Israel continues illegal practice of assassination – Day 298

Israel continues illegal practice of assassination – Day 298

Israel’s assassinations continue – with two more journalists; Palestinian sexual abuse victim returned to scene of the alleged crime; Hezbollah commander, children killed in Israeli airstrike on Beirut; Israeli military says it killed Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif; Israeli soldiers, settlers continue terrorizing Palestinians in West Bank; Blinken, State Dept equivocate; US warships converge on Middle East; US “not ready for global war”; boycotts succeeding; UN report on Israeli abuse of Palestinian prisoners; Veterans For Peace has message for Kamala Harris; former Senior Advisor to Secretary of Defense under Trump calls for Americans to oppose war with Iran; more

By IAK staff, from reports.

Al Jazeera journalist, cameraman killed in Israeli attack on Gaza

Al Jazeera reports: Al Jazeera Arabic journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and his cameraman Rami al-Rifi have been killed in an Israeli air attack on the Gaza Strip.

The reporters were killed when their car was hit on Wednesday in the Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, according to initial information.

They were in the area to report from near the Gaza house of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas who was assassinated in the early hours of Wednesday in Iran’s capital, Tehran, in an attack the group has blamed on Israel.

Ismail and Rami were wearing media vests and there were identifying signs on their car when they were attacked. They had last contacted their news desk 15 minutes before the strike.

There was no immediate comment by Israel, which has previously denied targeting journalists in its 10-month war on Gaza, which has killed at least 39,445 people, the vast majority of whom were children and women.

In a statement, Al Jazeera Media Network called the killings a “targeted assassination” by Israeli forces and pledged to “pursue all legal actions to prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes”.

Mohamed Moawad, Al Jazeera Arabic managing editor, said the Qatar-based network’s journalists were killed on Wednesday as they were “courageously covering the events in northern Gaza”.

(Read the full article here.)


165 Palestinian journalists killed since October 7: Government media office

Al Jazeera reports: The Gaza government media office has denounced the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and camera operator Rami al-Rifi.

Both journalists were killed together when Israeli forces targeted their car in Gaza City.

“We condemn the targeting and killing of Palestinian journalists, and hold Israel responsible for this heinous crime. We call on the international community and media groups to pressure Israel into stopping these continuing violations,” it said in a statement.

It also said that since October 7, Israel has killed more than 165 Palestinian journalists.

The attack also killed a teenage cyclist delivering food to the elderly.

Press House - Palestine supply of occupational safety equipment for journalists reporting from Gaza – not enough to protect them from Israeli airstrikes.
Press House – Palestine supply of occupational safety equipment for journalists reporting from Gaza – not enough to protect them from Israeli bullets and airstrikes. (photo)

Israeli military returns Palestinian sexual abuse victim back to army base where he was allegedly abused

Ha’aretz reports: The Hamas detainee who was allegedly sexually abused by Force 100 soldiers in Sde Teiman was returned to military detention center after he was discharged from the hospital where he was treated for his injuries, Haaretz has learned.

The detainee, who was admitted to a hospital immediately after the violence he suffered in the facility, was released to a field hospital at the Sde Teiman base. Soldiers from Force 100, some of whom took part, their faces covered, in the demonstrations Monday during which dozens of people broke into Sde Teiman and the Beit Lid base, still serve at Sde Teiman.

According to information obtained by Haaretz, the Palestinian detainee – an officer in the military arm of Hamas, against whom a permanent detention order was issued (due to alleged involvement in terror) and who was arrested during the Israeli ground operation in Gaza, had been transferred from the Ofer military prison to Sde Teiman

The detainee was transferred to a hospital in southern Israel for treatment, at the end of which he was returned to the hospital at Sde Teiman. He remains there, held in restraints.

Physicians for Human Rights-Israel released the following statement:

The return of the detainee to the clinic at Sde Teiman, the facility where he was subjected to torture, is a serious ethical and professional failure of the medical officials and hospital management who were involved in his medical care.

Through this decision, the medical teams exposed the detainee to the possibility that he would once again meet the soldiers suspected of raping him, thereby putting his life in danger.

If the medical authorities were meeting their obligation according to medical ethics, they would have insisted that he be moved to a safe place, where he could recover from his severe injury and recuperate from the severe trauma he experienced.

We call on the Israel Medical Association to immediately investigate the circumstances and the atmosphere in the medical community and the Health Ministry that led to the detainee’s release back to Sde Teiman.


