to heavy losses for our forces and harm civilians. He suggested resigning from his position as commander, and fighting with his soldiers as a tank commander. His request was rejected and he was removed from the army and from serving in the Reserve Army .

Gabe from the heart of the mud in Lebanon saw the next day that the fighters did not see. That's because they are busy surviving. The larger the officer, the broader his vision. They know the extent of the danger and the prospects for continued fighting. What is required is for a new Elie Gaba to emerge from their ranks and say: It is true that it is too late, but it is still possible. He must grab the prime minister and tell him: Enough.

We don't have Elie Gaba. We have no one whose protest can shift the goals of war, from revenge (also called deterrence) to admitting that we lost on October 7, and now, we have to get up, dust off our clothes, and think differently.

We still carry the shame of October 7th. A war cannot be waged out of shame. A response based on this motive is appropriate for the loudest in class, not for a country. This shame also brings us back to the vision that existed on October 6, the arrogance according to which, “The Palestinians are stupid,” and we are smart: we sell them a “ceasefire,” and then we violate it after liberating the hostages. We imagine that the Palestinians in the West Bank can be “managed,” and that if we do not do anything there, nothing will happen.

We play with ideas, like giving the Gazans 700 shekels, and they will go from here (they never fight for the house, only we do that). We want to wake up in the morning and discover that they have evaporated. Two million people, men, women and children, are stuck in our throats. It is not possible to kill them, and displacing them is difficult.

We can bring together Smotrich, Zvi Yehezkeli, and General Eiland, and ask them for ideas to reduce the population size from 2 million to 100,000. If hunger does not convince them, a one-ton bomb can convince them. Then, one million people will stand in line waiting for “voluntary migration.”

Just think, General Eiland, of the image of victory that will be spread after the citizens, men, women and children have been starved. It is true that you will be proud of it, but remember that if starvation and displacement bring victory - many of those here will raise white flags, pack their travel bags, and ask Smotrich to take them into consideration and find a country that agrees to receive the refugees.

Source: Haaretz

Hundreds of Israelis demonstrated today, Saturday, to demand the departure of Benjamin Netanyahu, the country's prime minister, and his government as well.

The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Saturday evening that hundreds of Israelis demonstrated in the city of Haifa, located on the Mediterranean Sea, to demand the dismissal of Netanyahu's government and the entry into immediate elections.

Other media reported that demonstrations were taking place in the city of Tel Aviv, for the same reason, as protesters demanded that Netanyahu work to release hostages and prisoners held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, as well as to demand his resignation.

A report by the British newspaper The Guardian said that Israeli officials are striving to avoid a state of “growing frustration” in Washington ahead of a “potentially difficult” meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by presenting a series of policy proposals on Gaza, which some described as... Lacks "detail or commitment."

According to a report published by the newspaper, the United States has shown strong support for Israel since the outbreak of its war with Hamas three months ago, but it is keen to obtain some concessions from Netanyahu to reduce the level of regional tensions and help avoid a broader conflict in the Middle East region.

Blinken arrived on Friday evening in Istanbul, his first stop on a tour in the Middle East centered on the war in Gaza, which also includes a visit to five Arab countries: Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Israel and the West Bank, as part of his fourth tour in the region since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas.

The newspaper reported that Blinken, during his visit to Israel, will put pressure on Netanyahu to do more to protect civilians in Gaza, allow more aid to reach the Strip, and rein in far-right ministers who called for the mass resettlement of Palestinians, a speech that the United States condemned and described as “incitement.” "And irresponsible."

The newspaper noted that Netanyahu "ironized Washington" by refusing so far to participate in any "detailed planning" to govern Gaza after the end of the Israeli military attack and rejecting the options favored by the United States.

Repeating previous promises

The newspaper continued, "In recent days, senior Israeli ministers have been quick to present some post-war proposals and repeat previous promises that the Israeli army will move to tactics that are less costly to civilians."

According to Israeli officials, these “proposals” include Israel retaining security control over Gaza, with an unspecified Palestinian body under Israeli direction running the day-to-day administration of the Strip, and the United States, the European Union, and regional partners assuming responsibility for the reconstruction of the Strip.

It added: “Under Yoav Gallant’s plan, the Israeli attack on Gaza will continue until the hostages taken during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 are released, and Hamas’s “military and governmental capabilities” are dismantled.”

A new phase of sector governance

After that, a new phase begins during which “unspecified Palestinian bodies” take over the rule of the Strip.

The newspaper quoted Israeli observers as saying that Gallant's proposals are not official policy proposals and have not yet been presented to other ministers in the Israeli war government, and that these proposals are unlikely to succeed.

