24 Massacres in 24 Hours, 210 Gazans killed – Day 110

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24 Massacres in 24 Hours, 210 Gazans killed – Day 110
Gazan families are fleeing from Khan Younis to Rafah by any possible means, while under Israeli bombardment and famine (screengrab)

Horror and chaos in Khan Younis, white flag death caught on film; update on American Tawfiq Abdel Jabbar who was killed in the West Bank; Israeli TV reports that widely reported descriptions of Hamas atrocities were lies; calls to end arms transfers to Israel; 210 Congress members defend Israel despite facts about its massacres; Dem support for Israel on shaky ground over Netanyahu opposition to 2-state solution; US bombing of Iraq is destroying years-long alliance, and more

By IAK staff, from reports

Palestine Chronicle reports: the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza counted 24 massacres by Israeli forces in 24 hours, killing at least 210 Palestinians and wounding hundreds more.

Smoke rises following Israeli bombardments in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, January 17, 2024
Smoke rises following Israeli bombardments in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, January 17, 2024 (photo)

Khan Younis is under ongoing, intense bombardment, leading to horrific conditions for hundreds of thousands sheltering in that city or trying to flee.

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on Palestine, describes the situation in Khan Younis as Israel “ordering trapped people to evacuate and bombing them before they can even do so,” and adds that it is “a serious international crime, punishable under the Rome Statute of the [International Criminal Court].”

Israeli forces have ordered more than 500,000 people to leave Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says.

Al Jazeera reports: People fleeing the vicinity of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis have been shot at by Israeli tanks as well as attack drones…To the western part of Khan Younis, we have seen a surge in aerial attacks as well as artillery shelling.

Entire families are being surrounded by Israeli military tanks and armored vehicles. They are ordered to evacuate from their homes and to get outside. Women are separated from the men with their hands on top of their heads.

The compound of Al-Aqsa University, where thousands have been sheltering, is effectively under military siege. No one can get out of that area. Anyone who tries to leave risks losing their life as there is constant shelling and attacks by land and by air.

A broadcast in Hebrew by Israel’s Channel 13 exposes the fact that the widely reported claims by Israeli soldiers & spokesmen describing Hamas resistance fighters ‘butchering babies’ and committing other grotesque atrocities – told to unquestioning foreign journalists – were lies.

Israeli police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld says that the lurid fabrications served “to increase the magnitude of hatred for Hamas.”

He explains: “The war is not only military, not only political, it’s mainly media.”

 

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Although British journalist Jonathan Cook and others have long questioned and refuted the claims, US media have often repeated them.

British public broadcast television network ITV reports: Tuesday, an ITV crew interviewed a group of men in Gaza holding a white flag. One of them, Ramzi Abu Sahloul, explained they were trying to reach their family members left behind after being forced to evacuate their homes.

Moments after the interview was over, and caught on film, Mr Abu Sahloul was shot in the chest – apparently by an Israeli sniper – and killed. See the news report here.

WEST BANK: the Associated Press reports this update on Tawfiq Abdel Jabbar, the American citizen who was killed Friday by an Israeli soldier and/or a settler: The fatal shooting of an American-Palestinian teen driving a pickup truck in the occupied West Bank was unprovoked, the sole passenger told The Associated Press, describing apparent Israeli fire hitting the back of the vehicle before it overturned several times on a dirt road.

The killing shocked the village, where most inhabitants carry American passports.

A youth inspects the truck in which Tawfiq Abdel Jabbar was killed.
A youth inspects the truck in which Tawfiq Abdel Jabbar was killed. (photo)

At least 10 bullets struck the truck, which was seen by The Associated Press after Israeli investigators examined it. Most hit the back windshield and truck bed, supporting 16-year-old Mohammed Salameh’s account of the incident that killed his friend, Tawfiq Abdel Jabbar, 17, a Louisiana native.

In an initial statement, Israeli police said Friday’s shooting targeted people “purportedly engaged in rock-throwing activities along Highway 60,” a main West Bank thoroughfare. Police didn’t identify who fired the shots but described the incident “ostensibly involving an off-duty law enforcement officer, a soldier and a civilian.”

