[ International ] [ Main Menu ]
54791
From: akira, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Children starving, parents helpless as famine consumes northern Gaza
URL: https://www.972mag.com/northern-gaza-famine-hunger-malnutrition-aid/
|
Children starving, parents helpless as famine consumes northern Gaza With aid blocked and stores empty of basic goods, dozens of Palestinian children have been hospitalized with malnutrition and acute anemia. By Ibrahim Mohammad June 18, 2024 👆Palestinian children wait for a hot meal prepared by volunteers in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, April 4, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90) When 10-month-old Saeed Darwish tries to cry, he is no longer able to make a sound. His sunken eyes and pale skin testify to his painfully empty stomach: he has barely eaten in weeks. With the northern Gaza Strip once again facing critical shortages of food, water, and infant formula as a result of Israel’s siege and ongoing military bombardment, Saeed is one of many Palestinian children whose bodies are wasting away from starvation. The doctors at Kamal Adwan Hospital, in the town of Beit Lahia, say Saeed is suffering from severe fatigue, emaciation, and anemia. His father, Khalil, sits at his bedside, waiting agonizingly for Saeed’s condition to improve; his heart is wracked with the pain and helplessness of being unable to relieve his son’s affliction. “My child wakes up crying every night from extreme hunger, but I cannot find anything to feed him,” Khalil told +972. “All I can bring him is pieces of bread — and even this is becoming scarce.” Khalil fears that Saeed could join a growing list of more than 30 Palestinian children in Gaza who have died of malnutrition and dehydration in recent months. In March, northern Gaza was declared to be facing imminent famine. Now, according to the World Health Organization, “a significant proportion” of Gaza’s entire population is experiencing “catastrophic hunger and famine- like conditions.” At Kamal Adwan Hospital alone, 50 children are currently being treated for severe malnutrition. The scarcity of humanitarian aid entering the Strip means that many families have no access to basic essentials. In the north, “there’s no rice, vegetables, or flour,” Khalil explained. “If any of these goods are available [in the market], their prices are insane. The majority of the population cannot afford them.” To make matters worse, Saeed’s mother was wounded in the latest Israeli invasion of Jabalia, and is unable to breastfeed. A Palestinian child carries bread near his family's tent in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, June 5, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90) A Palestinian child carries bread near his family’s tent in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, June 5, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90) On another bed close to Saeed lies 18-month-old Mahmoud Safi, who is suffering from malnutrition-induced anemia. “The disease is mercilessly sweeping through my little child’s body,” said Mahmoud’s father, Mustafa. “I do not know how to deal with his harsh cries.” Mahmoud is not the only child in his family who is ill: two of his three siblings contracted hepatitis A as a result of drinking contaminated water. “How are children at fault in this war, that they must go to sleep and wake up hungry?” asked Mustafa. “We have not had any kind of vegetables, clean water, or flour for months,” he continued. “In February, we were forced to eat animal feed and leaves. We hope that we will not return to this stage.” ‘Hunger is destroying me and my children’ Ahmad Obaid’s family, from the Tal al-Zaatar neighborhood of Jabalia, were among those forced at times to eat grass and leaves in recent months in order to survive. Having now been without food again for the past four days, their faces are starting to show signs of exhaustion. “My family and I are alive, but we are not well,” Obaid told +972. He is currently taking his two children, 3-year-old Khalil and 5-year-old Jihad, to Kamal Adwan Hospital every day in order to receive treatment for acute anemia. “Hunger is destroying me and my children, and conditions are getting worse by the day,” he said. Palestinians line up to receive drinkable water in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, May 20, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90) Palestinians line up to receive drinkable water in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, May 20, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90) In May, Israel reopened the Erez/Beit Hanoun Crossing and opened an additional crossing in the north, allowing some aid to reach the areas experiencing the most extreme levels of hunger. “The markets recovered for a few days, and various goods and products were brought in,” Obaid recalled. But now, in the aftermath of Israel’s latest brutal offensive in northern Gaza, Obaida warns that “the crisis has returned.” In Jabalia refugee camp, the markets are virtually empty of food and other commodities. Ismail Al-Hassi, a 37-year-old living in the camp, told +972 that he visits the market every day in search of provisions for his family, but nothing has arrived for about a month. Al-Hassi’s 1-year-old daughter, Nour, has suffered from digestive problems since birth, and requires a specific type of infant formula to manage her condition — which is now nowhere to be found in local markets. As her condition deteriorates, her body is growing emaciated. Most read on +972 Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, December 28, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) ‘Lavender’: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree in Gaza Palestinians run through Nuseirat following an Israeli attack on the camp, June 8, 2024. (Khaled Ali/Flash90) ‘How is it reasonable to kill over 200 for the sake of four?’ Minister Benny Gantz speaks during a press conference at the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv, December 16, 2023. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90) What Gantz’s exit reveals about Israel’s failed Gaza strategy “We eat one meal a day,” Al-Hassi said. “Sometimes we go without bread in order to save it for the coming days.” When available, vegetables are increasingly out of reach: according to Al-Hassi, one kilogram of onions now costs NIS 350 shekels (over $90), while peppers are sold for NIS 560 ($150). “Other vegetables have disappeared from the markets entirely. Canned goods are being sold at nearly 20 times their original cost, which is impossible for most of the population to afford.” According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, as many as 3,500 children are currently at risk of starving to death. With the Strip’s health system decimated, and in the absence of an immediate ceasefire and a flood of humanitarian aid into the Strip, the situation for Gaza’s children is increasingly life-or-death. Gaza October 2023 war siege humanitarian aid Ibrahim Mohammad is an independent Palestinian journalist from Gaza City who covers humanitarian and social issues. He holds a BA in journalism and media from Al-Aqsa University. Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war. The world is reeling from Israel’s unprecedented onslaught on Gaza, inflicting mass devastation and death upon besieged Palestinians, as well as the atrocious attack and kidnappings by Hamas in Israel on October 7. Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing this violence. We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine. The bloodshed has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region. Emboldened settlers in the West Bank, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to intensify their attacks on Palestinians. The most far-right government in Israel’s history is ramping up its policing of dissent, using the cover of war to silence Palestinian citizens and left-wing Jews who object to its policies. This escalation has a very clear context, one that +972 has spent the past 14 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism, entrenched occupation and apartheid, and a normalized siege on Gaza. We are well positioned to cover this perilous moment – but we need your help to do it. This terrible period will challenge the humanity of all of those working for a better future in this land. Palestinians and Israelis are already organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives. Can we count on your support ? +972 Magazine is a leading media voice of this movement, a desperately needed platform where Palestinian and Israeli journalists, activists, and thinkers can report on and analyze what is happening, guided by humanism, equality, and justice. Join us. BECOME A +972 MEMBER TODAY More About Gaza Palestinians run through Nuseirat following an Israeli attack on the camp, June 8, 2024. (Khaled Ali/Flash90) ‘How is it reasonable to kill over 200 for the sake of four?’ Relentless bombing, hospitals overflowing, soldiers in aid trucks: survivors recount the massacre in Nuseirat refugee camp during Israel’s hostage rescue. By Ruwaida Kamal Amer June 13, 2024 Minister Benny Gantz speaks during a press conference at the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv, December 16, 2023. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90) What Gantz’s exit reveals about Israel’s failed Gaza strategy October 7 collapsed Israel’s decades-old ‘separation policy’ toward Gaza. Gantz and Gallant know it; Netanyahu and the far right still won’t admit it. By Meron Rapoport June 11, 2024 Palestinians are treated at Al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, prior to its closure, February 1, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90) ‘We’re all at risk of being targeted’: Doctors evacuate Rafah’s last hospitals Almost no facilities remain to treat the wounded in Gaza's southernmost city, as doctors fear a repeat of Israel's attacks on hospitals across the Strip. By Ruwaida Kamal Amer June 5, 2024 ‘How is it reasonable to kill over 200 for the sake of four?’ Relentless bombing, hospitals overflowing, soldiers in aid trucks: survivors recount the massacre in Nuseirat refugee camp during Israel’s hostage rescue. By Ruwaida Kamal Amer June 13, 2024 Palestinians run through Nuseirat following an Israeli attack on the camp, June 8, 2024. (Khaled Ali/Flash90) Palestinians run through Nuseirat following an Israeli attack on the camp, June 8, 2024. (Khaled Ali/Flash90) It began without warning. “Planes were bombing. Tanks were firing. Quadcopter drones were shooting. People were running and screaming. It felt like Judgment Day, as if we were living our last moments.” This was the scene at around 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 8 in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp. Aerial bombardment, as described by a journalist in the camp who preferred to remain anonymous, was accompanied by the entry of dozens of Israeli military and police special forces personnel who emerged from aid trucks. “We couldn’t understand what was happening,” the journalist added. As later became clear, a major Israeli military operation was underway to retrieve four hostages whom Hamas had kidnapped from the Nova music festival almost exactly eight months prior. In doing so, Israeli forces unleashed devastation on Nuseirat camp, killing at least 276 Palestinians and wounding approximately 700 more. Subscribe to The Landline +972's weekly newsletter Sign up “The intensity of the bombing felt like an earthquake,” Enas Al-Louh, a 45- year-old from Gaza City who had sought refuge in the camp, recounted. “I thought my life would end right there. I was screaming at my children not to leave my side so that we could die together. For more than an hour, we lived through the horror of nonstop bombing and shelling.” For Amjad Al-Majdalawi, a 40-year-old who had been staying in Nuseirat camp with his family since the start of the war, the sound of explosions and people screaming in the market jolted him into a state of panic. “My mind stopped, and I ran to check on my family,” he told +972. “While running, I saw the martyrs and the wounded lying on the ground, and the survivors begging for help. Palestinians carry the body of one of the more than 270 people killed during an Israeli military operation in Nuseirat, June 8, 2024. (Khaled Ali/Flash90) Palestinians carry the body of one of the more than 270 people killed during an Israeli military operation in Nuseirat, June 8, 2024. (Khaled Ali/Flash90) “I arrived home to find my children and my family screaming in fear,” he continued. “We tried to find some relief from the shock of the event, but it continued to become more and more violent. The occupation deceived the camp through the state of calm in which we lived for several days [prior to the operation], without hearing the sound of reconnaissance planes. Then came the attack, with such brutality. Everyone in the camp lost someone from their family.” ‘We are cheap blood in this hypocritical world’ As hundreds of wounded Palestinians began arriving at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in nearby Deir al-Balah, the Israeli army called the hospital staff and ordered them to evacuate, threatening to bomb the hospital. Staff passed on the warning to those it could, but most were too desperate to pay heed. The attack didn’t materialize, and it appears that the threat was intended to sow further chaos and confusion as Israel’s operation unfolded. “All the photographers and journalists chose to stay,” the journalist recounted. “By covering the events inside the hospital — which continued to receive countless numbers of injured patients — we fulfilled our work. We didn’t care about the evacuation order, because what we experienced was more terrible than any other thought or feeling. The crying of mothers and children was so intense.” Khalil Al-Dakran, the hospital’s spokesperson, told +972 that most of the wounded who arrived that day were women and children. But due to the Israeli army’s continuous attacks on central Gaza in the previous weeks, he explained, the hospital was unable to receive such large numbers. Palestinians observe the destruction caused by an Israeli military operation in Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, June 8, 2024. (Khaled Ali/Flash90) Palestinians observe the destruction caused by an Israeli military operation in Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, June 8, 2024. (Khaled Ali/Flash90) “We treated the injured on the floor of the corridors and outside in the tents, because there were no empty beds to receive the wounded,” Al-Dakran continued. “They arrived in ambulances, civilian cars, and animal-drawn vehicles.” The situation was so dire that the hospital was forced to send patients to Al-Awda Maternity Hospital, which was closer to the massacre in Nuseirat, despite it being ill-equipped to accommodate patients with severe injuries. Al-Aqsa’s dwindling resources further limited the hospital’s ability to admit the influx of patients. “Some medical delegations come to Gaza with supplies that can help our patients, but the Israeli army confiscates these and prevents them from entering Gaza,” Al-Dakran explained. “It inhibits the entry of fuel and medical equipment into hospitals and keeps the wounded from seeking life-saving treatment abroad.” Most read on +972 Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, December 28, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) ‘Lavender’: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree in Gaza Minister Benny Gantz speaks during a press conference at the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv, December 16, 2023. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90) What Gantz’s exit reveals about Israel’s failed Gaza strategy Palestinian children wait for a hot meal prepared by volunteers in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, April 4, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90) Children starving, parents helpless as famine consumes northern Gaza The Nuseirat operation marked only the third time since October 7 that Israeli forces have freed hostages alive. The second, on Feb. 12, also came at a high cost to Palestinian lives, killing at least 74 in Rafah’s Shaboura refugee camp in order to create a “diversion.” Al-Louh is still struggling to make sense of what he witnessed. “How is it reasonable to kill over 200 people for the sake of four? We are cheap blood in this hypocritical world that does not know the meaning of humanity, does not speak about the hundreds of martyrs and wounded, and does not express its anger at this massacre.” CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the Nuseirat operation was the second time Israel had freed hostages alive since October 7, rather than the third. Gaza October 2023 war Israeli army Palestinian refugee camp Palestinian refugees Ruwaida Kamal Amer is a freelance journalist from Khan Younis. Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war. The world is reeling from Israel’s unprecedented onslaught on Gaza, inflicting mass devastation and death upon besieged Palestinians, as well as the atrocious attack and kidnappings by Hamas in Israel on October 7. Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing this violence. We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine. The bloodshed has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region. Emboldened settlers in the West Bank, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to intensify their attacks on Palestinians. The most far-right government in Israel’s history is ramping up its policing of dissent, using the cover of war to silence Palestinian citizens and left-wing Jews who object to its policies. This escalation has a very clear context, one that +972 has spent the past 14 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism, entrenched occupation and apartheid, and a normalized siege on Gaza. We are well positioned to cover this perilous moment – but we need your help to do it. This terrible period will challenge the humanity of all of those working for a better future in this land. Palestinians and Israelis are already organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives. Can we count on your support ? +972 Magazine is a leading media voice of this movement, a desperately needed platform where Palestinian and Israeli journalists, activists, and thinkers can report on and analyze what is happening, guided by humanism, equality, and justice. Join us. BECOME A +972 MEMBER TODAY More About Gaza Palestinian children wait for a hot meal prepared by volunteers in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, April 4, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90) Children starving, parents helpless as famine consumes northern Gaza With aid blocked and stores empty of basic goods, dozens of Palestinian children have been hospitalized with malnutrition and acute anemia. By Ibrahim Mohammad June 18, 2024 Minister Benny Gantz speaks during a press conference at the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv, December 16, 2023. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90) What Gantz’s exit reveals about Israel’s failed Gaza strategy October 7 collapsed Israel’s decades-old ‘separation policy’ toward Gaza. Gantz and Gallant know it; Netanyahu and the far right still won’t admit it. By Meron Rapoport June 11, 2024 Palestinians are treated at Al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, prior to its closure, February 1, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90) ‘We’re all at risk of being targeted’: Doctors evacuate Rafah’s last hospitals Almost no facilities remain to treat the wounded in Gaza's southernmost city, as doctors fear a repeat of Israel's attacks on hospitals across the Strip. By Ruwaida Kamal Amer June 5, 2024 What Gantz’s exit reveals about Israel’s failed Gaza strategy October 7 collapsed Israel’s decades-old ‘separation policy’ toward Gaza. Gantz and Gallant know it; Netanyahu and the far right still won’t admit it. Meron Rapoport By Meron Rapoport June 11, 2024 Minister Benny Gantz speaks during a press conference at the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv, December 16, 2023. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90) Minister Benny Gantz speaks during a press conference at the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv, December 16, 2023. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90) In partnership with On the face of it, it’s hard to make sense of the rift within Israel’s government over the “day after” in Gaza, which led Benny Gantz to quit the coalition on Sunday. In a press conference announcing his decision, Gantz accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “preventing … real victory” by failing to present a viable plan for the Strip’s post-war governance. Gantz, who joined the government and war cabinet after October 7 as a minister without portfolio, has been urging Netanyahu for months to lay out his “day after” plan. The prime minister, who has a personal and political interest in prolonging the war, has so far refused to produce one; instead, he has only repeatedly insisted that he rejects both the continued existence of a “Hamastan” and its replacement with a “Fatahstan” run by the Palestinian Authority (PA). Yet Gantz doesn’t have a viable plan either. His proposal — replacing Hamas with an “international civilian governance mechanism” that includes some Palestinian elements, while maintaining overall Israeli security control — is so far-fetched that its practical significance is to continue the war indefinitely. In other words, exactly what Netanyahu and his far-right allies want. Subscribe to The Landline +972's weekly newsletter Sign up The same can be said of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who was Gantz’s closest ally in the war cabinet. Gallant reportedly walked out of a security cabinet meeting last month when other ministers castigated him for demanding that Netanyahu rule out prolonged Israeli civilian or military control over Gaza. But the defense minister’s alternative proposal is essentially the same as Gantz’s: to establish a government run by non- Hamas “Palestinian entities” with international backing — which no Palestinian, Arab, or international actors will accept. It’s true that Gantz and Gallant have also demanded that Netanyahu prioritize a deal with Hamas to bring back the hostages, while the prime minister is dragging his feet. But this apparent disagreement also collapses under scrutiny: any deal would entail a significant, if not complete, Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a months-long, if not permanent, ceasefire. Such a scenario would result in one of two possibilities: a return to Hamas rule, or the reimposition of the PA — both of which are unacceptable to Gantz and Gallant on the one hand, and Netanyahu and his far-right allies on the other. Minister Benny Gantz, families of the Israelis held kidnapped by Hamas, and Israelis attend a march, March 1, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90) Minister Benny Gantz, families of the Israelis held kidnapped by Hamas, and Israelis attend a march, March 1, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90) So why does the Israeli right see the fundamentally incoherent proposals of Gantz and Gallant as an existential threat? The answer goes far deeper than disagreements over the question of Gaza’s “day-after.” What Gantz and Gallant are implicitly acknowledging, and Netanyahu and his allies refuse to admit, is that Israel’s decades-old “separation policy” has collapsed in the wake of the October 7 attacks. No longer able to maintain the illusion that the Gaza Strip has been severed from the West Bank and thus from any future Palestinian political settlement, Israel’s leaders are in a bind. From separation to annexation Israel’s separation policy can be traced back to the early ’90s, when, against the backdrop of the First Intifada and the Gulf War, the government began imposing a permit regime on Palestinians that limited travel between the West Bank and Gaza. Such restrictions intensified during the Second Intifada and culminated in the aftermath of Israel’s “disengagement” from Gaza in 2005 and Hamas’ subsequent rise to power. Most Israelis thought that Israel had left Gaza and therefore no longer bore any responsibility for what happened in the Strip. The international community largely rejected this stance and continued to view Israel as an occupying power in Gaza, but the Israeli government consistently shirked its responsibility for the enclave’s residents. At most, the government was willing to grant Palestinians travel permits to enter the West Bank or Israel on special humanitarian grounds. When Netanyahu returned to the premiership in 2009, he worked to entrench the separation policy. He expanded the rift between Gaza and the West Bank by channeling funds to the Hamas government in the Strip, based on the belief that dividing the Palestinians geographically and politically would limit the possibility of an independent Palestinian state. This, in turn, has paved the way for Israel to annex part or even all of the West Bank. When Yoram Ettinger, the Israeli right’s demographic “expert,” was asked in 2021 how he would deal with the fact that between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea there are roughly the same number of Jews and Palestinians, he explained that “Gaza is not in the game and is not relevant … The area in dispute is Judea and Samaria.” Palestinians cross the Qalandiya checkpoint, outside of the West Bank city of Ramallah, June 17, 2016 (Photo by Flash90). Palestinians cross the Qalandiya checkpoint, outside of the West Bank city of Ramallah, June 17, 2016. (Flash90) David Friedman, the pro-annexation U.S. ambassador appointed by Donald Trump, agreed that after the withdrawal from Gaza, only the question of the West Bank remained relevant. “The evacuation [of Israelis] from Gaza had one salutary effect: it took 2 million Arabs out of the [demographic equation],” he said in 2016. By removing Gaza from the conversation, the former ambassador explained, Israel could maintain a Jewish majority even if it annexed the West Bank and granted citizenship to its Palestinian residents. A strategic power vacuum One of Hamas’ stated reasons for the October 7 attack was to shatter the illusion that Gaza is a separate entity, and to return the Strip and the entire Palestinian cause back to history. In this, it has undoubtedly succeeded. However, even after October 7, Israel has largely continued to ignore the connection between Gaza and the West Bank, as well as its centrality to the Palestinian struggle as a whole. Israel has consistently refused to articulate a coherent plan for the “day after” because doing so necessarily requires addressing the Strip’s status within the broader Israeli-Palestinian context. Any such discussion fundamentally undermines Israel’s carefully cultivated separation policy. In addition to its utter brutality, Israel’s current assault on Gaza differs in important ways from previous wars. Never before has Israel allowed a territory under its military control to go essentially ungoverned. When the Israeli army first occupied the West Bank and Gaza in 1967, it immediately established a military government that assumed responsibility for the civil administration of the lives of the occupied residents. When it occupied southern Lebanon in 1982, it didn’t dismantle the existing Lebanese government; after establishing a “security zone” in 1985, Israel handed over responsibility for civilian affairs to a local militia. This stands in stark contrast to the current operation. Despite the fact that Israel effectively controls large parts of Gaza, Israel treats Gaza’s 2.3 million residents as though they are living in a vacuum. Israeli soldiers from the 8717 Battalion of the Givati Brigade operating in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, December 28, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) Israeli soldiers from the 8717 Battalion of the Givati Brigade operating in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, December 28, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) For obvious reasons, Israel sees the Hamas government that ruled the Strip for 16 years as illegitimate — but it doesn’t view the PA, which administers parts of the West Bank, as a suitable alternative. Such a scenario would fully undermine Israel’s separation policy: the same Palestinian entity would govern both occupied territories, and Israel would face greater pressure to negotiate the establishment of a Palestinian state. So long as the power vacuum in Gaza exists, the right can achieve what it wants: the war can continue, Netanyahu can prolong his time in office, and there can be no real possibility of opening peace negotiations, which even the Americans now seem eager to restart. The messianic-nationalist right also wants to maintain this limbo because it opens the door to the possibility of so-called “voluntary migration” of Palestinians from Gaza, which is National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s ultimate wish, or to the “total annihilation” of Gaza’s population centers, which is Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s goal. Both believe that red-roofed Israeli settlements lie at the other end of this period of limbo. Two visions for Gaza The army, however, seems tired of this vacuum. For them, it promises only endless fighting with no achievable goal, burnout among soldiers and reservists, and a mounting confrontation with the Americans, with whom Israel’s defense establishment has a uniquely close relationship. The invasion of Rafah only heightened the army’s displeasure. Israel’s takeover of the Rafah Crossing with Egypt has further undermined the idea that it has no responsibility for what happens in Gaza. Gallant correctly recognized that control of the Rafah Crossing and the Philadelphi Corridor have brought Israel closer to establishing a military government in the Strip: without intending to, and certainly without admitting it, Israel appears on the precipice of governing Gaza like it governs the West Bank. Gantz and Gallant have reacted to this situation similarly. Both are in close contact with the United States, and are also more exposed to pressure from the hostages’ families whose support continues to grow among the Israeli public. Both understand very well that the continued refusal of Netanyahu, Ben Gvir, and Smotrich to discuss the “day after” prevents any possibility of reaching a deal for the hostages’ release, and sentences them to a slow and certain death in Hamas’ tunnels. Most read on +972 Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, December 28, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) ‘Lavender’: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree in Gaza Palestinians run through Nuseirat following an Israeli attack on the camp, June 8, 2024. (Khaled Ali/Flash90) ‘How is it reasonable to kill over 200 for the sake of four?’ Palestinian children wait for a hot meal prepared by volunteers in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, April 4, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90) Children starving, parents helpless as famine consumes northern Gaza Gallant and Gantz’s proposals for Palestinian rule are not serious, and cannot be accepted by any respected Palestinian, Arab, or international body. But they are enough to challenge the preferences of Netanyahu, Smotrich, and Ben Gvir for eternal limbo, to provoke their unholy rage, and to undermine the stability of the government. Gantz and Gallant’s statements also express an unconscious admission that Israel currently faces only two real possibilities. The first is a settlement that recognizes Gaza as an integral part of any Palestinian political entity, which would involve the return of the PA and the establishment of a united Palestinian government. The alternative is a war of attrition, which the messianic right hopes will end with the expulsion or annihilation of the Palestinians, but which will more likely end just as the First Lebanon War did: an Israel withdrawal under sustained military pressure and the entrenchment of a skilled guerrilla force on Israel’s border. A version of this article was first published in Hebrew on Local Call. Read it here. Benny Gantz Benjamin Netanyahu Gaza October 2023 war separation Hamas Fatah Local Call Meron Rapoport Meron Rapoport is an editor at Local Call. Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war. The world is reeling from Israel’s unprecedented onslaught on Gaza, inflicting mass devastation and death upon besieged Palestinians, as well as the atrocious attack and kidnappings by Hamas in Israel on October 7. Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing this violence. We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine. The bloodshed has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region. Emboldened settlers in the West Bank, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to intensify their attacks on Palestinians. The most far-right government in Israel’s history is ramping up its policing of dissent, using the cover of war to silence Palestinian citizens and left-wing Jews who object to its policies. This escalation has a very clear context, one that +972 has spent the past 14 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism, entrenched occupation and apartheid, and a normalized siege on Gaza. We are well positioned to cover this perilous moment – but we need your help to do it. This terrible period will challenge the humanity of all of those working for a better future in this land. Palestinians and Israelis are already organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives. Can we count on your support ? +972 Magazine is a leading media voice of this movement, a desperately needed platform where Palestinian and Israeli journalists, activists, and thinkers can report on and analyze what is happening, guided by humanism, equality, and justice. Join us. BECOME A +972 MEMBER TODAY More About Benny Gantz Zaid Abdulnasser, a Palestinian refugee from Syria living in Berlin, and activist with Samidoun, October 1, 2023. (Courtesy) Germany to strip Palestinian refugee’s status over his activism Echoing dubious Israeli claims against his advocacy group, Germany could force Zaid Abdulnasser into a legal limbo faced by thousands of Palestinians. By Hebh Jamal October 2, 2023 Itamar Ben Gvir visits the Jewish settlement of Beit Orot near the neighborhood of At-Tur, occupied East Jerusalem, October 13, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) The generals are the supremacists of the past. Ben Gvir is the supremacist of now The Kahanist lawmaker offers a ‘democratized’ version of supremacy: taking power from the old elites and handing it to the marginalized Jewish masses. By Orly Noy November 3, 2022 The office of the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees following an Israeli army raid, Ramallah, West Bank, August 18, 2022. (Oren Ziv) Israel storms Palestinian NGO offices after months-long failure to discredit them Seven NGOs denounce raids as message of impunity against Palestinians and foreign governments, after army seizes equipment and welds office doors shut. By Oren Ziv August 18, 2022 +972 Magazine INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM FROM ISRAEL-PALESTINE About Terms of use Contact Us Privacy Policy SUPPORT US Website powered by RGB Media |
54795
From: akira, [DNS_Address]
Subject: UN: Israel Flattened Civilian Housing Complexes with 2000-lb. Bombs...
URL: https://www.juancole.com/2024/06/flattened-civilian-complexes.html
|
UN: Israel Flattened Civilian Housing Complexes with 2000-lb. Bombs in absence of Specific Military Target JUAN COLE 06/22/2024 "Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a report, this week on “Indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks during the conflict in Gaza” during the first three months of the Israel campaign against Gaza. The UN is painfully polite, so you may not be able to tell that the terms “indiscriminate” and “disproportionate” are war crimes, of which it is accusing the Israeli government. The report notes, “According to the Israeli Air Force (IAF), between 7 October 2023 and 19 February 2024 over 29,000 targets in Gaza were attacked.” Again, although OHCHR is agreeably quoting this official Israeli source, it is not paying a compliment to the air force for its thoroughness: “The rate at which Palestinians were killed in Gaza during this reporting period was reportedly higher than in any recent conflicts globally.” Again, not a compliment. In fact, you have to think of this litany of facts and figures as sort of like the opening statement of a prosecuting attorney, establishing the grounds for a conviction. They are building up to it: “The war has also witnessed many tragic instances of entire families killed together, from infants to grandparents, many while in their homes (128,904 housing units have been damaged between 7 October 2023 and 1 April 2024) or in other places they had sought safety. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, as of 3 May 2024, more than 3,129 families have been killed or injured together.” In fact, they OHCHR subjected reports of Israeli attacks and their aftermath to very sophisticated CSI-style forensics. They found, “87 per cent of the verified fatalities have occurred in incidents that resulted in 5 or more fatalities, and over 60 per cent were killed in incidents that resulted in 10 or more fatalities.” What they discovered is that the Israeli attacks weren’t targeted at, say, a single Hamas militant. The Israeli military went big. Six in ten of their strikes produced 10 or dozens of fatalities. That outcome is weird if you were only trying to kill 37,000 militiamen in a population of 2.2 million people. You’re only targeting 1.6 percent of the population, none of which are women or minors. But “the majority of those killed are children and women.” So what is the significance of entire families being killed or wounded and over a hundred thousand domiciles being damaged? Here’s what the High Commissioner’s office is getting at: “These statistics suggest that Israel’s choices of methods and means of conducting hostilities in Gaza since 7 October, including the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects in densely populated areas, have failed to ensure that they effectively distinguish between civilians and combatants. The widespread, large- scale and continuing toll of civilian deaths, notably the high proportion of women and children amongst them, and accompanying destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza since 7 October, raise serious concerns about the Israeli Defense Forces’ (IDF) compliance with IHL, including as to patterns of systematic violation of the principles of necessity, distinction, proportionality, and precautions in attack.” Violating these four principles is in each case a war crime. Remember that the International Court of Justice is deciding whether Israel is guilty of genocide, and the International Criminal Court has asked for warrants against Israel’s prime minister and its minister of defense on grounds that they may have committed war crimes. The report gives examples of each of the violations it has identified. Last October 9, the Israeli air force appears to have dropped without warning a 2,000-pound BLU-109/MK 84 bomb on the densely populated Jabaliya Refugee settlement, pulverizing two multi-story buildings and damaging many others, and killing at least 60 people, wounding dozens more. A 2000- pound bomb can have a blast radius of a quarter mile. The point is that this was not a precision strike on a handful of guerrillas. It took out two apartment buildings full of families. The same day, more 2000-pound bombs were dropped on Gaza city: ” An area of 5,700 square metres [61,354 square feet] was essentially flattened, with at least seven structures, including Taj3 Tower, completely destroyed and three other structures showing signs of significant damage.” 