Biden withholds weapons shipment over Rafah invasion, as Gazans flee – Day 215

“We’re going to continue to do what’s necessary to ensure that Israel has the means to defend itself, but that said, we are currently reviewing some near-term security assistance shipments in the context of unfolding events in Rafah,” Austin said. “We’ve been very clear … that Israel shouldn’t launch a major attack into Rafah without accounting for and protecting the civilians that are in that battlespace…and, again, as we have assessed the situation, we’ve paused one shipment of high-payload munitions.”

The decision to pause the shipment appears to send a strong message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has warned for weeks that an invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah will occur at some point in the future, even as the US and others have publicly stated that such a ground operation should not occur.  The Biden administration has called for a comprehensive plan to protect more than a million civilians sheltering in Rafah.

(For more detail on the weapons shipment pause, go here.)

AXIOS ADDS: Israeli officials were sent scrambling to get an explanation for the U.S. decision to pause a weapons shipment that included 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs.

Sources said Israel told the Biden administration it was upset not only about the decision to put the shipment on hold, but also about the decision to leak it to the media.

Contrary to the Israeli claims about U.S. media leaks, Axios first broke the news of the pause based on information from two Israeli officials.

REUTERS ADDS: In opening remarks in the Senate, Senator Mitch McConnell harshly criticized Biden as bending “under the heat of domestic political pressure from his party’s anti-Israel base and the campus Communists who decided to wrap themselves in the flag of Hamas and Hezbollah.”

Senator Lindsey Graham said, “If we stop weapons necessary to destroy the enemies of the state of Israel at a time of great peril, we will pay a price. This is obscene. It is absurd. Give Israel what they need to fight the war they can’t afford to lose.”

Bernie Sanders said, “Given the unprecedented humanitarian disaster that Netanyahu’s war has created in Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of children face starvation, President Biden is absolutely right to halt bomb delivery to this extreme, right-wing Israeli government. But this must be a first step.

“The U.S. must now use ALL its leverage to demand an immediate ceasefire, the end of the attacks on Rafah, and the immediate delivery of massive amounts of humanitarian aid to people living in desperation. Our leverage is clear.

Over the years, the United States has provided tens of billions of dollars in military aid to Israel. We can no longer be complicit in Netanyahu’s horrific war against the Palestinian people.”

TIMES OF ISRAEL ADDS: Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir posted on X, “Hamas <3 [loves] Biden” as an apparent reaction to the threat of withholding weapons.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog responded,  “even when there are disagreements and moments of disappointment between friends and allies, the disputes should be resolved in a certain way, and it is beholden upon all of us to avoid baseless, irresponsible and insulting statements and tweets that harm the national security and the interests of the State of Israel.”

AL JAZEERA ADDS: Israel’s UN ambassador Gilad Erdan called Washington’s decision to hold up some weapons shipments “very disappointing”, even frustrating.

US President Joe Biden “can’t say he is our partner in the goal to destroy Hamas [in the Gaza war] while on the other hand delay the means meant to destroy Hamas”, Erdan said in an interview on Israel’s Channel 12 News.

NOTE: The damage done by the type of bombs that Biden withheld is massive. They are not considered suitable for densely populated areas – and Rafah is one of the most densely populated areas in the world right now.

I love that @AIPAC is in a tizzy as Netanyahu defies the U.S. over & over again – most recently on his invasion of Rafah – and the U.S. is showing a backbone. Now they are trying to get Congress to supersede the President’s authority. No wonder they have so many Trump donors. 🤮 https://t.co/C3ue0nQMk1

— Mark Pocan (@MarkPocan) May 8, 2024

Hamas ❤️Biden

— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) May 9, 2024

At least 49 bodies found in new mass grave at al-Shifa hospital

Gaza media office says more than 520 bodies have now been found in seven mass graves at al-Shifa, Nasser and Kamal Adwan hospitals

A third mass grave has been discovered in the ruins of Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, the largest medical complex in the Palestinian enclave.

At least 49 bodies have been recovered so far from the mass grave, the government media office in Gaza said on Wednesday.

“Government crews are still recovering more bodies until now,” it said. “The exhumation operations have not finished, and we expect to find dozens of new bodies.”

Footage shared online by local journalists showed bodies being uncovered and examined by civil defence teams amid the wreckage of the medical facility, which has been ravaged by Israeli attacks.

Israeli forces withdrew from al-Shifa in early April, after a two-week seige that left the entire complex destroyed and piles of bodies in its wake.

AL JAZEERA ADDS: Some of the bodies were found without heads.

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Al Najjar Hospital, Rafah’s largest, shuts down

Medical Aid for Palestine (MAP) says it has received an update from Dr Marwan Homs, head of al-Najjar, who said the hospital is no longer functioning because all staff have been ordered to evacuate.

