ISRAEL CAUGHT IN ANOTHER FLOUR MASSACRE LIE – Euro-Med Monitor reports: The Israeli army is yet again attempting to evade responsibility for massacring Palestinian civilians who were waiting for aid supplies. Israel’s most recent “flour massacre” occurred Thursday night near the Kuwait roundabout on the outskirts of Gaza City, and left more than 80 dead and 200 injured, a number of whom are in critical condition.
Israel’s army has released a video clip featuring an armed individual, in an attempt to claim that Palestinian gunmen were responsible for the deaths of the recent massacre victims…Those interviewed all confirmed that they were subjected to artillery shells and machine gun fire from helicopters, quadcopter drones, and tanks.
The video clip does not absolve the Israeli army of its crime, particularly given the fact that the clip’s date as well as the identity of the armed person in the footage are still unknown. Under no circumstances should the Israeli army’s footage be considered valid and credible…
The Israeli army has frequently released manipulated footage to support its targeting of Palestinian civilians. (Read the full report here.)
NOTE: Israel has not proven itself trustworthy in its dealings. Among Israel’s lies are numerous atrocity stories about the October 7th attack that have since been proven untrue (more examples here). In addition, a number of the Israeli soldiers and civilians killed on October 7 were shown to have been killed by Israeli fire – a fact that is absent from the official Israeli narrative. The Israeli military has also disseminated false stories about civilians captured. Previously, Israel has been caught in many lies – for example, this and this and this.
NGOs DEMAND BETTER FOR GAZA – 25 NGOs have called on world governments to prioritize ceasefire and ground-based humanitarian aid in Gaza as deaths from malnutrition and disease rise.
“States cannot hide behind airdrops and efforts to open a maritime corridor to create the illusion that they are doing enough to support the needs in Gaza: their primary responsibility is to prevent atrocity crimes from unfolding and apply effective political pressure to end the relentless bombardment and the restrictions which prevent the safe delivery of humanitarian aid,” the groups stated.
Signatories include Amnesty International, Oxfam, Action Aid International and the American Friends Service Committee.
The US plan for a temporary pier in Gaza “is a glaring distraction from the real problem: Israel’s indiscriminate and disproportionate military campaign and punishing siege,” Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said.
“This is not a logistic problem, it’s a political problem,” the group added.
“The food, water and medical supplies so desperately needed by people in Gaza are sitting just across the border.”
NOTE: Electronic Intifada points out: Satellite images show thousands of aid trucks stuck at the Rafah crossing with Egypt, unable to enter Gaza because Israel won’t allow them in and Washington refuses to use any of its enormous leverage to compel Tel Aviv to do so, or to end the siege on Gaza.
The demeaning airdrops amount to humanitarian aid theater that does nothing to end the systematic and intentional campaign of starvation Israel and its American and European allies, with the complicity of regional regimes, are waging against Palestinians.
NEWBORNS IN GAZA – Babies are being born already malnourished in Gaza, says Dominic Allen, a representative for the UN Population Fund Palestine, who recently visited the Emirati hospital in Rafah.
Conditions at the facility’s maternity ward are deeply disturbing, he said, with a stark rise in malnourished newborns and stillborn deaths.
“The doctors are reporting that they no longer see normal-sized babies,” Allen told Al Jazeera. “What they do see though tragically is more stillborn babies and more neonatal deaths.”
US ON RAFAH INVASION – NBC News reports: The White House is considering options for how to respond if Israel defies President Joe Biden’s repeated warnings against launching a military invasion of Rafah without a credible plan to protect Palestinian civilians, according to one former and three current U.S. officials.
The discussions are taking place amid growing concern in the administration and frustration among congressional Democrats that the president’s pleas will simply be ignored. Israel this week inched closer to initiating an incursion into the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip.
“Time and again, President Biden calls upon the Netanyahu government to take certain actions, and for the most part, time and again, [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu ignores the president of the United States. And so I think that makes the United States look ineffective,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., in an interview.
Now, Biden and Netanyahu have not spoken in a month. Their last call was on Feb. 15 and focused largely on Rafah, according to the White House.
NOTE: Around two-thirds of voters (67%) — including majorities of Democrats (77%), Independents (69%), and Republicans (56%) — support the U.S. calling for a permanent ceasefire and a de-escalation of violence in Gaza. Biden’s insistence on having a “credible plan” for Palestinian civilian safety in the event of a Rafah invasion – as quasi-humane as it may sound – does not line up with what Americans want. At any rate, Netanyahu has ignored all Biden administration demands thus far.
WEST BANK – Times of Israel reports: A Palestinian gunman allegedly opened fire Saturday at an Israeli settlement neighborhood in the West Bank city of Hebron, according to the military, before being shot dead by troops.
Video footage showed the gunman shooting from a cemetery before he was fatally struck.
NOTE: Since October 7th, Israeli troops and/or settlers have killed at least 433 Palestinians in the West Bank (116 children). Israeli settlements and settlers on Palestinian land are a violation of international law. Settlers, moreover, have a history of violence against Palestinians, often with the assistance of Israeli military forces.
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