Israel perpetrates a staggering number of massacres in Gaza; Lancet: direct + indirect deaths in Gaza could be 186K; in Gaza City, Israel attacks alleged “safe zone”;
Rupert Murdoch: Israel’s Most Powerful Supporter;
high-ranking Gazan official targeted; ceasefire wording games; Hamas recruitment; 1,000 Israeli settler attacks since October 7th; West Bank death; Gaza pier debacle; more.
By IAK staff, from reports.
In 9 months, Israel has committed 43 massacres in Nuseirat camp alone
The Cradle reports: According to the Gaza Government Media office, Israel has carried out 43 massacres in the Nuseirat camp alone since the beginning of the onslaught against the enclave on 7 October.
This includes targeting 17 schools and shelters for displaced people within the camp.
Palestinians use schools as shelters after Israel bombs and destroys their homes and residential areas.
A month earlier, on 8 June, Israel massacred 274 Palestinians in Nuseirat camp as part of a broader operation by Yamam commando units to rescue four Israelis held captive by Hamas.
‘Night of terror’ for Palestinians as Israel increases attacks on Gaza City
The New Arab reports: Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza City experienced “a night of terror” amidst the Israeli army’s ground attack and bombardment.
Speaking to The New Arab, locals in Gaza City said that the Israeli army launched attacks on various areas of the western parts of the city without any prior warning.
“The bombing did not stop for a second,” one remarked to TNA, “we did not know what to do or where to run […] There is no place to go to in Gaza City, everything is destroyed.”
The Israeli army demanded that the Palestinian residents of the eastern neighborhoods of Gaza City must immediately evacuate and head to the western areas of the city, considering that they are safe, he further claimed.
However, Palestinian civilians were caught off guard when the Israeli army suddenly invaded the western areas of the city.
Multiple Palestinians were killed, and countless others wounded as a result of the Israeli ground and air attack on Gaza City, according to Palestinian medical and security sources.
“Because of the heavy shelling and targeting of everything moving in the streets, it is difficult for our medical teams and civil defense teams to reach the victims to evacuate them,” the medical sources said.
“We are suffering from a lack of the necessary fuel and first aid that could help us bandage the wounds of the injured while transporting them to local hospitals. The Gaza Strip is being subjected to systematic genocide,” the sources added.
Directly Hit by a Plane – Deputy Labor Minister in Gaza Killed by Israeli Airstrike
Palestine Chronicle reports: Gaza’s government media office said in a statement that Palestinian Deputy Labor Minister Ihab al Ghussein was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Sunday.
Local authorities said al-Ghussein was killed along with a group of Palestinians after he was directly hit by an Israeli plane, without providing further details.
The office said al-Ghussein’s wife and daughter were earlier killed in an airstrike on a house where they had taken refuge.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army on the report.
Al-Ghussein had previously served as a spokesman for the Hamas-run Interior Ministry in the Gaza Strip.
What’s in a word? Everything – when it’s part of a ceasefire agreement
Axios reports: Israeli and U.S. officials are more optimistic than before that the latest back and forth with Hamas leaders can lead to a deal.
A key remaining gap centers on Hamas’ demand for written commitments from the U.S., Egypt and Qatar that negotiations over the second phase of the deal will continue with no time limit while the first phase of the deal is underway, Israeli officials told Axios.
According to the original language of Article 14, the U.S., Qatar and Egypt will “make every effort” to ensure this negotiation ends in an agreement and the ceasefire continues as long as the negotiations continue. Hamas wants the words “make every effort” be deleted and replaced by the word “ensure.”
The Biden administration reportedly offered the word “undertake,” which it sees as less binding than the word “ensure” but more binding than “make every effort.”
Israeli officials said if the agreement were to include the written commitment Hamas demands, the group would be able to draw out negotiations about the second phase of the deal indefinitely, and it would be very difficult for Israel to resume fighting without it being considered a violation of the agreement.
