At least 70 people have been killed and more than 300 wounded in the past 24 hours, showed the count as they were brought to Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza. They were predominantly women and children.
“The odor of blood in the hospital’s emergency room this morning was unbearable. There are people lying everywhere, on the floor, outside … bodies were being brought in plastic bags. The situation is overwhelming,” said Karin Huster from Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF).
“With the insane escalation of violence in various locations of the Gaza Strip over the last 48 hours and while the Rafah crossing point has remained closed for a month, the health system has been stretched to the point of collapse,” Huster said. “The situation is apocalyptic.”
Israeli strike on UN school kills at least 40 in central Gaza:
Middle East Eye reports: An Israeli strike on a UN-run school killed dozens of people in the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza.
The school, operated by the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, was reportedly housing thousands of displaced people, most of whom were women and children.
The Gaza government’s media office said that at least 40 people were killed, including nine women and 14 children.
The Israeli army said the school contained a Hamas compound, and that its strike killed fighters involved in the 7 October attack on Israel.
It then added that 20 to 30 Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters were gathered at the school – a claim that Gaza’s media office strongly rejected.
The New Arab adds that some of the children’s bodies “were blown to pieces,” according to Gaza officials.
NOTE: Israel has consistently bombed civilian locations, claiming that Hamas fighters were present, then failed to produce evidence, or used unnecessarily destructive bombs. 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. Another Israeli lie resulted in a devastating withdrawal of humanitarian aid funding for Gaza. Previously, Israel has been caught in many lies – for example, this and this and this.
Ha’aretz reported the incident like this, without offering evidence: The IDF announced early Thursday that the Israeli Air Force attacked a Hamas compound at an UNRWA school in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, where members of the Nukhba Force who took part in the October 7 attack were staying. The IDF said that prior to the attack, it had taken steps to reduce the chances of harm to uninvolved civilians, including “visual checks from the air, the use of precision resources and additional intelligence information.”
UN agencies say over 1 million in Gaza could experience highest level of starvation by mid-July:
The Washington Post reports: United Nations agencies warned Wednesday that over 1 million Palestinians in Gaza could experience the highest level of starvation by the middle of next month if hostilities continue.
The World Food Program and the Food and Agriculture Organization said in a joint report that hunger is worsening because of heavy restrictions on humanitarian access and the collapse of the local food system in the nearly eight-month Israel-Hamas war.
It says the situation remains dire in northern Gaza, which has been surrounded and largely isolated by Israeli troops for months. Israel recently opened land crossings in the north but they are only able to facilitate truck loads in the dozens each day for hundreds of thousands of people.
Israel’s incursion into Rafah has meanwhile severely disrupted aid operations in the south. Egypt has refused to open its Rafah crossing with Gaza since Israeli forces seized the Gaza side of it nearly a month ago, instead diverting aid to Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing nearby.
The Israeli military says it has allowed hundreds of trucks to enter through Kerem Shalom in recent weeks, but the U.N. says it is often unable to retrieve the aid because of the security situation. It says distribution within Gaza is also severely hampered by ongoing fighting, the breakdown of law and order, and other Israeli restrictions.
Amnesty International disputes this statement: The Rafah crossing, one of the main entry points for humanitarian workers and aid into Gaza, has been shut since May 7, when Israeli forces seized the crossing point. Meanwhile, more than 2,000 aid trucks remain waiting in Arish in Egypt for Israel to allow them entry, with food rotting and medicines expiring as families face heightened levels of starvation a few miles away.
While Kerem Shalom remains officially open, commercial trucks have been prioritized, and the movement of aid remains unpredictable, inconsistent, and critically low.
Many Gazans have exhausted their savings and have no income, so commercial goods at inflated prices are out of their reach.
WAFA ADDS: WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, Hanan Balkhy, says that some citizens in Gaza are now reduced to drinking sewage water and eating animal feed, urging for immediate humanitarian access to the besieged Gaza Strip.
NOTE: Thousands of aid trucks are reportedly waiting just outside Gaza, where Israel has made it extremely difficult to pass, employing complicated and arbitrary procedures. Israel has on multiple occasions fired at individuals waiting for food aid (once killing over 100); Israel has also attacked food aid convoys. Additionally, Israeli citizens have blocked a border crossing for weeks, and attacked and looted trucks they believed were heading to Gaza – all with no meaningful attempt by Israel to stop them.
In mid-March, Israel promised to “flood” Gaza with aid, but has failed to do so.
The US has for months expressed its desire to see appropriate amounts of humanitarian aid reaching Gaza on one hand, while undermining Gaza’s largest aid organization on the other.