Hezbollah Commander, Children Killed in Israeli Airstrike on Beirut

The Washington Post reports: Hezbollah on Wednesday confirmed the killing of one of its senior commanders in an Israeli airstrike a day earlier. The strike killed at least five other people, including three women and a small brother and sister — Hasan Fadallah, 10, and his sister Amira, 6.

The confirmation of the death of the commander, Fuad Shukr, was delayed as rescue workers searched through the rubble of the residential building in Haret Hreik, a heavily populated Beirut suburb. Shukr had been on one of the bottom floors.

Haret Hreik, where Hezbollah enjoys significant support, is predominantly Shiite Muslim but also has Christian residents.

It was rebuilt by Hezbollah with funds from Iran in 2006 after a previous Israeli onslaught in which Israeli forces had  killed at least 1,109 Lebanese, the vast majority of whom were civilians, and caused an estimated 1 million to be displaced. Hezbollah rocket attacks killed 43 Israeli civilians and 12 Israeli soldiers.

RECOMMENDED REPORT/VIDEO: Hundreds mourn children killed in Beirut blast as border violence threatens to spiral

Israel army says top Hamas chief Mohammed Deif assassinated in strike earlier in July

The New Arab reports: The Israeli military on Thursday announced that Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif had been killed in a strike it carried out last month in Gaza’s southern area of Khan Younis.

The military’s confirmation it had killed Deif comes a day after the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, which was announced by Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Hamas.

There’s been no confirmation from Hamas on the matter.

Health authorities in Gaza said at the time of the July 13 strike that it killed more than 90 people.

Palestinians inspect the area after an Israeli attack hits displaced people’s camps in Al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis, Gaza on July 13, during which Mohammad Deif was assassinated [Abed Rahim Khatib – Anadolu Agency]
Palestinians inspect the area after an Israeli attack hits displaced people’s camps in Al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis, Gaza on July 13, during which Mohammad Deif was assassinated [Abed Rahim Khatib – Anadolu Agency] (photo)

Israel’s bloody history of assassinations

From The New Arab: In his book Rise and Kill First, Israeli journalist Ronan Bergman claims that, since World War II, Israel has assassinated more people than any other country in the Western world.

Up to 2019, the time of the book publishing, Israel carried out 2300 operations, killing several thousand people. There are no official figures to affirm the accuracy or lack thereof of Bergman’s claims.

However, no other nation has been more forthcoming, and openly comfortable, about assassination as a state policy and frequently executed practice as Israel.

Jewish terrorist group Lehi initiated the assassination policy in 1944 by killing British politician Walter Guinness, who opposed illegal Jewish immigration to Palestine.

After the Zionist state was established in 1948, assassination became an official state policy and went through three phases. The first phase came after the launch of the Palestinian armed struggle in 1965, where dozens of Palestinian key figures were eliminated. The second wave came after Oslo in the mid-1990s and targeted primarily Hamas operatives accused of masterminding suicide bombings in Israel. The Second Intifada in 2000 saw a third but particularly intense wave of assassinations that killed tens of resistance figures and, with them, more civilians.

Israel’s ‘targeted killing’ has repeatedly come under fire on legal and moral grounds; firstly because these assassinations are extrajudicial executions — and thus forbidden under international law — and secondly because of its sheer disregard for innocent lives.

However, Israeli decision-makers prioritize the perceived strategic value of these assassinations over the legal or moral costs, such as international criticism or excessive collateral damage.

(Read the full article here.)

RECOMMENDED READING: Are Gaza ceasefire talks doomed after Israel killed Ismail Haniyeh and struck Beirut?
A view of partially destroyed building, in which the Israeli army assassinated Fouad Shukr, Beirut, Lebanon on July 31, 2024.
A view of partially destroyed building, in which the Israeli army assassinated Fouad Shukr, Beirut, Lebanon on July 31, 2024. (photo)

Israeli forces, settlers, continue to wreak havoc on West Bank Palestinians

Some highlights of OCHA’s weekly report on the situation in the occupied West Bank:

  • Between 23 and 29 July, Israeli settlers perpetrated 21 attacks against Palestinians, resulting in six injuries, including one child, and damage to property.
  • Between 7 October 2023 and 29 July 2024, OCHA recorded 1,143 attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, of which 106 led to Palestinian fatalities and injuries, 905 incidents led to damage to Palestinian property, and 121 incidents led to both casualties and property damage.
  • Between 23 and 29 July, the Israeli authorities demolished or forced the demolition of 30 Palestinian-owned structures, 28 of which were due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are almost impossible to obtain.
  • Between 7 October and 29 July, Israeli authorities demolished, confiscated or forced the demolition of 1,311 Palestinian-owned structures across the West Bank, of which 39 per cent (515 structures) were inhabited homes. As a result, 2,996 people, including 1,310 children, were displaced.
Heavy duty machines of Israeli forces demolish a Palestinian family's house allegedly for being unauthorized in Nablus, West Bank on July 30, 2024.
Heavy duty machines of Israeli forces demolish a Palestinian family’s house allegedly for being unauthorized in Nablus, West Bank on July 30, 2024. (photo)

Blinken urges ‘all parties in Middle East to stop escalations’

The New Arab reports: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday urged “all parties” in the Middle East to stop “escalatory actions” and achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, after Hamas’s political leader was killed in a strike that Iran blamed on Israel.