Salameh denied suggestions he and Abdel Jabbar had been throwing stones and said there had been no attempt to arrest him. (Read the full article here.) His name is also reported as Tawfiq Ajaq, and is sometimes spelled Tawfic.

Over 370 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed – by Israeli soldiers and illegal settlers – since October 7th (over 500 total in 2023, making it easily the deadliest year on record) in what the United Nations has described as a rapidly deteriorating human rights situation. Israeli violence has continued with impunity for years, but since October 7th, it has spiked sharply.

WEST BANK: Andalou Agency reports: Israeli authorities have put Palestinian teen Yousef Abdullah al Khatib, 17, back behind bars after he was released in a prisoner swap deal in late November, a Palestinian prisoners group said on Tuesday.

The prisoners’ group stressed that al-Khatib’s arrest was “a clear violation to the deal, and an indication that Israel is restoring the policy of re-arresting released prisoners under prisoners swap deals.”

It noted that at the time of his release on Nov. 27, al-Khatib had been jailed without charge or trial under Israel’s policy of administrative detention.

A Gazan civil defense member uses a hammer to remove debris in a search for survivors after Israeli attacks
A Gazan civil defense member uses a hammer to remove debris in a search for survivors after Israeli attacks (photo)

Al Jazeera reports: A group of 16 humanitarian organizations, including Amnesty International, Oxfam, and Save the Children have sent a letter to the UN asking for an end to arms transfers to Israel and armed Palestinian groups, as conditions in Gaza reach a level of “utter desperation” more than three months into Israel’s assault on the strip.

“We call on all states to immediately halt the transfer of weapons, parts and ammunition to Israel and Palestinian armed groups while there is risk they are used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian or human rights law,” the letter reads, noting that Israel’s assault has created a crisis of “unprecedented severity and scale” for Palestinian civilians.

Electronic Intifada reports details from Monday’s incident during which Israel experienced the highest number fatalities in one day since October 7th.

Twenty-one soldiers were killed after they were fired on by resistance fighters while planting explosives in two buildings in al-Maghazi refugee camp. Palestinian fire apparently set off one of the mines and caused the collapse of both two-story structures with the troops still inside.

An Israeli military spokesperson told the Intercept that the buildings in al-Maghazi had been “marked for demolition” as part of a buffer zone to “protect an Israeli kibbutz located a half mile from Gaza against possible future attacks.”

The deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure is a violation of the laws of war, as is the acquisition of territory by force.

Al Jazeera reports: As the world celebrates International Day of Education, the Israeli occupation has deprived more than 625,000 students in the Gaza Strip of education. At least 4,551 students have been killed in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, with 8,193 others wounded, according to the Palestinian Education Ministry.

Israeli bombardment of Gaza has affected 90 percent of government schools and educational buildings. According to the UN, all of its schools have closed.

Reuters reports: South Africa expects the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to rule this Friday on whether it will grant emergency measures to stop the war in Gaza, South African news website News24 reported on Wednesday, citing two sources close to the matter.

Reuters reports: Israel and Hamas broadly agree in principle that an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners could take place during a month-long ceasefire, but the framework plan is being held up by the two sides’ differences over how to bring a permanent end to the Gaza war, three sources said.

However, Hamas has since refused to move forward with the plans until the future conditions of a permanent ceasefire are agreed, according to six sources. Most of the sources consulted for this story requested anonymity in order to speak freely about sensitive matters.

While Israel has sought to negotiate one stage at a time, Hamas is seeking “a package deal” that agrees a permanent ceasefire before hostages are released during the initial phase, said one of the sources, a Palestinian official close to the mediation efforts. Israel and Hamas are speaking through the mediators, not talking directly.