Lancet: Up to 186,000 people may have been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza
Three researchers, writing in the Lancet Journal, said the estimate of 186,000 deaths includes direct deaths from the conflict as well as indirect deaths from causes such as reproductive, communicable and non-communicable diseases.
The researchers – who include Martin McKee, a member of the editorial board of the Israel Journal of Health Policy Research – came up with the estimate by extrapolating the death toll of 37, 396 given by the Gaza Health Ministry on June 19.
“Armed conflicts have indirect health implications beyond the direct harm from violence.” the researchers said in the letter published by The Lancet.
“The total death toll is expected to be large given the intensity of this conflict; destroyed health-care infrastructure; severe shortages of food, water, and shelter; the population’s inability to flee to safe places; and the loss of funding to UNRWA.”
“In recent conflicts, such indirect deaths range from three to 15 times the number of direct deaths. Applying a conservative estimate of four indirect deaths per one direct death to the 37 396 deaths reported, it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186 000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza.”
[This parallels Ralph Nader’s earlier estimate of 200,000.]
Hamas spokesperson: We recruited thousands of new members, military capability still strong
Ha’aretz reports: Hamas’ military wing spokesperson Abu Obaida said that the organization has recruited thousands of new members to its ranks, and that Hamas’ “military capability is still strong.”
In a recording, Obaida’s voice is heard saying that “the crimes committed by Israel for the last nine months will nurture new generations of Palestinian fighters.”
Common Dreams reports: A coalition of aid agencies on Friday implored the international community to take concrete, punitive action against the Israeli government and settlers after the number of settler attacks in the occupied West Bank since October 7 surpassed 1,000.
The Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA), a group of international organizations working in the occupied Palestinian territories, said in a statement that the rate of settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank has doubled since the same time last year, from an average of two per day to four.
“At least 10 people, including two children, have been killed during these attacks, and at least 234 have been injured, including 20 children. Since 7 October, 1,260 people, including 600 children, have been forcibly displaced amid settler violence and movement restrictions. The displaced households are from 20 herding and Bedouin communities throughout Area C of the West Bank. As one survivor of settler violence explained, ‘No place is safe here.'”
“Settler violence is premeditated and orchestrated by organized groups from known outposts and settlements, with the support of Israel’s government, including local and regional settlement councils,” the group added, noting the limited sanctions that the United States and the European Union have imposed on individual settlers “have failed to reduce the frequency of attacks.”
“While a few individuals have been detained, no civilian or soldier has been prosecuted in connection with any of these 1,000 attacks,” AIDA said. “Reports indicate that some illegal outpost farms operated by sanctioned settlers—many of whom have been reported to be at the center of multiple violent incidents—have received hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of material support from the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Settlements, the Settlement Administration in the Ministry of Defense, and through local and regional settlement councils.”
(Read the full report here.)
West Bank – Palestinian, 24, Dies From Previous Wounds in Jenin
IMEMC reports: On Sunday evening, a Palestinian young man succumbed to wounds he sustained on Friday during the military assault on Jenin and the Jenin refugee camp, in the northern West Bank.
According to Fawaz Hammad, the director of the Al-Razi Hospital in Jenin announced the death of the young man, Ahmad Rashad Mahmoud Abu Al-Haija, 24, from serious injuries he sustained on Friday in the city of Jenin and the Jenin camp.
With the death of the young man, Abu Al-Haija, the number of slain young men from the Israeli attack rose to eight.
Responsible Statecraft reports: U.S. officials recently announced that the pier built in May to distribute humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip was once again suspending operations — this time potentially for good.
The Biden administration has praised the project, but critics have called it “humanitarian theater,” and a “failure.”
RS has been raising concerns about the project, mainly the costs, dangers, and lack of effectiveness associated with it. Moreover, asking why the White House chose this risky option instead of the far simpler solution of pressuring Israel to open humanitarian crossings and protect aid workers inside the Strip.