“This was Rafah’s largest hospital,” MAP said.

“This means Rafah’s already overstretched and under-resourced health system is now left with only Kuwaiti Hospital, which is an NGO hospital with around [a] 16-bed capacity; Marwani field hospital, which is only a trauma stabilization point; and Al-Emairati Hospital, which is only a maternity hospital,” it added.

People are facing yet another forced displacement in the #GazaStrip

Since Israeli Forces military operation intensified on 6 May, around 80,000 people have fled #Rafah, seeking refuge elsewhere. The toll on these families is unbearable. Nowhere is safe.

We need a #CeasefireNOW pic.twitter.com/SEk3MOJtWE

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) May 9, 2024

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Desperate need for Rafah crossing to open after Israel’s seizure

Middle East Eye reports: Gaza’s health ministry said in a new press release that Israel’s closing of the enclave’s border crossings constituted “a new genocide” as it prevented travel for wounded and sick people and blocked the entry of “aid, medicine, medical supplies, food, trucks, and the fuel needed to operate hospitals”.

“Every hour, we lose some of the wounded from previous inspections who were waiting to travel to neighbouring countries, but [Israel]’s control of the crossing and its closure prevented the travel of these wounded,” the statement read.

The ministry added that the Rafah Governorate’s only dialysis center stopped operating due to Israeli bombings and threats.

The ministry launched an “urgent and humanitarian appeal” to pressure and take action in order to open the crossings, provide treatment to those in need and allow necessary aid in.

“The wounded and sick will suffer a slow death because there is no treatment [or] supplies and there is no possibility for them to travel,” the statement read.

Al Jazeera adds: Senior UN officials have warned that critical fuel supplies needed to power drinking water pumps, maintain communications and deliver humanitarian aid within Gaza are set to run out today.

The situation is especially perilous in northern Gaza, where drinking water facilities will imminently shut down due to fuel shortages.

While Israel has seized the Rafah crossing in the south, interrupting vital aid flows, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that there needs to be a “massive surge in life-saving aid” to the besieged and bombarded territory.

We’re not receiving any aid into the #GazaStrip, the #Rafah crossing area has ongoing military operations – there have been continued bombardments in this area throughout the day.

No fuel or aid has entered into #GazaStrip and this is disastrous for the humanitarian response.

— Scott Anderson (@GazaUNRWA) May 8, 2024

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After Rafah, it won’t be over: Israeli military spokesman

Al Jazeera reports: Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesperson, said he expects Hamas to regroup and continue operating even after the Rafah operation, but that Israel will keep pursuing it wherever it goes.

“I want to tell the public so that they do not delude themselves: Even after we deal with Rafah, there will be terror*,” Hagari said in an interview.

“Hamas will move northwards and try to reconstitute itself, even in the next few days. In every place Hamas returns to, including in northern and central Gaza, we will return to operating.”

*NOTE: The use of words like “terror” and “terrorist” for a group that resists occupation and oppression is a political, not fact-based choice. In reality, international law supports the efforts of resistance groups against an occupying power, even to the point of armed resistance. Hamas has clearly and openly stated that its enemy is not the Jewish people, but the racist ideology of Zionism – the ideology under which Israel dispossessed 750,000 Palestinian people and exiled them to Gaza and other locations. 

Israel tears down six Palestinian homes in occupied West Bank

Demolitions took place in 3 West Bank towns. The string of demolitions comes on the back of an Israeli operation to tear down nearly 50 Bedouin homes in the Negev.

Since October 7, Israel has stepped up demolitions of Palestinian homes under a policy rights activists say is a tool of “forced displacement”.

So far in 2024, Israel has demolished 404 Palestinian-owned structures, displacing 737 people, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

RECOMMENDED READING: Israel refuses to recognize Palestinian villages it plans to confiscate

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Ohio attorney general warns student protesters in masks could face felony charges under anti-KKK law

Associated Press reports: Ohio’s top lawyer has advised the state’s public universities that a law written to deter Ku Klux Klan demonstrations could be used to impose felony charges on students who wear face coverings while protesting the war in Gaza.

In a letter sent Monday, after weeks of pro-Palestinian campus protests around the country, Republican Attorney General Dave Yost advised the presidents of Ohio’s 34 public, four-year universities — which his office represents — to forewarn students about the 1953 law.

“In our society, there are few more significant career-wreckers than a felony charge,” the letter said. “I write to you today to inform your student bodies of an Ohio law that, in the context of some behavior during the recent pro-Palestinian protests, could have that effect.”

The law is contained in a single sentence: “No person shall unite with two or more others to commit a misdemeanor while wearing white caps, masks, or other disguise.” Violating this “anti-disguise” law is punishable by a fourth-degree felony charge, up to $5,000 in fines and five years on community control, Yost wrote.