The newspaper, Merav Zonszin, a senior analyst on Israel and Palestine affairs at the International Crisis Group, said: “The Israeli army is presenting its plan to politicians for consideration, and it is a recipe for disaster.” She added, "The idea of wanting local Palestinians to take over local government is the right approach, but you have to let them choose for themselves."

The newspaper reported that Gallant's plan differs "blatantly" from American calls to revitalize the Palestinian Authority to manage the West Bank and Gaza together and begin new negotiations leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state living side by side with Israel.

The newspaper quoted US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller as saying, "It is clear that there are difficult issues facing the region and difficult choices before us."

Biden's statements criticizing Israel

The United States is pushing Israel to shift to less intense military operations in Gaza that more precisely target Hamas.

In a rare public criticism, US President Joe Biden warned last month that Israel was losing international support; Because of its "random attacks" on the Gaza Strip.

Gallant's statement said that Israeli forces in northern Gaza will shift to a "new combat approach" focusing on raids, tunnel destruction, "air and ground activities, and special operations."

But on the other hand, the newspaper stressed that it was not clear how this “new approach” might differ from current operations, although the newspaper considered that the recent withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza may indicate “an imminent change in war tactics.”

The newspaper talked about other concerns of the Biden administration about the conflict in Gaza, which relate to calls by far-right members of Netanyahu’s government to encourage the Palestinians to leave Gaza en masse, which coincides with unconfirmed reports in Israel about submitting proposals to convince other countries to accept large numbers of Palestinians. 

This raised fears in most parts of the Arab world that Israel wants to expel the Palestinians from the lands on which they want to build their future state, repeating the process of mass displacement of Palestinians in the wars that followed the establishment of Israel in 1948.

On Friday, Rwanda described reports published by an Israeli news agency about talks between Rwanda and Israel regarding the transfer of Palestinians from Gaza as “completely misleading information and should be ignored.”

The US State Department spokesman told reporters: “We have been clear and consistent in our unequivocal position that Gaza is and will remain Palestinian land, with Hamas not controlling its future and with no terrorist groups capable of threatening Israel.”

According to United Nations reports, a large part of northern Gaza has turned into rubble, and about 85% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people have been displaced and forced to live in smaller areas than ever before, and a quarter of the population now suffers from hunger due to insufficient supplies arriving.

The government media office in Gaza said on Saturday that the Israeli army had stolen money and gold jewelry from the Strip, valued at about $25 million, since last October 7.

The office stated, that it monitored “dozens of testimonies given by residents of the Gaza Strip, about the theft of money, gold, and jewelry estimated at 90 million shekels, more than 24 million and 500 thousand dollars, by the Israeli occupation army and soldiers, 92 days ago.”

The statement explained, "The thefts occurred in more than one way. The first was at checkpoints, such as Salah al-Din Street, where they stole bags from the displaced people who had fled from the north of the Gaza Valley towards the south, which contained their valuable possessions such as money, gold, and jewelry."

As for the second method, according to the government office, it was “robbing homes whose residents were asked to leave, where they took souvenir photos and video clips of this crime, which some of them posted on their accounts on social networking sites, as happened in the town of Beit Lahia (north of the Gaza Strip).”

The government office indicated that a number of Hebrew newspapers documented this crime, with Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper describing it as “the systematic theft of Gazans’ money.”

As of 15:50 (UTG), the Israeli authorities had not issued a comment on the statement of the government media office in Gaza.

On December 30, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Observatory said that the Israeli army was unleashing its soldiers in Gaza to carry out “immoral practices” against Palestinian civilians during raids on their homes, including stealing and looting property.

In a report, the Observatory documented a series of cases revealing the involvement of Israeli soldiers in systematic thefts of Palestinian funds and belongings, including gold, sums of money, mobile phones and laptops, estimating the total of the stolen items at tens of millions of dollars.

Today, Saturday, Israeli occupation raids targeted the eastern sector of southern Lebanon.

According to Lebanese sources, the occupation forces launched a raid on the Kawthariyah al-Siyad area in the Sidon district, and a violent bombardment with phosphorous shells targeted tents in the eastern sector of southern Lebanon.

It was reported that an Israeli Apache helicopter attacked targets in southern Lebanon.

On the other hand, sirens sounded in Shtoula in the occupied Western Galilee.

A Hezbollah statement said that it targeted the Bayad Blida site with missile weapons and was directly hit.

Hezbollah said it fired rockets at Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel.

The attack comes after Hezbollah earlier said it fired at least 62 missiles towards Israel.

