Israel commits three massacres in less than one hour; a survivor says, “We are killed by American missiles” – Day 283

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Israel commits three massacres in less than one hour; a survivor says, “We are killed by American missiles” – Day 283
Relentless Israeli airstrikes cause widespread damage across Gaza. (photo)

With US complicity, Israeli attacks continue unabated; another Palestinian journalist killed; Gazan man with Down Syndrome attacked by Israeli military dog, left to die; Smotrich demands blatant disregard for Int’l Court of Justice ruling – if it does not favor Israel; tax deductible support in US for Israeli groups that block humanitarian aid to Gaza; US has been making secret flights to Israel; US court lets Biden off the hook in Gaza genocide; more.

By IAK staff, from reports.

Israel commits three massacres across Gaza in less than one hour

The Cradle reports: The Israeli army committed new massacres against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip on 16 July, reportedly killing at least 40.

The Health Ministry in Gaza announced on Tuesday that 17 people, including several children, were killed and at least 26 injured following an Israeli attack near the designated “safe zone” in the coastal Al-Mawasi area west of the southern city of Khan Younis.

Tel Aviv claimed the attack targeted a commander in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement.

Israeli forces also shelled a UNRWA school housing displaced civilians in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, killing at least 23 and wounding dozens. Women and children were among the dead. Israel said Hamas “terrorists” were operating inside the school.

In the northern city of Beit Lahia, four Palestinian civilians were killed and five wounded in an Israeli attack near the Sheikh Zayed Roundabout.

At least 40 have been killed in total.

Bodies are laid out for identification and prayers after the latest attack on Mawasi in Gaza.
Bodies are laid out for identification and prayers after the latest attack on Mawasi in Gaza. (photo)

‘We are killed by American missiles’: Nuseirat school attack survivor

Video footage verified by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency Sanad has seen a young man carry the remnants of the rockets that targeted a school in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

He lamented that the displaced Palestinians were being killed by Israel with American missiles.

“We found children beheaded and people turned into corpses and body parts inside the school, and I cannot describe the scene from the horror of the bombing,” he said.

The footage documented the destruction and the body parts scattered in the courtyard of the school, which was crowded with displaced people.

Palestinian bomb squads tour the Gaza Strip after Israeli attacks, collecting remnants of rockets, missiles, and shells that fell
Palestinian bomb squads tour the Gaza Strip after Israeli attacks, collecting remnants of rockets, missiles, and shells that fell (screengrab)

Number of journalists killed in Israel’s war on Gaza rises to 160: Media office

Muhammad Abdullah Mishmish, programme director at Sawt Al-Awsa Radio, has been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza, according to the enclave’s Government Media Office.

The statement on Telegram did not elaborate on the circumstances, time or place of his death.

Mishmish is the 160th journalist killed in the war, the announcement said.

A mother’s farewell: Marwa Abu Zayda lost twin boys and her leg

Gaza man with Down’s syndrome attacked by IDF dog and left to die, mother tells BBC

BBC reports: Muhammed Bhar was 24 and had Down’s syndrome and autism. His mother, Nabila Bhar, 70, told the BBC: “He didn’t know how to eat, drink, or change his clothes. I’m the one who changed his nappies. I’m the one who fed him. He didn’t know how to do anything by himself.”

In a weary tone, Nabila, who is a widow, reeled off the names of relatives’ homes where they’d sought shelter.

Mohammad Bhar
Mohammad Bhar (photo)

“We evacuated around 15 times. We would go to Jibreel’s place, but then there would be bombing at Jibreel’s place. We would go to Haydar Square, but then there would be bombing at Haydar Square. We would go to Rimal, but then there would be bombing at Rimal. We would go to Shawa Square, but there would be bombing at Shawa Square.”

On June 27, they came back home to Gaza City, only to be ordered to evacuate once again. But the Bhars were tired of moving, so they stayed.

“We were under siege for seven days. The tanks and soldiers were all around the house… Muhammed was staying on his sofa…and he didn’t like sitting anywhere except for there,” says Nabila.

For Muhammed war meant loud, violent sounds, the air vibrating with the concussion from shells exploding nearby. None of this could be explained to him.

“He would panic and say, ‘I’m scared, scared’,” Nabila remembers.

On 3 July, according to the family, the IDF raided their home on Nazaz Street. Nabila says there were several dozen soldiers with a combat dog – animals used to find Hamas fighters, and check for booby traps and explosives.

At first she heard them “breaking in and smashing everything” before the soldiers and dog arrived in the room.

Referring to Muhammed, she says: “I told them, ‘He’s disabled, disabled. Have mercy on him, he’s disabled. Keep the dog away from him.’”

Nabila saw the animal attack Muhammed….

(Read the full story here.)

Israel’s restrictions on movement in Hebron hurdle to ‘essential services’: ICRC

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says the restrictions on movement imposed by Israel, specifically in the “H2” area in Hebron’s Old City, “make it difficult, and sometimes impossible, for Palestinians to access essential services”.

Israeli authorities have imposed these restrictions for more than 20 years, leaving an impact on “basic services many need daily to survive”, the ICRC said on X.

The H2 area of Hebron in the occupied West Bank is 20 percent of the Palestinian city, where about 700 Israelis live in illegal settlements and the Israeli military has full control.

H2’s Palestinian population is about 35,000.

RECOMMENDED READING: Fear, hunger and displacement follows Israel’s worsening abuse of Palestinians in Hebron.

Israel minister demands West Bank annexation if UN court rules against it

Al Jazeera reports: Hardline Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called on the prime minister to annex the occupied West Bank if the International Court of Justice (ICJ) rules Israeli settlements are illegal this week.

