Compilation of news reports – IAK staff
Jews' bombardment left at least 28 dead across the Gaza Strip on Thursday.
UN Child Rights Committee condemns Jewish Israel regime’s treatment of Palestinian children
The Committee was greatly concerned about the high number of children in Gaza killed, maimed, injured, missing, displaced, orphaned and subjected to famine, malnutrition and disease, as a result of the State party’s indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks.
It urged the State party to immediately cease the killing and injuring of Palestinian children in Gaza, to ensure safe and unrestricted humanitarian access to and within the Gaza Strip, and to allow entry of all construction materials necessary for Palestinian families to rebuild homes and civilian and public infrastructure.
The Committee was deeply concerned about the continued abduction, arbitrary arrest, and prolonged detention of large numbers of Palestinian children by Israeli forces, mostly without charge, trial or access to legal representation or contact with family members.
It urged the State party to immediately end the arbitrary and administrative detention of children, to release all Palestinian children who have been arbitrarily detained, and to abolish the institutionalized system of detention and the use of torture and ill-treatment against them at all stages of the judicial procedure.
Bragi Guðbrandsson, vice chair of the U.N. Child Rights Committee, remarked, “The outrageous death of children is almost historically unique. This is an extremely dark place in history…I don’t think we can identify any measure that was taken to save children’s lives in this military operation in Gaza.”
He added, “I don’t think we have seen before, a violation that is so massive, as we are seeing in Gaza now. These are extremely grave violations that we do not often see.”
Israel accused the Child’s Rights Committee of having a “politically-driven agenda”, in a statement sent by its diplomatic mission in Geneva.
RELATED READING: UN adds Israel to the “Hall of Shame” – the list of states committing violations against children
‘Palestinians are also human beings’: US lawmaker
Andalou Agency reports:
US congresswoman Rashida Tlaib slammed her colleagues on Thursday who are silent about Israel’s killing of Palestinians, including babies, in the Gaza Strip:
“We are living through one of, again, the most documented horrific crimes against humanity in our history. These are children who did not live to see their first birthday. We cannot normalize this,” Tlaib said on the floor of the House of Representatives.
Her remarks came after the Gaza Ministry of Health released a 649-page document with the name of every identified Palestinian killed in the Gaza Strip.
It listed 34,344 Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks, publishing their names, ages, genders and ID numbers. The first 14 pages of the document – 710 names – are babies.
“My colleagues continue to be silent. I wonder if it’s because these babies are Palestinian? They’re children, that’s it. They’re children. I can’t believe I have to consistently remind my colleagues that Palestinians are also human beings,” said Tlaib.
“Fourteen pages of babies names…that the Israeli government has murdered. This is not self-defense. This is genocide,” she added.
She also criticized many of her colleagues who continue to send bombs to Israel. “This is not working tirelessly for a cease-fire. If the Biden-Harris administration wants a cease-fire, they should stop sending the bombs and the weapons. We must stop arming and funding genocide.”
RECOMMENDED READING: ‘12,000 minors, 710 infants’: Names released of over 34,000 victims of Israel’s war on Gaza
Jewish Israel regime’s deliberate blackout of the Gaza Strip for nearly a year is a tool of genocide
Euro Med Monitor reports:
Palestinian Territory – Israel’s deliberate cut-off of electricity to the Gaza Strip for almost a full year now has had catastrophic effects and long-lasting humanitarian repercussions, affecting every aspect of residents’ lives. The subjection of over two million individuals to deplorable living conditions by Israel, including cutting off their electricity, is a tool of its ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people.
Cutting off electricity to a 2.3 million-person population spread over 365 square kilometers for almost a full year is a highly unprecedented measure in the history of conflicts and wars, as it is not only the product of military operations but also a political decision. Israeli officials have clearly stated that their goal is to annihilate the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced, on 7 October 2023, “a complete siege … no electricity, no water, no food, no fuel. We are fighting human animals, and we act accordingly.”