Meanwhile, the US has built a “temporary pier” off the Gaza coast to receive aid by sea – at a cost of at least $320 million (which has so far been ineffective) – and has, along with other countries, airdropped packages of aid into Gaza – causing over 20 Palestinian deaths due to malfunction.
The Biden administration has so far not used its leverage as the provider of billions of dollars in military aid to and for Israel (with one exception), a move that could potentially end the war in short order.
Terrorist Israeli soldiers film themselves shooting unarmed civilians in Gaza for sport, and blowing up entire city blocks
— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) June 5, 2024
The leader of this genocidal rampage, Benjamin Netanyahu, is due in Washington soon to be officially celebrated by leaders of both pro-war parties https://t.co/ZseadOIwgt
Gaza: Israeli army expands its use of quadcopters to kill more Palestinian civilians:
Euro-Med Monitor reports: As part of its genocide that has been ongoing since 7 October 2023, Israel has been ramping up its use of small drones, or quadcopters, to drop explosive bombs and “shoot to kill” more Palestinians.
The Israeli army uses electronically controlled quadcopter drones remotely for a variety of tasks, including espionage and surveillance, issuing displacement orders, frightening civilians with loud noises, and—most dangerously—using them as a weapon to kill and injure Palestinians.
Since the start of its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army has increased the number of extrajudicial executions and premeditated killings of Palestinian civilians. Drones are being used for sniping and shooting operations in various parts of the Gaza Strip, and are also being used to infiltrate homes and narrow alleyways. Meanwhile, the Israeli army has continued to kill Palestinians on a massively large scale by targeting residential areas with artillery and aerial strikes.
Israel’s army has released a video documenting its use of these kinds of quadcopter aircraft to drop bombs on groups of people and houses while conducting military operations in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli army forces deliberately targeted and executed Silah Muhammad Ahmad Odeh, 52, while she was trying to escape from the Jabalia refugee camp by raising a white flag. Odeh was killed due to direct fire from Israeli quadcopter aircraft on 21 May, in front of her family.
Her brother, Nidal, 40, told the Euro-Med Monitor team…[more].
There is a real concern that cholera may become prevalent, further
Thousands of Israelis march through Jerusalem, some attacking Palestinians:
Al Jazeera reports: Thousands of Israelis have joined a march through occupied East Jerusalem, with some attacking Palestinians and shouting racist slogans, as part of an annual demonstration marking Israel’s occupation of the city.
Footage shared by local journalists on Wednesday showed young men and teenagers chanting, “Death to the Arabs” and “May your village burn” at the so-called “Flag March”.
Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said at the march: “We send a message to Hamas: Jerusalem is ours. Damascus gate is ours. The Temple Mount is ours. With the hand of God, the full victory is ours.”
The demonstrators danced and waved Israeli flags throughout the city.
The Jerusalem Waqf, the Islamic authority that oversees the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, said more than 1,100 Israelis encroached on the site, known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) and to Jews as Temple Mount.
“Almost as soon as the ultranationalist people arrived into occupied East Jerusalem, they started attacking Palestinians. Young kids were attacking older Palestinians – we’ve seen pictures of that,” Khan said.
“They were attacking shops; they were running into the shops. The Israeli police simply lost control. In fact, what they did was they asked the Palestinians to simply shutter their shops because they couldn’t control these people.”
According to Israeli media reports, Israel deployed 3,000 police officers to the march and urged demonstrators to “avoid any physical or verbal violence”.
AFP footage showed demonstrators holding signs rebuking the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the top United Nations court, which has ordered Israel to halt its assault in Rafah.
“The ICJ is corrupt, working with Hamas,” one sign read.
Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir attended the march and called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “be strong” in an implicit criticism of a proposal for a truce deal to halt the war on Gaza.
“The Damascus Gate is ours. The Temple Mount is ours. And God willing complete victory is ours,” Ben-Gvir said, according to Times of Israel, referring to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound – the third-holiest site in Islam.
For more on the flag march, watch ‘Direct intention to set fire’ at Flag March: Israeli activist.
Israel Secretly Targets U.S. Lawmakers With Influence Campaign on Gaza War:
The New York Times reports: Israel organized and paid for an influence campaign last year targeting U.S. lawmakers and the American public with pro-Israel messaging, as it aimed to foster support for its actions in the war with Gaza, according to officials involved in the effort and documents related to the operation.
