Doctor astounded by number of “eye amputations” he had to perform on children in Gaza; leaked documents indicate Israel knew it was breaking laws in US; attack kills 15 in one family during ceasefire talks; 11% of Gaza is “safe”; Israeli evacuation shuts off 10 wells, worsening water crisis; 2 Palestinians assassinated in West Bank; the murder of newborn twins; pro-Palestine campus activism plans for fall; protests in Chicago this week at DNC; more.
By IAK staff, from reports.
‘Gaza is the place with the highest amount of eyes lost’
Canadian ophthalmologist Yasser Khan describes losing track of the number of eye amputations he performed to children in Gaza, which he visited in December and March on medical missions.
“I’ve lost track of how many eye amputations, as an ophthalmologist, I did myself. Eye amputations or eviscerations are not a normal occurrence. They’re relatively rare,” he said in a video he shared on X.
“The patients I saw whose eyes were removed were ages 2, 6, 9, 10, 13, 16 – all children. Gaza is now a place with the highest amount of eyes lost, in ten months, in modern history.” See CBC news report/video here.
Ophthalmologist @yakeyes describes losing track of the number of eye amputations he performed in children in Gaza – innocent victims of the genocide. Testimony shared as part of the #EyeWitnessGaza campaign. @canada needs to act now.
— Dallas Duncan (@DallasDuncanMD) August 17, 2024
Israel feared legal trouble over US advocacy efforts – leaked files
The Guardian reports: Israeli officials concerned by foreign agent law proposed creation of American nonprofit to avoid scrutiny
The Israeli government sought legal advice on a US federal law requiring the disclosure of foreign-backed lobbying campaigns, out of concern that mounting enforcement of the law could ensnare American groups working in coordination with the Israeli government, leaked documents reviewed by the Guardian suggest.
Emails and legal memos originating from a hack of the Israeli justice ministry show that officials feared that the country’s advocacy efforts in the US could trigger the US law governing foreign agents. The documents show that officials proposed creating a new American nonprofit in order to continue Israel’s activities in the US while avoiding scrutiny under the law.
Fara requires people working on behalf of a foreign government to register as foreign agents with the US justice department.
To prevent Fara registration, and the stigma and scrutiny associated with it, the legal advisers suggested channeling funds through a third-party American nonprofit.
The discussions around circumnavigating Fara focused on a “PR commando unit” formed by the strategic affairs ministry in 2017 to improve Israel’s image abroad.
(Read the full article here.)
Az-Zawayda attack happened ‘just as ceasefire talks in Doha came to an end’
Al Jazeera reports: Despite the ceasefire talks, Israel has continued its raids on Gaza.
Recent attacks targeted the center of the besieged Strip, targeting family homes and buildings that housed displaced Palestinians.
Since dawn on Saturday, at least 34 people have been killed, including 15 of a family killed by an Israeli air raid on az-Zawayda. At least 6 of the victims were children; their mother was also killed.
“It’s a hideous massacre in every way,” Omar al-Dreemli, a relative of the victims, said. “They were all dismembered. There wasn’t a single complete body. What’s the reason behind it? We don’t know. Why were these civilians killed in this way?”
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Deir el-Balah, said much of the az-Zawayda town has been reduced to rubble, as has the majority of Gaza.
“This latest strike happened just as ceasefire talks in Doha came to an end, before resuming in Cairo next week,” said Mahmoud. “The US described the talks as promising.”
If you believe that you have witnessed enough of Israel's crimes in Gaza. I assure you that you haven't yet
Meet the Killer Quadcopters
Monsters.. pure monsters pic.twitter.com/GHxh4VPZIW
— Abier (@abierkhatib) March 31, 2024
Only 11% of Gaza is part of ‘humanitarian zone’: UNRWA
Israel’s latest evacuation orders have pushed thousands more families out of their homes and shrunk Gaza’s declared “humanitarian zone” even further, says the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.
Now, the “humanitarian zone” encompasses just 11 percent of the war-torn enclave, said the UN agency, with displaced people left in “chaos and fear”.
Israel issued two new evacuation orders Saturday — telling residents of numerous neighborhoods in northern and central Gaza to flee immediately.
Israeli evacuation orders shut 10 wells, worsening water crisis in Gaza
Andalou Agency reports: The new Israeli evacuation orders for areas in eastern Gaza have resulted in the shutdown of 10 water wells, Deir al-Balah Municipality in the central Gaza Strip announced on Saturday.
Ismail Sarsour, head of the municipality’s Emergency Committee, told Anadolu: “The new Israeli evacuation orders for eastern Deir al-Balah have effectively taken 10 out of 19 wells out of service.”
“Access to three other wells west of Salah al-Din Street has become hazardous,” Sarsour stated.