Subsequently, on the same day, Israeli Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Yisrael Katz decided to cut off the Gaza Strip’s electricity supply, and the Minister of Defense decided to prevent the entry of any trucks carrying fuel.
Following these decisions, the 120 megawatt feeder lines from Israel to the Gaza Strip were disrupted on 8 October 2023, and this disruption has continued to the present day. As part of its genocidal war against Palestinians, Israel has also prohibited the entry of fuel into the Strip, shutting down the sole power plant in the enclave…
West Bank: Jews Kill 7 more Palestinians, Injure 12 more
IMEMC reports:
Israeli forces executed seven Palestinian young men and injured at least twelve, including a child seriously, during a prolonged attack against the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin in the northern West Bank. [NOTE: Middle East Eye reports eight dead.]
Media sources said that on Thursday morning, a large army force stormed the town of Qabatiya and besieged a citizen’s home, before firing many live rounds and several shells at the home.
Sources added that the army executed three young men, after shooting them with live ammunition; the soldiers then stormed the rooftop where the men were killed, and proceeded to abuse their corpses.
Videos published on various media outlets show occupation soldiers kicking the bodies of the three slain men from the rooftop of the building where they were executed.
Later, the soldiers transported the three bodies with a bulldozer and proceeded to confiscate the bodies, taking them to an unknown location.
It is important to mention that the abuse of a corpse is in clear violation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL).
Occupation forces shot at least eight others with live rounds, and injured two others by running them over with an armored jeep.
After the army fired anti-tank grenades at the besieged home, a military bulldozer demolished it.
Sources said that on Thursday evening, an armed Israeli drone fired a missile at a vehicle near a coffee shop, killing a young man, while soldiers killed another man after shooting him with live rounds near the entrance to the town.
The attacking army fired tear gas canisters and live rounds at journalists who gathered to cover the events of the military incursion, and prevented ambulance crews from approaching the besieged home.
Two other Palestinians were also killed.
(Several videos of the day’s incidents are here.)
In response to news of Israeli soldiers abusing bodies, the Israeli military said in a statement, “This is a serious incident that is not in line with [Israeli military] values and what is expected of [Israeli military] soldiers.”
Israel Supreme Court rejects petition to shut prison where Palestinian was raped
Middle East Monitor reports:
The Israeli Supreme Court has rejected a request by civil society organizations to shut down the notorious Sde Teiman Prison, where aggravated human rights violations have been committed against Palestinian detainees.
The request came as part of a petition filed in May by the Association for Civil Rights, the Doctors for Human Rights, Gisha, Hamoked and the Committee Against Torture to immediately close the prison.
The court rejected the closure request and said, “In these difficult days, the Supreme Court is also required to issue rulings that should be obvious — that the state must abide by the law and is prohibited from abusing the detainees.”
In July Israel’s Attorney-General demanded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu close the detention camp “immediately” following the rights groups’ petition.
Thousands of Palestinian civilians, including women, children, and health and civil defence workers have been arrested since 7 October. Images emerging from Gaza show them being rounded up, stripped to their underwear in public and taken away.
Over the past few months, the army has released dozens of Palestinian prisoners from Gaza in separate batches, most of whom suffered from deteriorating health conditions and bore signs of torture and medical neglect.
RECOMMENDED READING: Hostages of Israeli revenge in the Gaza Strip: Testimonies of 100 released Palestinian detainees reveal crimes of torture, cruel treatment.
Bibi 'The Baby Butcher' Netanyahu lashes out at UK prime minister for giving mixed signals on Israel support
Middle East Eye reports:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has criticized the government of new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, accusing it of sending “mixed messages” regarding the United Kingdom’s support for Israel.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Netanyahu condemned London’s recent suspension of arms licenses to Israel as “misguided”.