Achieving peace “starts with a ceasefire, and to get there, it also first requires all parties to talk (and) to stop taking any escalatory actions”, Blinken told reporters in Mongolia.

NOTE: Blinken’s stunningly deferential framing dismisses the fact that Israel alone has been escalating the violence recently with multiple assassinations, as well as targeting of aid workers, journalists, and civilians sheltering in UN schools. The most recent incident, the murder of Ismail Haniyeh, slaughtered Hamas’ chief negotiator for peace. Israel’s actions have inflamed tensions in multiple Arab countries.

Embed from Getty Images


US Navy assembles 12 warships amid heightened tensions in Middle East

Washington Post reports: Rising tension in the Middle East following the killing of senior officials in both Hamas and Hezbollah has not prompted the Pentagon to announce any additional deployments, but the United States has assembled at least a dozen warships nearby, a defense official said.

The vessels included the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and its accompanying warships and the Wasp Amphibious Ready Group, a three-ship amphibious task force that includes more than 4,000 Marines and sailors, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the issue.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt was in the Persian Gulf on Wednesday with six U.S. destroyers: The USS Cole, the USS John S. McCain, the USS Daniel Inouye, the USS Russell, the USS Michael Murphy and the USS Laboon. In the eastern Mediterranean were the three amphibious ships — the USS Wasp, the USS Oak Hill and the USS New York — and two destroyers, the USS Bulkeley and the USS Roosevelt.

No U.S. warships were in the Red Sea, where the U.S. military has tangled in recent days with the Houthis, a militant group in Yemen that has launched numerous attacks against commercial and military ships over the last several months.


Congressional commission determines US ‘not prepared for global war,’ calls for more defense spending

The Cradle reports: The US Commission on the National Defense Strategy, a congressionally mandated group with members handpicked by bipartisan lawmakers, has determined that Washington is unprepared to face a possible global war and must significantly overhaul its national defense strategy.

In its 132-page report, published by the RAND Corporation, the commission recommends Washington boost its nearly $1 trillion yearly defense budget to “Cold War-era levels” and urges the government to “foster an alliance that could lead to global war.”

“The United States must spend more effectively and efficiently to build the future force, not perpetuate the existing one. Additional resources will be necessary. Congress should pass a supplemental appropriation to begin a multiyear investment in the national security innovation and industrial base,” the report says.

Increasing Washington’s defense spending would allegedly address recruiting shortcomings, a “grossly inadequate” industrial base, and “underfunded cyber and space domains.”


Boycotts against Israel are hurting Starbucks and McDonald’s sales worldwide

The Intercept reports: McDonald’s and Starbucks have both reported declines in sales and profits — and both corporations blame boycotts by supporters of Palestine amid Israel’s war in Gaza as a factor in their weak results.

McDonald’s yesterday reported that its global sales declined for the first time since 2020, with its net profit declining 12 percent compared to the same period last year. Starbucks announced Tuesday that sales in North American stores dipped 2 percent, and sales in the rest of the world dipped 7 percent. It also reported that its total international profits dropped by 23 percent.

Although the companies point to currency fluctuation, slowdown within the Chinese market, and consumer reaction to rising menu prices to account for the change, the chief executives of both corporations cited the conflict in Gaza when discussing problems the businesses face.

(Read the full article here.)


UN Report on Arbitrary Detention and Abhorrent Abuse of Palestinian Prisoners

A new report has been released from the UN Human Rights department detailing the arbitrary detention of thousands of Palestinians and subsequent abuse, humiliation, torture, and prolonged incommunicado sentences.

The 23-page report documents mass detentions of Palestinians by Israeli forces and their torture and mistreatment, including sexual abuse and the deaths of detainees while in Israeli custody. In addition, it includes information regarding hostages held by Palestinian armed groups, detentions by the Palestinian authority, and a legal analysis of the current situation.