Protesters around the U.S. and the world have increasingly taken steps to remain anonymous by wearing a combination of head and face coverings, in a world where facial-recognition software can easily lead to negative repercussions.

Republican Introduces Absurd Bill to Send Arrested Student Protesters to Gaza

Daily Beast reports: A group of Republican lawmakers introduced a bill on Wednesday which would send “any person convicted of unlawful activity” at a college or university, to do community service in Gaza for six months.

The bill, dubbed the “Antisemitism Community Service Act,” was introduced by Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN), and backed by Representatives Jeff Dunch (R-SC) and Randy Weber (R-TX), as part of two bills which take aim at college students.

The bill seeks to punish students opposing the U.S.-backed genocide, by sending them to the very place where Israel has used U.S. funds and weapons to kill over 34,700 people, obliterating homes, and displacing nearly two million of Palestinians.

The second bill, called the Study Abroad Act, would seek to cancel the visas of students studying abroad in the U.S., if they are “arrested for rioting or unlawful protest,” or were arrested while “establishing, participating in, or promoting an encampment.” The bill, which was exclusively released to the Daily Caller, does not require the students to be charged with an actual crime, only arrested.

Ogles posted about the new legislation on X, saying “My message is clear: if you’re a student visa holder rioting AGAINST American values and FOR Hamas terrorists, you can go study abroad in Gaza.”

Israel has reduced all of Gaza’s universities to rubble.

Nearly 700 Jewish professors call on Biden not to sign controversial antisemitism legislation

The Hill reports: A group of nearly 700 Jewish college faculty signed a letter to President Biden on Wednesday encouraging him not to back the controversial Antisemitism Awareness Act.

The academics took issue with the act’s use of the International Holocaust Awareness Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which has raised concerns that legitimate criticisms of the state of Israel could be seen as antisemitic under the bill.

The bill easily passed the House last week, though 21 Republicans and 70 Democrats voted against it, with many voicing the same concerns as the faculty.

“Criticism of the state of Israel, the Israeli government, policies of the Israeli government, or Zionist ideology is not — in and of itself — antisemitic,” the letter to Biden and Senate leaders reads.

“We accordingly urge our political leaders to reject any effort to codify into federal law a definition of antisemitism that conflates antisemitism with criticism of the state of Israel,” it continues.

By using the IHRA definition in federal law, the letter claims, the bill could “delegitimize and silence Jewish Americans — among others — who advocate for Palestinian human rights or otherwise criticize Israeli policies.”

“By stifling criticism of Israel, the IHRA definition hardens the dangerous notion that Jewish identity is inextricably linked to every decision of Israel’s government,” the letter continues. “Far from combating antisemitism, this dynamic promises to amplify the real threats Jewish Americans already face.”

NOTE: Read about the highly problematic IHRA definition of antisemitism here.

The Bahamas formally recognizes the State of Palestine

The Bahamas Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that it has formally recognized Palestine as a state, joining a growing number of countries doing so in recent weeks.

In a statement published on Tuesday, The Bahamas said it had joined the “Caribbean Community’s consensus on this matter”.

“The Bahamas became an independent nation in 1973 as an act of self-determination. Therefore, The Bahamas supports the legal right of the Palestinian people of self-determination,” the statement said.

Last week, the government of Trinidad and Tobago announced that it was officially recognizing the State of Palestine, while several EU countries are set to recognize Palestine as an independent state by the end of May.

MORE NEWS

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“I think Israel should go in there & kick the sh*t out of them just absolutely destroy them, their infrastructure, level anything that they touch.” This is what Brian Mast had to say to us on Holocaust Remembrance Day, in response to the news that Hamas had agreed to a ceasefire. pic.twitter.com/GHxRInq4XR

— Medea Benjamin (@medeabenjamin) May 7, 2024

Yes, Secretary General: this monstruosity has to come to an end now.
We must not forget that it did not start on Oct7. Israel had killed more than 5000 ppl in Gaza alone in 5 wars before Oct7 (2008,2012,2014,
2021,2022), without counting the mass destruction, the maiming, the… https://t.co/ey2p95gJNq

— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) May 8, 2024

NEW: Our poll with @zeteo_news finds 7 in 10 likely voters support the U.S. calling for a permanent ceasefire and a de-escalation of violence in Gaza.

This represents a 3-point increase in support from February and a 9-point increase from November.https://t.co/Hy2wMTXXzz pic.twitter.com/6h1wRUGt3Z

— Data for Progress (@DataProgress) May 8, 2024

With more than 1.5 million civilians crowded into a narrow sliver of land, an Israeli military escalation threatens to turn Rafah #Gaza into a graveyard. My full statement: https://t.co/lgjXNtrsnq pic.twitter.com/PLDBg9V7SX

— Avril Benoît (@avrilbenoit) May 7, 2024