The covert campaign was commissioned by Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, a government body that connects Jews around the world with the State of Israel, four Israeli officials said. The ministry allocated about $2 million to the operation and hired Stoic, a political marketing firm in Tel Aviv, to carry it out, according to the officials and the documents.
The campaign began in October and remains active on the platform X. At its peak, it used hundreds of fake accounts that posed as real Americans on X, Facebook and Instagram to post pro-Israel comments. The accounts focused on U.S. lawmakers, particularly ones who are Black and Democrats, such as Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader from New York, and Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia, with posts urging them to continue funding Israel’s military.
ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence-powered chatbot, was used to generate many of the posts. The campaign also created three fake English-language news sites featuring pro-Israel articles.
“The company waging Israel’s online propaganda War”:
A company claiming to be “a tech firm specializing in countering disinformation online,” is an Israeli company working to manipulate public opinion for the benefit of the Israeli state.
Mint Press’s Alan MaCleod reports that the firm, Cyabra, is an extremely influential organization. Its work, purporting to “uncover the good, bad and fake online,” has been referenced in outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today.
It was founded by military intelligence officers, half of whose employees have left to rejoin the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) to fight in Gaza – and one that continues to openly work with Israeli military intelligence to this day.
As summer approaches, Israeli water company reduces water supply to southern West Bank:
WAFA reports: The Palestinian Water Authority said Wednesday that the Israeli Mekorot water company has reduced the amount of water supply allocated to the Hebron and Bethlehem governorates, noting that the percentage of reduction from the main water source of Deir Shaar that feeds the two governorates reached approximately 35%.
In a statement, the Authority explained that Mekorot company completely stopped pumping water for several continuous hours, which negatively affected the southern region in general, and the Hebron Governorate and its southern parts in particular, thus further exacerbating the crisis in many communities and making it difficult to provide them with the required quantity of water.
It stressed that the company’s reduction in water supply at this time means an early start to the water shortage crisis and greater suffering for citizens.
Israel advances bill banning states from opening embassies for Palestinians in Jerusalem:
Middle East Monitor reports: Israel’s parliament Wednesday approved the first reading of a bill that prevents countries from opening consulates and embassies to serve Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem.
Channel 7 said the bill would not allow foreign countries to open or operate a consulate or embassy in Jerusalem to serve Palestinians.
Member of the Israeli Knesset, Ze’ev Elkin, said: “The recent trend of various countries of the world to unilaterally recognize the Palestinian state may lead to new initiatives to open foreign consulates in Jerusalem for the Palestinian population, which would express their recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.”
Palestinian-Israeli legislators, academics slam Israeli bill requiring universities to fire anti-Zionist faculty:
Times of Israel reports: A legislative proposal requiring institutions of higher education to terminate lecturers who express anti-Zionist sentiments has drawn strong condemnations from Arab lawmakers and academics amidst what critics see as a wartime crackdown on freedom of expression.
If passed, the bill, which was brought to the Knesset on Monday, would require universities to fire without compensation any instructors who deny Israel’s right to exist as a sovereign Jewish nation, incite terrorism, or express support for a terrorist organization or an armed struggle against the State of Israel.
“The State of Israel prides itself on extensive freedom of expression that allows a wide range of opinions to be heard on any stage. However, the days of war in which we find ourselves oblige us to… balance freedom of expression against the basic principles of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state,” the bill’s explanatory notes state.
RECOMMENDED READING: Israeli military censor bans highest number of articles in over a decade.
West Bank: a week of Israeli settler violence, home demolitions by Israeli authorities:
OCHA reports: During the last week, OCHA documented 17 attacks perpetrated by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and their property, including vandalism of about 860 trees and saplings.
Furthermore, settlers set fire to two residential structures and two animal shelters, set fire to solar panel batteries, stole about 350 metal fencing poles, set fire to two agricultural structures and 50 dunums (12 acres) of land in Hebron.
Also in Hebron, settlers have continued to graze their livestock on Palestinian land, damaging a total of 100 dunums (25 acres) of land over a two-month period.
Since 7 October 2023, OCHA has recorded 943 attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians. Israeli settlers killed ten Palestinians, injured 231 others, and destroyed or damaged over 43,000 Palestinian-owned trees and saplings.
During the reporting period, Israeli authorities demolished or forced the owners to demolish 15 Palestinian-owned structures due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits.
Since 7 October and until 3 June, the Israeli authorities demolished, confiscated or forced the owners to demolish 904 Palestinian structures, of which 39 per cent (350 structures) were inhabited homes. As a result, 2,038 people, including 890 children, were displaced.