61,000 square feet is the size of a town shopping center. In fact, the US Pentagon, which has very good satellite photography, has seen 500 craters consistent with use of 2000-pound bombs. The US military is clearly appalled, since these weapons should not be used on densely populated urban areas, and were not deployed by the US against ISIL in Mosul, for instance. Several Biden administration officials, civilian and military, who have seen these atrocities unfold and recognize them for what they are have resigned in protest. That is why President Biden paused a shipment of 2000-pound bombs to Israel– he didn’t want them used on Rafah, which had swollen with refugees. Netanyahu, however, just vigorously protested that halt, saying he needs the bombs. What does he plan to do with them? Knock down that last three apartment buildings in Gaza? The report gives other examples of the Israelis flattening entire residential blocks. It concludes that the Israeli army in Gaza has not distinguished between military targets and civilians, and that it has launched indiscriminate attacks on urban infrastructure with no specific military target in sight. Israeli commanders violated the principle of proportionality, which holds that “an attack which may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.” That is, you can’t take out a whole city block and kill hundreds of people to get at three terrorists. But that procedure has been the Israeli war on Gaza in a nutshell. Using 2000-pound bombs on dense neighborhoods also violates the principle of precaution, which requires military commanders to give some thought beforehand to what would happen to unarmed civilians if they chose a highly destructive 2000-pound bomb to accomplish their mission rather than something more appropriate to targeting a small guerrilla band. Moreover, there is no evidence that the Israeli military issued any warnings to the civilians it planned to wipe out. These attacks were not like the US Fallujah campaign in Iraq in fall of 2004, where most of the city was allowed to leave before the assault. So if the Israeli government has committed war crimes, it has to investigate them and punish those responsible. Otherwise, the High Commissioner warns ominously, “Member States must support accountability measures at the international level, including through the International Criminal Court.” Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant had better enjoy Israel in the summer, because their future ability to travel will be circumscribed when they are convicted of war crimes by the ICC." |
54796
From: akira, [DNS_Address]
Subject: in absence of Specific Military Target(NT)
| (NT) |
54799
From: akira, [DNS_Address]
Subject: A settler shot my husband. Then Israel bulldozed my childhood home
URL: https://www.972mag.com/settler-shooting-home-demolition-masafer-yatta/
|
Shoug Al Adara in her home in At-Tuwani, December 2023. (Emily Glick) A settler shot my husband. Then Israel bulldozed my childhood home Zakariyah has suffered immensely since being wounded by an Israeli settler. Yet his attacker roams free, and demolitions continue to devastate our communities in Masafer Yatta. By Shoug Al Adara June 20, 2024 The day before my husband was shot, he told me to wait to come home. I had traveled to Al-Jawaya, a neighboring village in the Masafer Yatta region of the South Hebron Hills, in the occupied West Bank, where I had grown up and where my parents and siblings still lived. But this was just days after October 7, and my husband Zakariyah was worried that the short trip back to our house in At-Tuwani had become too dangerous. When I left for Al-Jawaya on Oct. 10, I thought it would be comforting to be with my family in such uncertain times. I assumed it would be a simple visit — Al-Jawaya is across the highway from At-Tuwani, a journey of just a few minutes that I used to take multiple times a day. While Israeli soldiers had closed many roads in Masafer Yatta on October 7, including those we use to reach the city of Yatta, access to the small agricultural road between Al- Jawaya and At-Tuwani was left unimpeded. My father came to pick me and my children up in his car, passing soldiers stationed at the entrance of our village. Although eager to be with my family, I was terrified to load my children into the car and drive back with him. I cried the entire way, stopping only once I walked over the familiar doorstep of my family home. I had only planned to stay in Al-Jawaya for a single day. But later that afternoon, settlers and soldiers brought a bulldozer and sealed off the entry road to the village, shooting at any cars that tried to pass. We could hear the gunshots from my family’s home, so I decided to postpone my return trip to At-Tuwani. Zakariyah and I spoke every day that week, trying to figure out how we could reunite our family, but there did not seem to be a safe way to travel between the villages. Israeli soldiers are seen during a demonstration near the Palestinian village of At-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills against new structures built in the nearby Israeli settlement of Avigail, August 20, 2021. (Oren Ziv) Then, on Friday, Oct. 13, I received a panicked call from one of Zakariyah’s sisters: Zakariyah had been shot by a settler. Between two villages Growing up in Al-Jawaya, I would see settlements gradually crop up on neighboring hilltops, but interactions with the settlers themselves were few and far between, and always from a distance. My memories of childhood are filled with beauty: dew drops in the morning, bright green fields spotted with red flowers in springtime. The winters were cold and quiet, with a beautiful stillness. It wasn’t like now, when the settlers come into our villages to harass, injure, and torment us. Since Al-Jawaya is very small, my siblings and I, like many other children from the small villages in Masafer Yatta, attended the school in At-Tuwani. To reach the school, we had to cross the Israeli-built highway that separates the two villages. “Be careful,” my father would warn me. But my mind was always focused on my studies, not the growing violence of the landscape I traversed daily. During my years at school, I used to go to a shop in At-Tuwani to get a snack or pick things up for my family. The shop owner’s son was a boy named Zakariyah. He was a couple years ahead of me in school. I would see him in the hallways and when I stopped in his family’s store, where Zakariyah helped his father. I was always very shy around him, and later would learn that he too is quite shy. After a while, we got to know each other, and he approached my family to ask for my hand in marriage. Shoug and Zakariyah sitting outside their home in At-Tuwani the week that Zakariyah was released from the hospital, January 2024 (Emily Glick) Shoug and Zakariyah sitting outside their home in At-Tuwani the week that Zakariyah was released from the hospital, January 2024 (Emily Glick) We were married in 2017, and I gave birth to our eldest daughter one year later. Like many Palestinians in the West Bank, Zakariyah used to work construction jobs in Israel, and he built our house in At-Tuwani himself. More recently, he returned to farming the land surrounding our village. We now have four healthy children, including twin babies who were born last summer. Over the last 10 years, however, Israeli settlements around Masafer Yatta have rapidly expanded: from the roof of my house, I can see them covering the hilltops in nearly every direction. As the settler population has grown, violence in the area has skyrocketed. My family and neighbors face constant harassment from settlers while grazing sheep or harvesting crops, and acts of settler violence have become terrifyingly frequent and increasingly bloody. Excessively