He emphasized that the water situation in Deir al-Balah will become extremely dire in the coming days, especially with the shutdown of the eastern wells, which serve as a critical water supply for areas west of Salah al-Din Street, including the city center.
Deir al-Balah is currently home to hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians, particularly in the city center and its western areas.
Residents in the Gaza Strip are already facing significant challenges in accessing potable water, often traveling long distances to secure just a few liters. In various parts of the strip, displaced people are rationing drinking water in fear of future shortages.
Israel’s repeated “evacuation orders” to #Gaza residents are, in fact, forced displacement orders that constitute a crime against humanity and an act of genocide! pic.twitter.com/IfIyCtkrjn
— Euro-Med Monitor (@EuroMedHR) August 17, 2024
West Bank: Israeli Army Assassinates Two Palestinians In Jenin
IMEMC reports: On Saturday evening, the Israeli army assassinated two Palestinians by firing a missile at their car in the center of Jenin city, in the northern part of the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed that medics recovered the severely mutilated bodies of the two slain Palestinians, identified as Rafat Mahmoud Sobhi Dawasi, 28, and Ahmad Walid Ahmad Abu Arra, 32.
The Israeli army claimed its forces killed two senior fighters of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.”
The assassination of the two young men brings the number of Palestinians, killed by Israeli soldiers and paramilitary colonizers in the occupied West Bank, since October 7, 2023, to 635, including 147 children, and twenty-one killed by paramilitary colonizers, in addition to 5400 wounded Palestinians.
This Was No Accident. This Was Murder.
Grace-Colored Glasses writes: On Tuesday, news got out from Gaza of a terrible tragedy. A pair of newborn twins were killed in an Israeli airstrike.
Gaza’s healthcare sector has been decimated, and medical supplies are in extremely short supply, so the very fact that a woman in Gaza was able to carry twins to term and give birth to healthy infants is nothing less than miraculous..
But alhamdulillah – thank God – mother and babies were doing fine.
The little family were sheltering in an apartment building. They must have felt relatively lucky, as hundreds of thousands of their fellow Palestinians are living in tents or on the streets in the summer heat.
While the proud Daddy, Mohammad Abu Al Qumsan, was out collecting the birth certificates, an Israeli airstrike killed his wife and babies.
(Read the full article here.)
‘Summer school’ activists plan pro-Palestinian protests at US colleges in fall
The Guardian reports: Student activists are planning a fresh wave of pro-Palestine protests at US colleges this fall, boosted by a “summer school” led by organizers over the break, ramping up coordination and strategy in the wake of police crackdowns on campuses this past spring.
Despite academic suspensions, doxing attempts and the arrests of more than 3,000 students nationwide, the students who occupied their campuses’ lawns with tents last semester are gearing up for another – possibly bigger – round of demonstrations “on all fronts, by all means”, calling once again for a ceasefire in Gaza and for their colleges to divest from financial ties to Israel.
The National Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) organization held online education and training sessions this summer, offering unofficial courses to students who belong to specific student organizations – such as Jewish Voices for Peace, the Muslim Students Association and local SJP university chapters around the country – on the history of Palestine but also on how to organize, with the aim of creating a more unified and better prepared mass protest movement.
“The purpose of it was kind of to have all these people that are involved in SJP itself to build different workshops to be more educated on organizing and to be prepared for certain situations,” said Sereen Haddad, a Palestinian American undergraduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University, a public institution in that state’s capital, Richmond.
NSJP and local SJP chapters have been accused by their opponents of sympathizing with Hamas – a claim the organization vehemently rejects – and have been suspended on some college campuses including Columbia University in New York, Brandeis University in Massachusetts and George Washington University in Washington DC, for allegedly breaking campus rules.
RECOMMENDED READING: Detailed study finds 99% of pro-Palestine protests at US universities are peaceful
What impact will pro-Palestine protests have on the DNC? Tens of thousands expected in Chicago’s streets
The Independent reports: When the Democratic National Convention gets underway in Chicago this week, it is expected to be accompanied by the largest pro-Palestine protests in the city’s history, according to advocacy groups.
Pro-Palestine demonstrators aren’t new to Chicago. They have been marching on the city’s streets every weekend since October 7th.
The DNC, where Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are expected to accept their nominations, faces significant disruption from protests, with Chicago home to the largest community of Palestinians in the country. Tens of thousands are anticipated to mobilize.
“It’ll be the largest protest in the history of Chicago for Palestinian rights, specifically,” Hatem Abudayyeh, national chair for the US Palestinian Community Network, told Block Club Chicago.
There has been a months-long court battle over the protest route. Advocacy groups requested parade permits to march near the United Center but were repeatedly denied by city officials. The city, in turn, offered the groups an alternative route, a requirement that prompted them to sue the city and Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Transportation, alleging First Amendment violations.
The groups then asked a federal judge to extend their route by a mile, and move the route closer to the United Center. The judge denied that request on August 12, partly due to the route interfering with the Secret Service perimeter, court filings show.