Spain to join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the ICJ:
Middle East Eye reports: Spain will intervene in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel’s war on Gaza at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), its foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares announced on Thursday.
“We made this decision in view of the continuation of the military operation in Gaza,” Albares said during a news conference. “Our sole goal is to put an end to the war and to advance on the road of applying the two-state solution.”
The decision comes two weeks after Spain, along with Ireland and Norway, announced their recognition of Palestine as a state, prompting Israeli backlash.
200 Jewish Americans lobby US lawmakers to stop arming Israel:
Hundreds of members of Jewish Voice for Peace Action are calling on the United States Congress to stop arming the Israeli military and to secure a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
In a statement, JVP Action said some of its members held more than 60 meetings with members of Congress and their representatives.
“I am a rabbi calling on my elected officials to stop arming the Israeli military as it wages a genocidal campaign in Gaza. The Jewish tradition teaches us the most holy commandment is pikuach nefesh – saving a life – and I am calling on my representatives to do all that they can to save lives now,” said Lonnie Kleinman, a rabbi based in Philadelphia.
This is in the face of virtually all national establishment Jewish organizations‘ support for Israel.
Trump accuses Chuck Schumer of ‘becoming like a Palestinian’ for criticizing Israeli government:
Ha’aretz reports: Former U.S. President Donald Trump accused Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the pro-Israel stalwart and highest-ever ranking Jewish elected official in US history, of “becoming like a Palestinian” amid his criticism of the Israeli government earlier this year.
“They don’t have the backing,” Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity about Israel’s standing with Democrats. “Even Schumer, he’s become like a Palestinian. Chuck Schumer. Jewish. Always strong for Israel. He’s become like a Palestinian.”
“It’s a very bad thing. It’s a very sad thing, and it’s a very dangerous thing,” he added.
In reality Schumer is a long time supporter of Israel. In a speech to AIPAC he said:
“For as long as I live, for as long as I have the privilege of serving in the Senate from New York, I will unflinchingly, unstintingly and with all of my strength be Shomer Yisrael, a guardian of Israel. Ladies and gentlemen, Am Yisrael Chai, in Israel and America, the Jewish nation lives now and forever.”
US hoping to ‘re-anchor’ Gaza pier repaired by end of week:
The US-built pier anchored on the coast was severely damaged in rough seas at the end of May just a few days after it was completed.
“We’re hoping we will be able to re-anchor the pier into Gaza at the end of the week,” US Department of Defense spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said. “As soon as the temporary pier is re-anchored to the beach in Gaza, we expect aid to flow pretty immediately.”
Aid groups have criticized the pier as a costly and ineffective distraction from the fact that land deliveries are the most efficient way to help Gaza. Israel continues to restrict humanitarian relief from entering the territory as severe hunger spreads.
Singh also announced that the cost of the pier would be around $230 million, instead of the original $320 million thanks to a berthing vessel contributed by the UK.
Mysterious files on Netanyahu:
The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs features a 1996 report from its archives: “Spook, Terrorist or Criminal? America’s Mysterious Files on Netanyahu”:
“Netanyahu has lived both in Israel and the U.S.: first grade in Israel; second and third in the U.S.; fourth through eighth in Jerusalem; high school in suburban Philadelphia; military service in Israel; B.A. and M.A. at MIT. He held dual citizenship, which enabled him to travel freely between both countries, study in the U.S., receive federal loans to cover his education costs at MIT and work legally. Like every U.S. citizen, Netanyahu has a social security number, a credit account, and numerous other files in a variety of government offices.”
“Netanyahu’s files differ from those of most U.S. citizens. The Israeli weekly Ha’ir reports that four requests for credit approval appear in U.S. social security file number 020-36-4537. Under each request one finds a different name: Benjamin Netanyahu, Benjamin Nitai, John Jay Sullivan and John Jay Sullivan Jr.—one man, four names.”
Netanyahu left his job in 1982 as a furniture salesman to be a policy adviser at the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC, and within 14 years became prime minister.
Marvin Josephine, the head of ICM, one of the biggest publishing companies in the U.S., is a major contributor to Netanyahu. Another donor is Barry Slotnick, an attorney who has among his clients the Italian and Russian Mafias. Ted Arison, who owns cruise lines in the U.S., is considered not only a friend, but a confidant. In London, Netanyahu often stays with Rupert Murdoch. Netanyahu has an ally in Ronald Lauder of the Este Lauder cosmetic dynasty. Lauder is founder, major contributor, and chairman of Shalem Institute, a right-wing think tank located in Jerusalem. He is currently president of the World Jewish Congress.
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