heinous wounds On Oct. 13, Zakariyah was praying in the mosque in At-Tuwani, when he heard children yelling in the street. He hurried outside and saw an armed Israeli settler walking toward the mosque. Zakariyah tried to speak with the settler, but as he approached, the settler reached for his gun and at point- blank range — with hatred in his eyes — shot Zakariyah in the stomach. The settler immediately fled the scene, while other men called an ambulance. But because the Israeli army had set up a checkpoint at the entrance to At- Tuwani that day, the ambulance could not enter the village. So Zakariyah’s friends loaded him into a private car and drove to Yatta. As they navigated various roadblocks set up after October 7, what was normally a 10-minute drive to the hospital took 40 minutes, and Zakariyah nearly died along the way. He has since told me that he could feel himself losing blood and was only able to see darkness. He felt as though his entire abdomen was on fire. According to the doctors who treated Zakariyah, the settler had fired a dumdum bullet, a kind of ammunition that explodes upon contact with its target and has been internationally banned for over a century because it causes “excessively heinous wounds.” Four of Zakariyah’s ribs were broken, two bullet fragments hit his stomach, and three others entered his abdomen and began to cut everything inside him — just barely missing his liver and kidneys. Zakariyah shows his bandages and colostomy bag after being released from the hospital, January 2024. (Emily Glick) Zakariyah shows his bandages and colostomy bag after being released from the hospital, January 2024. (Emily Glick) Doctors ultimately did manage to save his life, but it was not immediately clear that they would succeed: in surgery, they had to remove half of Zakariyah’s pancreas, his entire spleen, and 20 centimeters of his colon, in addition to repairing other damaged organs. Zakariyah spent the next two months in the hospital, undergoing more than 10 operations. He still needed one final surgery to repair his colon, but he was too weak for it at the time, so the doctors sent him home to rest and recover. When he arrived, we felt a deep sense of relief and gratitude. But we quickly learned how weak he had become during his hospital stay — and how much care he would now require. Lives upended Once lively and strong, Zakariyah had lost 27 kilograms, or nearly 60 pounds. He had an external colostomy bag that I had to learn how to change and clean for him daily, and extra bags were hard to find. His diet was restricted to liquids and very soft foods, so we had to prepare separate meals for him. He was required to sleep sitting up, so we created a makeshift bed for him in the living room. And while he has gained strength over the last few months, his mobility is limited and his energy levels remain extremely low. Zakariyah himself is completely changed. He used to be strong and self- sufficient, and rarely prone to anger or sadness. Now, he has a lot of fear, and requires constant care to get through the day. Before the attack, we faced our normal share of problems, but we were comfortable and always persevered. Zakariyah always talked about how he wanted many children, and he used to pray in the mosque for twins. He found great joy in raising our family together: when our twins were born, four months before Zakariyah was nearly killed, he would rock them every night until they fell asleep. In wintertime, he would go to Yatta to buy chicken, bake it in the soba (oven), and dance around it with the girls. Shoug, Zakariyah and one of their twins, Sagi, February 2024. (Emily Glick) Shoug, Zakariyah and one of their twins, Sagi, February 2024. (Emily Glick) Today, he can’t hold the babies, because his muscles are too weak. He can’t even hug or kiss his children: due to his weakened immune system, any exposure to germs could be fatal. Recently the children and I fell ill, and I had to keep my children away from their father, while I continued to care for him as safely as I could. Despite these challenges, slowly but surely, Zakariyah has regained strength. He has started walking without a cane and playing with the children again, albeit gently. He takes delight in visits from friends and family, who sit with him to share news and drink tea and coffee. But even as Zakariyah has begun to recover, the attack has had lasting effects on everyone around him. At the beginning of the war, Israel revoked entry permits for West Bank Palestinians, including Zakariyah’s father and brothers — who also worked construction jobs inside Israel — and his mother, who had a permit to visit Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Yet when they tried to renew their permits, as Zakariyah remained convalescent in the hospital, the response from the Israeli Civil Administration — the bureaucratic arm of the occupation — only added insult to injury: my mother-in-law was told there were concerns that her family would try to avenge Zakariyah’s shooting, so they couldn’t be let into Israel. Meanwhile, the settler who shot my husband continues to roam freely, even though the attack was caught on camera and documented by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem. About a week after the attack in October, Zakariyah’s cousin and an activist in Masafer Yatta went to the Israeli police — which is responsible for investigating Israeli civilian violence against Palestinians in the West Bank — to report the shooting and file charges against the settler. During the winter months, the police called five eyewitnesses to testify, and we also learned that they questioned the settler. Yet we have heard nothing since then; more than eight months after the attack, there has been no accountability. ‘We were shocked when the bulldozers arrived at our doorstep’ On May 7, seven months into the war, some friends came to visit us in At- Tuwani, to catch up and hear how Zakariyah and our family were doing. As we were sitting together, we got a call: there were bulldozers driving up the road toward my parents’ home in Al-Jawaya. The Israeli army demolishes Shouq's family's home in Al-Jawaya, May 7, 2024 (Emily Glick). The Israeli army demolishes Shoug’s family’s home in Al-Jawaya, May 7, 2024. (Emily Glick) In the South Hebron Hills, the sight of bulldozers means that there is about to be a home demolition. We ran to the window, where we could see my family’s home on the opposite hillside across the highway. We watched as the bulldozer moved slowly up the hill, followed by army vehicles. They were driving on the road that has been closed since October 7 — the closure that made it nearly impossible for me to see my family during the first days of the war, or to return to Zakariyah the day that he was shot. That day, the road had been opened only to let in the occupation’s tools of destruction. I tried to call my family, but no one answered. Finally, I got through to my mother, who confirmed my fears: our house was about to be destroyed. My father built the house 10 years ago. Recently, he had been working to add an apartment on the second floor, so that one of my brothers can move in after he is married, as well as another house next door for my other brother. My family are among the 99 percent of Palestinians in Area C to whom Israel has denied construction permits, so our home, like virtually every home in Masafer Yatta, was built without official authorization from the Civil Administration. Two years ago, when my father was working on the house, the Civil Administration handed him a stop-work order. While we knew there was a risk of demolition, we hadn’t received any notification that a demolition was imminent, so we were shocked when the Israeli soldiers and bulldozers arrived at our doorstep. First, they sent in a team of workers to remove my family’s belongings from the house. A crowd of neighbors and activists gathered to watch and film the demolition from a distance, as dozens of Israeli army officials prevented anyone from approaching the house. They