Today we let the numbers associated with this seemingly ill-fated venture do the talking:
69: It took 69 days in between Biden’s announcement during the State of the Union that the U.S. military would build “temporary pier in the Mediterranean on the Gaza coast that can receive large ships carrying food, war, medicine and temporary shelters … and ensure that humanitarian workers aren’t caught in the crossfire,” and the day that the pier was completed. Two days after construction concluded, on May 17, the first trucks rolled down the pier.
4: The U.S. was forced to halt operations 4 different times since May 17, mostly due to weather events. Operations were suspended between May 28 and June 7; June 9-10; June 15-20; and finally on June 28.
47 and 25, and 19: In the 47 days since the pier was built it was only operational for 25 of them, and aid only came in, at most, on 19 of those days.
For a significant portion of this timeframe — between June 9 and June 28 — the U.N. World Food Programme did not distribute any of the goods that were piling up on shore, due to fears that they could be targeted by Israeli air strikes and other security fears.
19.4: The pier was used to get approximately 19.4 million pounds of food into Gaza (9,700 tons or 8,800 metric tons). It is unclear exactly how much of that aid has made its way to the suffering population — though a “vast majority” of it was never distributed.
Based on past estimates from both the Israeli government and UNRWA, 19.4 million pounds would translate to roughly 646 truckloads in the last month and a half, or an average of less than 14 trucks per day.
230: The cost of construction of the pier was about $230 million. The pier has undergone a series of repairs (the first set of repairs cost roughly $22 million), so it is unclear what the final price tag will be.
NOTE: If we use a conservative ballpark total cost of $250 million for the pier, and generously assume all of the aid was delivered, the cost of the aid comes to $12.88 per pound.
Prior to the start of hostilities – when Gaza’s farms and food processing plants were operational, the people of Gaza still required an average of 500 truckloads of aid every working day, vs. an average of less than 14 trucks per day from the pier.
Rupert Murdoch: Israel’s Most Powerful Supporter
MintPress News reports: Without a sympathetic media, Israel’s powerful military would be next to useless in its attempts to ethnically cleanse Gaza. It relies on crucial Western support for its project, and no one is as important in manufacturing consent for Israel as Rupert Murdoch.
The Australian-born press baron has close and extensive personal ties to the Israeli political elite and myriad business connections to the country. He has used his media empire to defend Israel and sing its praises, even amidst an attack on Gaza commonly condemned as genocidal. As such, his holdings effectively serve as an unofficial arm of the Israeli propaganda machine.
The Murdoch machine comprises well over 100 newspapers – some of them among the world’s most well-known and influential, as well as dozens of TV channels and a formidable publishing empire. This power allows him to set the political agenda across much of the world. Political Connections
His influence on American public life – through ventures like The Wall Street Journal and Fox News – is well documented. Less understood, however, are his close ties to Israel, and in particular, to its political leadership.
In 2010, Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth published a leaked list compiled by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showing that Murdoch was one of his top potential sources of campaign contributions. An estimated 98% of Netanyahu’s contributions came from abroad.
“My ventures in media are not as important to me as spreading my personal political beliefs,” Murdoch said, and supporting Israel and its expansionist policies is one of the core values the Australian has tirelessly worked towards.
(Read the full, detailed article here.)
Richard Curtiss of the Washington Report previously wrote: “Rupert Murdoch: Despite Affairs Worldwide, His Heart Stays With Israel“: Curtiss reported: Murdoch’s close relationship with Sharon and heavy investment in Israel led former Times Africa correspondent Sam Kiley to resign his position.
“The Times foreign editor and other middle managers flew into hysterical terror every time a pro-Israel lobbying group wrote in with a quibble or complaint,” Kiley said, “and then usually took [the lobby’s] side against their own correspondent…
No pro-Israel lobbyist ever dreamed of having such power over a great national newspaper.” After one conversation in which Kiley was asked not to mention a 12-year-old Palestinian boy who was killed by Israeli troops, the reporter “was left wordless, so I quit.” In 1982 the American Jewish Congress in New York voted Murdoch “Communications Man of the Year.”