“After the October 7 Hamas massacre,” Netanyahu stated, “the previous British government was clear in its support. Unfortunately, the current government is sending mixed messages.”
He criticized the UK’s discontinuation of support for Netanyahu in the International Criminal Court and its decision to suspend a small percentage of arms licenses to Israel.
In response, a Foreign Office spokesperson stated: “We have been absolutely clear that Israel must adhere to international humanitarian law when taking military action.”
He added, “The UK has raised concerns about these issues over many months, as have other allies. Unfortunately, these concerns have not been satisfactorily addressed.”
Hezbollah leader vows “just retribution” for Israel’s pager explosions
Andalou Agency reports:
Paging The Hague: Israel regime’s Exploding Electronics are War Crimes
The Intercept reports:
The seemingly indiscriminate nature of the attacks in Lebanon this week has drawn the attention and concern of experts in international law who caution that the explosions may rise to the level of war crimes.
Brian Finucane, a former State Department legal adviser under Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, “If it is Israel behind this [it is], they’ve got some tough questions to answer, including to the U.S. government, because the U.S. government is providing great military support.”
“It really should be in the U.S. government’s interest to ensure that its military partners are complying with the laws of war.”
Finucane said that, were he still advising the State Department, he would urge the U.S. to ask a series of questions: Did Israel take precautions to minimize harms to civilians? Did it anticipate blasts to be large enough to harm civilians? How and when were the devices altered to be detonated?
On the specific topic of exploding pagers and walkie-talkies, he highlighted a law of war that prohibits the “use of booby-traps or other devices in the form of harmless portable objects which are specifically designed and constructed to contain explosive material.”
“I think detonating pagers in people’s pockets without any knowledge of where those are, in that moment, is a pretty evident indiscriminate attack,” said Jessica Peake, an international law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. “I think this seems to be quite blatant, both violations of both proportionality and indiscriminate attacks.”
Both Peake and Finucane said the scale of this week’s attacks are unprecedented.
(Read the full article here.)
U.S. Officials Concede Gaza Cease-Fire Out of Reach for Biden
Wall Street Journal reports:
After months of saying a cease-fire and a hostage-release deal was close at hand, senior U.S. officials are now privately acknowledging they don’t expect Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement before the end of President Biden’s term.
“No deal is imminent,” one of the U.S. officials said. “I’m not sure it ever gets done.”
NOTE: The WSJ article goes on to give a fabricated list of reasons why no deal has been reached, including that “Hamas makes demands and then refuses to say ‘yes’ after the U.S. and Israel accept them.”
In reality, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has been repeatedly “sabotaging talks“; adding “nonnegotiable” demands,” and “collaps[ing] the deal.” While the Biden administration has been publicly declaring for weeks that an agreement is very close, Netanyahu, his team, and mediators have insisted this is not the case. Israeli officials have said that Netanyahu’s hard lines are actually making a deal much harder to reach.
US: University of Virginia refuses to divest from Israel despite student referendum
Middle East Eye reports:
The managers of the University of Virginia’s (UVA) multi-billion-dollar endowment announced on Friday that they will not divest from Israel, a decision taken despite a February referendum passing a pro-boycott, divestment and sanctions resolution targeting Israel.
Students and faculty had been engaged in a divestment campaign since the fall of 2023, among many other college campuses.
UVA’s investment management company, responsible for managing the school’s nearly $14bn endowment, has now officially rejected those calls to withdraw investments from companies linked to Israel on the basis of not “using divestment as a means of expressing political views”, according to Kristina Alimard, the company’s chief operating officer.
During a recent board of visitors meeting, Alimard stated, “We are not divesting from any investments in response to the student referendum that was passed earlier this year.”
Over 8,000 students voted in the referendum calling for full divestment from Israel in the university’s $13.6bn endowment in companies “that engage with or profit from Israel’s apartheid regime and its acute violence against Palestinians”.
More than two-thirds of the voters supported the measure.
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