Organizers said they plan to appeal the decision, according to ABC7. It’s unclear whether the groups will stick to those restrictions or will march without a permit.
“We’re going to march regardless, but we’re fighting for the best route possible,” Faayani Aboma Mijana, a spokesperson for the March on the DNC coalition, told Semafor. “We’ve got our park permit, but the City has refused to allow us to use port-a-potties, a stage, and a sound system.”
Estimates say Chicago could see anywhere from 30,000 to 100,000 demonstrators.
RECOMMENDED READING: ‘Uncommitted’ delegates bring Gaza-war message to Democratic convention
MORE NEWS:
IMEMC Daily Reports.
Mondoweiss: Germany was never denazified. That’s why it’s siding with Israel today.
Today in north #Gaza, home after home flattened.
I was next to a young boy as a strike whistled above us. He froze, eyes wide open. It hit nearby & he just stood there, paralysed by fear.
What’s left for children here? Constant displacement, among constant unimaginable horror. pic.twitter.com/bQvS4uLfOv
— Louise Wateridge (@UNWateridge) August 17, 2024
📝The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) has documented numerous incidents of extrajudicial killings committed by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) against #Palestinian civilians across the #gaza Strip, including the case of Ahmed Mohammed Abu Helal, 53, who is a… pic.twitter.com/ZDatBxPKn4
— Palestinian Centre for Human Rights – PCHR (@pchrgaza) August 17, 2024
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7 – AUGUST 17:
Palestinian death toll from October 7, 2023 – August 17, 2024: at least 40,734* (40,099 in Gaza* – 11,445 women (30%), 16,251 children as of July 22. [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 635 in the West Bank (~147 children). This does not include an estimated 10,000 more still buried under rubble (4,900 women and children). Euro-Med Monitor reports 46,848 Palestinian deaths.
Lancet: “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.
Ralph Nader earlier estimated 200,000 Palestinians may have been killed in Gaza.
- At least 45 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons (27 from Gaza, 18 from West Bank).
- At least 41 Palestinians have died due to malnutrition**.
- About 1.9 million of Gaza’s 2.3 million population are currently displaced.
- Almost 500,000 Gazans are currently experiencing catastrophic levels of food insecurity.
Palestinian injuries from October 7 – August 17: at least 98,029 (including at least 92,609 in Gaza and 5,420 in the West Bank, including 830 children). [It remains unknown how man Americans are among the casualties in Gaza.]
Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – August 17, 2024: ~1,454 (~1,139 on October 7, 2023, of which ~32 were Americans, and ~36 were children); 293*** military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza; 25 military and civilians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel) and~10,000 injured.
NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries of Israelis 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.
***Approximately ten of the deaths listed above were Israeli soldiers killed by Hezbollah in fighting at the Israel-Lebanon border. The figure does not include the reportedly 41 Israeli soldiers – nearly 16% of the total Israeli military deaths – killed due to friendly fire in Gaza and other military-related accidents.
† 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
- Human rights reports on Israel-Palestine (regularly updated)
- Understanding what motivates ultra-orthodox Jewish attacks on West Bank Palestinians
- Palestinians’ harrowing stories of rape by Israeli soldiers (including female soldiers)
- A Palestinian journalist visited Ismail Haniyeh’s home in Gaza to report on his death. Israel assassinated him too.
- I reported a piece for the New York Times on antisemitism. I found a major error, but the Times didn’t care.
- How Israel plans to whitewash its war crimes in Gaza
- Why the West Bank is on the verge of economic collapse
- Netanyahu’s plan to involve US in regional war on its behalf
- Western media continue to withhold the truth about Israel and Gaza – 4 stories
- “Well What SHOULD Israel Have Done After October 7?”
- Welcome to Hell
- More dead children. More BBC ‘news’ channelling Israeli propaganda as its own
- U.S. media downplays and ignores ICJ ruling declaring Israeli occupation illegal
- Israeli soldiers tell story of savage cruelty in Gaza – one given blessing by the West
- Searching for Gaza’s missing children
- What Would You Do With An Extra $320 Million?
- Assassination of Haniyeh an intentional, dangerous escalation – Parsi, Macgregor
- When Israel Burned Refugees Alive, Establishment Media Called It a ‘Tragic Accident’
- Israel has turbocharged West Bank housing demolitions under the cover of war
- Western media ignores Israeli confirmation of Hannibal Directive on 7 Oct
- US Should Arrest Benjamin Netanyahu When He’s in Washington
- Airwars investigation: Israeli airstrikes uniquely lethal (video)
- Hesen Jabr paid the price of conscience
- Gaza genocide denial
- Why the news media’s job is to groom us
- ‘Disappeared, buried, detained’: The horrors of Gaza’s missing children