“Press lord Rupert Murdoch was born in Melbourne, Australia, on March 11, 1931. His grandfather was a Protestant minister who immigrated to Australia from Britain. Rupert’s father, Sir Keith Murdoch, was a newspaper publisher, and his mother an Orthodox Jew, although Murdoch never offers that information in his biographies.
[Editor’s note: It’s unclear if this is corroborated; virtually all sources apart from this, deny it.]
He later became an American citizen for business reasons.” [In London, Netanyahu often stayed with Rupert Murdoch
David Efune, director of the Algemeiner Journal and the GJCF a reported: “One would be hard pressed to find a non-Jew who has been honored by more Jewish organizations than Rupert Murdoch.”
The organizations that have recognized Murdoch “span the political spectrum. Whilst many of News Corp’s media assets have been pigeonholed as right wing, even a largely leftist American Jewish establishment is overflowing with love for the man.” The primary reason is the Murdoch’s outlets’ treatment of Israel
MORE NEWS:
IMEMC Daily Reports.
The Nation: War Has Forced Gaza’s Children to Grow Up Far Too Soon
Mondoweiss: Silenced at School: NYC Public Schools Chancellor suppresses Palestinian voices
#Gaza
Another day.
Another month.
Another school hit.Once again, @UNRWA school hit by the Israeli Forces.
The school, in the Middle Areas, was home to nearly 2,000 internally displaced, dozens of casualties were reported.Since the war began, nine months ago today:
-…
— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) July 7, 2024
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7 – JULY 7:
Palestinian death toll from October 7 – July 7: at least 38,764* (38,193 in Gaza* – 11,445 women (30%), 15,747 children as of June 17. [The Ministry’s figures have been contested by the Israeli authorities, although they have been accepted as accurate by Israeli intelligence services, the UN, and WHO. These data are supported by independent analyses, comparing changes in the number of deaths of UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff with those reported by the Ministry, which found claims of data fabrication implausible.]
This is expected to be a significant undercount since thousands of those killed have yet to be identified – and at least 571 in the West Bank (~134 children). This does not include an estimated 10,000 more still buried under rubble (4,900 women and children). Euro-Med Monitor reports 45,223 Palestinian deaths.
Lancet: “Applying a conservative estimate of four indirect deaths per one direct death9 to the 37 396 deaths reported, it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186 000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza.
Ralph Nader earlier estimated 200,000 Palestinians may have been killed in Gaza.
- At least 46 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons (27 from Gaza, 18 from West Bank).
- At least 40 Palestinians have died due to malnutrition**.
- About 1.7 million, or 75% of Gaza’s population are currently displaced.
- 2.15 million (out of total population of 2.3 million) are projected to face Crisis or worse levels of food insecurity.
Palestinian injuries from October 7 – July 7: at least 93,323 (including at least 87,903 in Gaza and 5,420 in the West Bank, including 830 children).
[It remains unknown how many Americans are among the casualties in Gaza.]Reported Israeli death toll from October 7 – July 7: ~1,478 (~1,139 on October 7, 2023, of which ~32 were Americans, and ~36 were children); 324 military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza; 16 in the West Bank) and~8,730 injured.
Times of Israel reports: The IDF listed 41 soldiers killed due to friendly fire in Gaza and other military-related accidents – nearly 16%.
NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries in Israel on October 7 were caused by 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.**
Euro-Med Monitor reports that Gaza’s elderly are dying at an alarmingly high rate. The majority die at home and are buried either close to their residences or in makeshift graves dispersed across the Strip. There are currently more than 140 such cemeteries. Additionally, according to Euromed, thousands have died from starvation, malnourishment, and inadequate medical care; these are considered indirect victims as they were not registered in hospitals.
† For most of the conflict, women and children accounted for about 70% of deaths in Gaza, with children making up a little over 40% of those killed, according to official statistics.
Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here.
Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org
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