Bezalel Smotrich, Israeli settler and Minister of Finance.
Bezalel Smotrich, Israeli settler and Minister of Finance. (photo)

Smotrich reportedly told reporters this week, “no one will move the people of Israel from their land.”

The UN’s top court is expected to deliver a non-binding ruling on the legal ramifications of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories on Friday.

“I hereby call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – if the International Court of Justice in The Hague does decide that the settlement enterprise is illegal – respond to them with a historic decision of applying sovereignty to the territories of the homeland,” said Smotrich.

The far-right minister also promised to “thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state through massive construction, regulating settlements, building roads and other measures in the field” – all moves illegal under international law.

Fifty-two countries presented arguments at the ICJ, also known as the World Court, about the legal consequences of Israel’s actions in the occupied territories in February, after the UN General Assembly asked it in 2022 for an advisory opinion.

Smotrich himself lives in an illegal settlement.

Far-right groups that block aid to Gaza receive tax-deductible donations from US and Israel

Associated Press reports: Under American pressure, Israel has pledged to deliver large quantities of humanitarian aid into the war-ravaged Gaza Strip. But at the same time, the U.S. and Israel have allowed tax-deductible donations amounting to $200,000 to far-right groups that have blocked that aid from being delivered, The Associated Press and the Israeli investigative site Shomrim have found.

Incentivizing these donations by making them tax-deductible runs counter to America’s and Israel’s stated commitments to allow unlimited food, water and medicine into Gaza, say groups working to get more aid into the territory. Donations have continued even after the U.S. imposed sanctions against one of these groups.

“If you’re on the one hand saying you’re allowing aid in but then also facilitating the actions of groups that are blocking it, can you really say you’re facilitating aid?” said Tania Hary, executive director of Gisha, an Israeli nonprofit that has long called on Israel to improve conditions in the territory.

Israeli officials did not respond to requests for comment. The U.S. State Department said it is committed to ensuring the delivery of aid, but had no comment on the fundraising efforts by the far-right groups.

NOTE: Israel has illegally built around 280 settlements on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, which are home to more than 700,000 illegal settlers. Israeli settlements and settlers on Palestinian land are a violation of international law, and considered by many Palestinians to be the main barrier to any lasting peace agreement. Settlers, moreover, have a history of violence against Palestinians, often with the assistance of Israeli military forces.
Some Israeli settler groups have attacked trucks loaded with aid in order to keep them from reaching Gaza.
Some Israeli settler groups have attacked trucks loaded with aid in order to keep them from reaching Gaza. (photo)

Revealed: America’s secret special forces flights to Israel from UK base on Cyprus

Declassified UK reports: The US Air Force has been sending unmarked planes from Britain’s base on Cyprus to Israel since it began bombing Gaza, it can be revealed.

The planes are all C-295 and CN-235 aircraft, which are believed to be used by American special forces.

Declassified has found 18 of these aircraft which have gone from the sprawling British air base on Cyprus, RAF Akrotiri, to Israel’s coastal city Tel Aviv since October 7.

Akrotiri is the key node in the international effort to arm and provide logistical support for Israel’s assault on Gaza.

But the UK government has always refused to divulge any information about US activities at Akrotiri, which is known to include transporting weapons to Israel.

Asked in May how many US Air Force (USAF) flights had taken off from the base since October 7, defense minister Leo Docherty said: “The Ministry of Defense does not comment on the operations of our Allies.”

But Declassified discovered the unmarked planes that flew from Akrotiri to Israel from November to June have a serial number showing they are operated by the USAF. Most of these journeys had the flight number GONZO62.

The new information could further implicate British ministers in war crimes in Gaza. In November 2023, a US military official revealed that American special forces were stationed in Israel and “actively helping the Israelis”.

A spokesperson for the UK Ministry of Defense would only tell Declassified: “In response to the situation in Israel and Gaza, we are working with international partners to de-escalate the conflict, reinforce stability and support humanitarian efforts in the region. Any use of UK bases will be in line with these objectives.”

(Read the full article here.)

‘Stunning Abdication’: Appeals Court Dismisses Biden Genocide Complicity Case

Common Dreams reports: Palestine defenders on Tuesday decried a U.S. federal appellate panel’s dismissal of a case brought by Palestinians accusing senior Biden administration officials of failing to prevent and complicity in Israeli genocide in Gaza.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of the lawsuit against President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, which was led by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) on behalf of several Palestinian groups and individuals.

During a Tuesday interview on Democracy Now!, CCR attorney Katherine Gallagher—who represented plaintiffs in the case—said its dismissal “essentially gives the blank check to carry out any kind of conduct that the executive wants in times of genocide, in times of war.”

“We turned to the law to help stop the horror, and the court chose to do nothing,” said one plaintiff in the case. “We are beyond disappointed.”

MORE NEWS:

IMEMC Daily Reports.
Al Jazeera: Israeli courts cannot and will not prosecute Israel’s war crimes
Mondoweiss: J.D. Vance attributes his anti-Palestine record to his Christianity
Middle East Eye: War on Gaza: Palestinians suffering from ‘unprecedented mental health crisis’

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STATISTICS OCTOBER 7 – JULY 16:

Palestinian death toll from October 7 – July 16: at least 39,370* (38,794 in Gaza* – 11,445 women (30%), 16,034 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 576 in the West Bank (~140 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 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 16: at least 94,784 (including at least 89,364 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 16: ~1,481 (~1,139 on October 7, 2023, of which ~32 were Americans, and ~36 were children); 326 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.

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

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