The occupation and Hezbollah are still bombing border sites, causing deaths and injuries on both sides, after the assassination of Hamas Vice President Saleh Al-Arouri in a strike that targeted him in the southern suburb of Beirut.

The Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, previously threatened Israel with a harsh response to the assassination of Saleh Al-Arouri.

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Observatory said that it documented the Israeli occupation army’s attack on at least 12 cemeteries in the Gaza Strip by deliberately bulldozing them, exhuming and vandalizing the graves in them, and stealing dozens of bodies from them in the midst of the ongoing crime of genocide against Palestinian civilians since the 7th of last October.

Preliminary testimonies collected by the Euro-Mediterranean Observatory showed that Israeli attacks targeted several cemeteries in the Gaza Strip, as its field team inspected yesterday, Friday, January 5, that the Al-Batash cemetery, east of Gaza City, was subjected to extensive leveling operations that included digging up graves and trampling on the bodies of the dead with military vehicles. In it and cut some of them.

Residents in the vicinity of the cemetery area said that it was created on October 22 for the purpose of burying dozens of unidentified martyrs after they had accumulated for days at the time inside the Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza.

Residents stated that the Al-Batash cemetery later received a large number of martyrs and dead due to their families’ inability to reach the eastern areas of Gaza City and bury them in the main cemeteries, before it was subjected to an invasion by the occupation army last week with military vehicles and bulldozers.

After it was stormed, it was observed that the cemetery was completely demolished and the graves were exhumed to the point of extracting most of the bodies from them, cutting them up, mutilating them, and looting a number of them, including some of the tombstones that were placed to determine the identity of those buried there.

Mrs. Nour Nasser, a resident of Gaza City who was displaced to areas south of the Gaza Strip, said that her brother, the martyr Muhammad (in his twenties), was buried in the “Al-Batsh” cemetery in a state of broken pieces, but they were later shocked that the cemetery was subjected to bulldozing operations and that no remains of her brother remained. . Nasser added: “The Israeli army not only killed my brother, but also went so far as to deprive the family of even visiting him inside a grave.”

In another incident, the occupation army, with its military vehicles, raided the cemetery of the Al-Tuffah neighborhood, east of Gaza City, and exhumed more than a thousand graves. The neighborhood’s residents said that it stole more than 150 bodies of newly buried martyrs from it.

On December 25, the Euro-Mediterranean Observatory also received several testimonies that the Israeli army bulldozed the Beit Hanoun cemetery in the northern Gaza Strip and vandalized graves inside it.

Muhammad Abu Awad from the town of Beit Hanoun told the Euro-Med team that they were surprised by the effects of the Israeli army storming the town’s cemetery, demolishing the graves with military vehicles, and completely destroying the cemetery.

“Abu Awad” stated that they observed digging operations carried out by the Israeli army in specific graves inside the cemetery, and taking out the bodies of the recently buried martyrs and looting them, while the remaining bodies were mixed together so that it was difficult to identify any of them, as a result of the bulldozing and digging operations.

From December 17 to 20, the Israeli army raided the Sheikh Shaaban cemetery in the Palestine Square area in Gaza City, bulldozing dozens of graves there and trampling over the bodies of the dead and dead.

On December 20, the Euro-Med team observed extensive destruction and sabotage operations carried out by the Israeli army in a cemetery located about 1.7 kilometers east of the central part of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, which included exhuming graves in an area of about 2,500 square meters.

At the beginning of the same month, it was revealed that the Israeli army raided the Al-Faluga cemetery in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, and caused major damage to it, which became apparent after the military vehicles retreated from it. This included vandalizing graves and gravestones and stealing some bodies from them.

The Euro-Mediterranean Observatory documented Israeli attacks on the cemeteries of (Ali bin Marwan), (Sheikh Radwan), (Al-Shuhada/Eastern Cemetery), and (The Tunisian Cemetery), in addition to the cemetery of (St. Porphyrius Church), all of which are located in Gaza City, in addition to the (Martyrs) cemetery. In the town of Beit Lahia, north of the Gaza Strip, which led to the sabotage and destruction of dozens of graves there, and an attack on the dignity of the martyrs, without respecting the sanctity of the graves and the dead.

The repeated attacks led to the creation of large holes inside these cemeteries, which swallowed up dozens of graves. The remains of the dead were scattered and some of them disappeared, in addition to dozens of graves adjacent to them being seriously damaged.

It is noteworthy that the Euro-Mediterranean Observatory documented the establishment of more than 120 random mass graves in the governorates of the Gaza Strip to bury those killed in military attacks, in light of the difficulty of accessing the main and regular cemeteries and the continued Israeli targeting of the cemeteries and their surroundings.