Times of Israel reports: 210 Congress members have signed a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken blasting South Africa’s case in the International Court of Justice in which it accuses Israel of perpetrating a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

“South Africa makes grossly unfounded and defamatory charges against Israel on the world stage, abusing the judicial process in order to delegitimize the democratic State of Israel,” the lawmakers write in the letter organized by Democratic Representative Kathy Manning and Republican Representative Chris Smith. “We vigorously denounce South Africa’s deeply hostile stance toward Israel and thoroughly reject its charge of genocide.”

While a number of pro-Israel groups and individuals have denounced South Africa’s genocide accusation, none have addressed the charges in any meaningful way. There is a reason for that: experts in the field have declared that Israel’s actions do in fact constitute genocide.

Andalou Agency reports: Iraq will consider US air strikes on the headquarters of the pro-government Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) “acts of aggression,” an Iraqi military spokesman said Wednesday.

“In a clear determination to harm security and stability in Iraq, the United States has resumed carrying out airstrikes against the locations of Iraqi military units,” said Yehia Rasool in a statement. “We will treat these operations as acts of aggression and take necessary actions to preserve the lives and dignity of Iraqis on their land,” he added. (Al Jazeera reports that 2 were killed in the strike.)

The military spokesman said that the US airstrikes undermine years of cooperation with the US army, and stressed that such acts endanger the region by expanding the conflict, as “repercussions of the (Israeli) aggression on Gaza.”

“These precision strikes are in direct response to a series of escalatory attacks against U.S. and Coalition personnel in Iraq and Syria by [allegedly] Iranian-sponsored militias,” he said in a statement.

This from CENTCOM: US forces have destroyed two Houthi anti-ship missiles, US Central Command (CENTCOM) has said in a post on X. The missiles “were aimed into the southern Red Sea and were prepared to launch”, CENTCOM added.

Search and rescue operation in the rubble of the building following an Israeli attack in Deir al-Balah, Gaza
Search and rescue operation in the rubble of the building following an Israeli attack in Deir al-Balah, Gaza (photo)

Associated Press reports: Giorgia Meloni, prime minister of Italy, stated to Italian legislators, “Italy has always reiterated that the Palestinian people have the right to have a state, an independent, secure state,” Meloni said. “It is a just and necessary solution, both in the interests of the Palestinians but also in those of Israel. For this [reason], I don’t share the position expressed by the Israeli prime minister.”

This is one of a number of recent expressions of support for Palestinian rights and/or a two-state solution. Others include UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Keir Starmer, leader of the UK Labor Party, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell, French Foreign Minister, Stéphane Séjourné, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares, China’s ambassador to the UN Zhang Jun, Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan, <span”>Norway’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andreas Motzfeldt Kravik, and others.

Wednesday, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (MI-12 ) with Reps. Cori Bush, André Carson, Hank Johnson, and Summer Lee sent letters to President Biden and the U.S. Government Accountability Office( GAO) urging them to assess the State Department’s compliance with the Leahy Laws and President Biden’s own Conventional Arms Transfer policy regarding security assistance to the Israeli government given the reports of violations of international law.

On January 5, 2024, a spokesperson for the National Security Council revealed at a press conference that the U.S. government has not conducted any formal review of the Israeli government’s compliance with international law since the war on Gaza began. Congresswoman Tlaib and her colleagues are calling on President Biden and the GAO to do their due diligence to ensure that the law is being followed with U.S. weapons transfers.

The full text of the letter to President Biden is below and can be found here. The full text of the letter to the Government Accountability Office can be found here.

The Leahy Laws were designed to uphold human rights in countries that receive United States aid. These laws enable the US to withhold military assistance from units and individuals in foreign security forces if they have committed a gross violation of human rights (GVHR). Read more about the Leahy Laws here.

Ha’aretz reports: All signs indicate that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s repeated dismissal of a potential two-state solution — before and after conversations with U.S. President Joe Biden on the matter — could serve as one of the final blows to continued Democratic support for Israel’s war in Gaza.

“We strongly disagree with the prime minister,” said a statement this week by 15 Jewish Democrats, led by Rep. Jerry Nadler, the unofficial dean of Jewish House Democrats. “A two-state solution is the path forward.”