carelessly threw our family’s possessions on the ground, creating a messy pile of mattresses, teacups, furniture, and food. The contents of Shoug's family home in Al-Jawaya, which the Israeli Civil Administration emptied before they demolished the house entirely, May 7, 2024 (Emily Glick) The contents of Shoug’s family home in Al-Jawaya, which the Israeli Civil Administration emptied before they demolished the house entirely, May 7, 2024 (Emily Glick) Then, from the window of our home in At-Tuwani, I watched as the bulldozers demolished my family’s house across the hillside. After an hour and a half, the bulldozers slowly backed away, leaving behind a pile of rubble. “Stay strong,” my mother told me over the phone. “We are not the first Palestinian family to endure the hardship of a home demolition.” She reminded me to think of all of those whose homes and lives have been destroyed in Gaza, and to count ourselves lucky. But I couldn’t bear it. Zakariyah’s injuries had forced me to abandon certain visions for our future, and now I was losing part of my past — my family’s home, a place of warmth, comfort, and stability. ‘He was in so much pain he wished to die’ Soon after the demolition, Zakariyah’s doctor decided he was ready for the final colon surgery, which would eliminate the need for the colostomy bags. We hoped that this would also allow Zakariyah to resume his normal diet, sleep lying down, and walk long distances. But following the operation, which took place on May 13, Zakariyah was hospitalized for 10 days. I had to stay at home with our children in At-Tuwani, so we could only speak over the phone or text, and what Zakariyah said terrified me: he was in so much pain he wished to die. I tried to comfort him, to give him strength, but I hadn’t expected this new degree of suffering — after all, this surgery was supposed to mark the last stage of his recovery. Zakariyah and his daughter Aretha in their home in At-Tuwani, March 2024 (Emily Glick) Zakariyah and his daughter Aretha in their home in At-Tuwani, March 2024. (Emily Glick) When he came home from the hospital, I was shocked. He looked haunted. Somehow, he had lost even more weight, and was having difficulty walking. I went to greet him, but he pushed me off. “Stay away from me,” he said, shuffling into the house. In our culture, when someone comes home from the hospital, family, friends, and neighbors all come to visit. But Zakariyah, who had found comfort in the presence of loved ones around his bed over the previous months, could no longer bear to sit with anyone. He did not want to hear any sound or disturbance. Even with our children, he would greet and kiss them quickly, and then move away. I was overwhelmed and exhausted, caring for him and our four children, while simultaneously trying to host our visitors. One morning, a few days after Zakariyah came home from the hospital, I woke up to him calling my name. He needed my help changing the bandage and cleaning the wound from the latest operation, where the port for the colostomy bag had been removed, and it was immediately clear that it was not healing correctly: a yellow liquid was oozing from his skin. I told him I was going to call his father to drive him to the hospital, but Zakariyah didn’t want to go back. “Let’s just put water on it, or iodine,” he pleaded. But two hours later, it began to bleed. I called his parents, and we returned to the hospital, where the doctors found that the wound was infected and that they would have to re-open his stomach to re-suture his colon. But Zakariah was not strong or well enough to endure another operation, so they cleaned it as best they could and sent him home a few days later. We continue to monitor and clean the wound daily, and the doctors now hope that both the gunshot wound and the colon may heal naturally. ‘In At-Tuwani, there is no Hamas’ The past few months have been some of the most difficult in my life. I notice how they have changed me: I am tired and angry all the time. I want to rest, to take just one week to get away. But there’s no time. I have four children and a wounded husband to take care of. And on top of everything, I now have nerve pain in my wrist, and my doctor has advised me not to pick up my babies. Most read on +972 Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, December 28, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) ‘Lavender’: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree in Gaza Palestinians run through Nuseirat following an Israeli attack on the camp, June 8, 2024. (Khaled Ali/Flash90) ‘How is it reasonable to kill over 200 for the sake of four?’ Minister Benny Gantz speaks during a press conference at the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv, December 16, 2023. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90) What Gantz’s exit reveals about Israel’s failed Gaza strategy Since October 7, the entire world has focused on the war between Israel and Hamas. But here in At-Tuwani, there is no Hamas. I want the whole world to know that an Israeli settler shot my husband with an illegal bullet, and see the lasting effects of settler violence on our families and communities. I want the whole world to understand what it is like to watch Israeli soldiers turn your home to rubble, while you stand helplessly by. The settler who shot Zakariyah hasn’t been seen in At-Tuwani since, nor has he been charged or prosecuted for his crime. Meanwhile, Zakariyah and our whole family continue to suffer. Occupation and war inflict wounds that are slow to heal. home demolitions Israeli army Israeli occupation Settler violence West Bank settlements Masafer Yatta settler impunity South Hebron Hills Shoug Al Adara lives in the village of At-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills with her husband and four children. Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war. The world is reeling from Israel’s unprecedented onslaught on Gaza, inflicting mass devastation and death upon besieged Palestinians, as well as the atrocious attack and kidnappings by Hamas in Israel on October 7. Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing this violence. We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine. The bloodshed has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region. Emboldened settlers in the West Bank, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to intensify their attacks on Palestinians. The most far-right government in Israel’s history is ramping up its policing of dissent, using the cover of war to silence Palestinian citizens and left-wing Jews who object to its policies. This escalation has a very clear context, one that +972 has spent the past 14 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism, entrenched occupation and apartheid, and a normalized siege on Gaza. We are well positioned to cover this perilous moment – but we need your help to do it. This terrible period will challenge the humanity of all of those working for a better future in this land. Palestinians and Israelis are already organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives. Can we count on your support ? +972 Magazine is a leading media voice of this movement, a desperately needed platform where Palestinian and Israeli journalists, activists, and thinkers can report on and analyze what is happening, guided by humanism, equality, and justice. Join us. BECOME A +972 MEMBER TODAY |
Responses:
None
54798
From: akira, [DNS_Address]
Subject: investigation reveals Hind Rajab's car was struck by 355 bullets...
|
Quds News Network@QudsNen Forensic investigation reveals that Hind Rajab's car was struck by 355 bullets, indicating it was implausible for the Israeli tank not to see children inside the vehicle. The investigation also concludes that Israeli tanks shelled the ambulance dispatched to rescue Hind, resulting in the deaths of two paramedics who were only 50 meters away from the scene where Hind and her family members were found executed. |
Responses:
None
[ International ] [ Main Menu ]