Families in the Gaza Strip resorted to creating random mass graves in residential neighborhoods, courtyards, roads, wedding halls, and sports stadiums. The number reached more than 120 random mass graves in which 3 or more members of the targeted families were buried.

Euro-Med stressed that the crime of genocide committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip since October 7th has not spared even the dead, in light of reprehensible international complicity.

Euro-Med pointed out that Israel systematically violates the sanctity of the dead and their graves and violates the principles of international humanitarian law and the rules of war regarding the necessity of protecting graves during armed conflicts. Customary rules of international humanitarian law stipulate that the bodies of the dead must be treated with respect, and their graves must be respected and properly maintained.

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor reiterated the need for Israel to be bound by the rules of international law, which stipulate the necessity of respecting the bodies of the dead, not taking them, and protecting them during armed conflicts, and the need for the parties to the conflict to take all possible measures to prevent the dead and dead from being robbed of their dignity and the mutilation of their bodies.

The government media office in the Gaza Strip said that the Israeli occupation army exhumed 1,100 graves in the Al-Tuffah cemetery, east of Gaza, and stole 150 bodies.

The office added in a statement today that it “observed a new crime added to the series of crimes of the occupation during its war of genocide that it is waging against the Palestinian people by exhuming approximately 1,100 graves in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood cemetery in eastern Gaza, where the occupation mechanisms bulldozed them, took out the bodies of the martyrs and the dead, and trampled them.” Her dignity was insulted, without any consideration for the sanctity of the dead or the graves.”

The office explained that the occupation repeated this crime more than once, the last of which was the delivery of 80 bodies of former martyrs that it had stolen from the Gaza and North Gaza governorates, tampered with them, and delivered them mutilated, and buried them in Rafah.

Al Jazeera said that the occupation forces bulldozed the cemetery and left the bodies of the martyrs outside, in addition to trampling the bodies with their vehicles and leaving them outside the graves.

Last week, the American newspaper The Washington Post published an investigative report in which it confirmed that 37,000 buildings in the Strip have been damaged during the war so far, with 10,000 of them completely demolished.

Humanitarian crises continue in the besieged Gaza Strip, which has been subjected to an Israeli ground and air war for 92 days, amid violent bombardment on its various areas.

In parallel with the death toll, which exceeded 22 thousand, most of whom were children and women, in addition to the spread of diseases and famine, according to UN reports, a new crisis appears that may be more severe for the Palestinians when the war ends, namely the size of the destroyed homes and infrastructure.

"A real disaster"

In this context, the government media office in the Gaza Strip announced, yesterday evening, Friday, that the Israeli army had destroyed the infrastructure and doubled the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, stressing that “we are facing a real catastrophe.”

The media office explained, in a statement, that the Israeli army deliberately and intentionally destroyed the infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, with the aim of doubling the humanitarian catastrophe in all governorates of the Gaza Strip, especially in the Gaza and North Gaza governorates.

It added that the suffering of citizens in the Gaza Strip is ongoing and has not stopped, which puts approximately 2.4 million people in real danger.

It stressed that the humanitarian crisis has doubled in the Gaza Strip, and the infrastructure has become beyond repair due to the concentrated bombing of networks. Roads, electricity, drinking water and desalination plants, sanitation, rainwater drainage, telecommunications and the Internet.

37 thousand buildings were damaged

In addition, last week, the American newspaper The Washington Post published an investigative report in which it confirmed that 37,000 buildings in the Strip have been damaged during the war so far, with 10,000 of them completely demolished.

According to the report, these numbers are unusual by all standards. In a comparison made by the journalist, in the city of Aleppo, which paid a heavy price during the Syrian revolution, about 4,700 buildings were completely destroyed over a period of 3 years.

In contrast, Israel destroyed twice that number of buildings in 7 weeks. Comparisons with other conflicts are no better for Israel: In the first week of the war, Israel dropped 6,000 bombs on the Strip, more than the annual total used by the United States in Afghanistan.

According to satellite images, entire neighborhoods in Gaza have been wiped off the face of the earth, including the Karama neighborhood in the northern part of Gaza City; And Jabalia refugee camp, Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip.

As a result, about 350 schools and 170 places of worship were damaged or destroyed, roads were reduced to rubble, and electricity, water and sanitation infrastructure were destroyed.

According to Shelter Cluster, an organization that includes relief groups that help people in conflict and disaster zones, it will take at least a year to remove rubble from devastated places and ensure that no hazardous materials remain.