One of the lawmakers on the statement, Rep. Brad Sherman, is among the most traditionally pro-Israel members of Congress, and made waves when he criticized Netanyahu’s judicial coup and alliance with far-right lawmakers early on.

49 senators support an amendment from Sen. Brian Schatz, a Jewish Democrat from Hawaii, to the national security supplemental specifically focused on the two-state solution.

While any solution to the conflict between the Palestinians and Israel would have challenges, the so-called two-state solution has been the most popular among politicians and pundits. Many Palestinian groups and allies favor One Democratic State.

Displaced Palestinians arrive at a makeshift tent camp in Rafah, Gaza Strip, on Thursday, Dec. 28, 2023
Displaced Palestinians arrive at a makeshift tent camp in Rafah, Gaza Strip, on Thursday, Dec. 28, 2023 (photo)

Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) reports: Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) introduced a bipartisan resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday condemning “rape and sexual violence committed by Hamas in its war against Israel.” The resolution has 149 co-sponsors. AIPAC, the American Jewish Committee, Hadassah and other Jewish and pro-Israel groups have also endorsed it.

One sponsor said, “Hamas’s crimes are unfathomable in their depravity and inhumanity. We must roundly condemn this evil, hold the perpetrators accountable and work to ensure it never happens again.”

The resolution notes that Israeli authorities “have gathered thousands of testimonies from eyewitnesses” of Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attacks in southern Israel and recorded “countless instances of rape, gang rape, sexual mutilation and other forms of sexual violence.”

The sponsors of this bill fail to acknowledge that allegations of rape and other atrocities have been debunked again and again. These same politicians ignore credible and ongoing accusations of rape by Israeli soldiers against Palestinian women and men.

Al Jazeera reports: Hardline Israeli ministers – led by Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party – will hold a conference on Sunday in West Jerusalem to discuss the possibility of building settlements in Gaza after the war. The conference, titled “Israel’s Victory”, will be attended by thousands of Israelis from religious and nationalist movements, including 20 ministers and members of the Knesset.

“The talk is about a conference for a coalition of settlement organizations in the Gaza Strip, which is led by the head of the settlement council in the West Bank, Yossi Dagan, and the Nahala settlement movement,” according to reports.

In order to settle in Gaza, Israel would have to transfer Palestinians out of the Strip. Israeli settlements and settlers on Palestinian land are a violation of international law. Forced transfer of a people group is a crime against humanity.

STATISTICS OCTOBER 7 – JANUARY 23:

Palestinian death toll from October 7 – January 23: at least 26,087* (~25,700 in Gaza* (over 11,000 children, 7,500 women), and at least 387 in the West Bank (98 children). This does not include an estimated 7,000 more still buried under rubble (70% women and children). Euro-Med Monitor reports 32,246 Palestinian deaths.

About 1.7 million people have been displaced (about 85% of the population). 

Palestinian injuries from October 7 – January 23: at least 68,093** (including at least 63,740 in Gaza and 4,353 in the West Bank).  

It remains unknown how many Americans are among the casualties in Gaza.

Reported Israeli death toll from October 7 – January 23: ~1,139  (9 killed in West Bank, 219 in Gaza), including 32 Americans, and approximately 36 children, and 8,730 injured).

NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries in Israel may have been caused by Israeli soldiers; additionally, since Israel has a policy of universal conscription, it is unknown how many of those attending the outdoor rave a few miles from Gaza on stolen Palestinian land were Israeli soldiers.

*Previously, IAK did not include 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital blast since the source of the projectile was being disputed. However, given that much evidence points to Israel as the culprit, Israel had previously bombed the hospital and has attacked many others, Israel is prohibiting outside experts from investigating the scene, and since the UN and other agencies are including the deaths from the attack in their cumulative totals, if Americans knew is now also doing so.

Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here.

For more news, go here and here. Broadcast news from the region is here.

Hover over each bar for exact numbers.
Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org
 

 

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