Additionally, it explores the case of more than 10,000 permitted Gazan workers who were taken into Israeli custody in the days following October 7, 2023, despite their presence in Israel having been completely lawful. While many of these workers were released, although tagged with ID numbers, around 1,000 of them are still unaccounted for.

(Read the full report here.)

Palestinian men who were arrested during the Israeli ground invasion of northern Gaza receive medical treatment after their release at Al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah, December 24, 2023
Palestinian men who were arrested during the Israeli ground invasion of northern Gaza receive medical treatment after their release at Al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah, December 24, 2023 (photo)

State Dept won’t call Israeli rape of Palestinian prisoners a war crime

An excerpt from Tuesday’s State Department press briefing:

QUESTION: The Israeli police detained soldiers yesterday, or the day before yesterday, suspected of raping a Palestinian, sparking protests and so on. Apparently rape and killing and torture and all this thing – it happens regularly in Israeli detention camps. Does that constitute a war crime to you?

MR PATEL: So the reports of abuse are deeply concerning, and we have been clear and consistent with Israel and the IDF that they need to treat all detainees humanely and with dignity in accordance with humanitarian law…the IDF is investigating some of these allegations of serious abuse of Palestinian detainees, and that is news that we welcome. And we’re going to let that process – and we believe in due process, and we’re going to let that process play out.

QUESTION: Now, if proven to be true, that does constitute a war crime, doesn’t it?

MR PATEL: I am not a legal expert, Said. Certainly I imagine it would be inconsistent with Israeli law. And so of course that is why we are – we have been clear that the treatment of any detainee needs to be consistent with international humanitarian law.


State Dept refuses to admit that Iran has the right to defend itself

An excerpt from Wednesday’s State Department press briefing:

QUESTION: To understand clearly, you’re saying that if Iran responds [to Israel’s assassination on sovereign Iranian soil], the U.S. will be there to defend Israel, correct?

MR PATEL: What I am saying is that our commitment to Israel’s security is ironclad. And of course, part of that includes the defense of Israel in – as it – when it faces threats from malign actors like the Iranian regime.

QUESTION: So you often speak of the right of every nation to defend itself. Do you acknowledge that this was an Israeli aggression against Iran?

MR PATEL: I don’t have any information for you, Said, on this incident or possible reactions, and certainly don’t have anything to offer —

QUESTION: Okay, well, I mean, it seems that the whole world acknowledges that this was an Israeli aggression on the capital of Iran. But suppose when you develop the proper information to say that Israel was behind this aggression on the Iranian capital, it is within Iran’s right to defend itself?

MR PATEL: I am not going to speculate on this, Said.

Note: Israel has targeted Iran since at least the early 1990’s.


Veterans For Peace Tell Harris: End Siege of Gaza

From AntiWar: The national organization Veterans For Peace has written an open letter to Vice President Kamala Harris, asking her to push for an immediate end to the siege of Gaza. Below are excerpts from the letter.

“Dear Vice President Harris, we are reaching out to you as military veterans who have fought in multiple U.S. wars, and who continue to uphold the U.S. Constitution and international law, to organize for justice and equality in our home communities, and to advocate for a peaceful foreign policy.”

“We are appalled by the ongoing Israeli slaughter of tens of thousands of Palestinian men, women and children and by the maiming of tens of thousands more. We are outraged by the systematic blocking of food, leading to malnutrition, starvation, disease and the deaths of many more, particularly babies and young children.  These are unbearable and unacceptable crimes that will go down in the history books as a terrible genocide – a holocaust.”

“Don’t wait until January. Do the right thing NOW, even as you are campaigning for president. Please urge President Biden to change course in Gaza, to support an immediate, permanent ceasefire, the opening of Gaza’s borders for massive humanitarian and medical aid, and to stop sending weapons to Israel as long as this massacre continues.”

Veterans For Peace sent the letter to Harris on Tuesday.  It can be read in its entirety here.

Veterans for Peace call for immediate ceasefire in Gaza
Veterans for Peace call for immediate ceasefire in Gaza (screenshot)

Former Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Defense under Trump calls for Americans to oppose war with Iran:

Colonel Douglas MacGregor (a 28-year decorated combat veteran, author of five books, who holds an MA in comparative politics and a PhD in international relations) appeared on the Lt. Col. Daniel Davis’ “Deep Dive” program and called for Americans to call their Congress members to oppose war with Iran:

 


MORE NEWS:

IMEMC Daily Reports.
The Intercept: AIPAC used distorted photo of Cori Bush in $7 million negative ad blitz
Palestine Chronicle: Decades of targeted Assassinations – a timeline of Hamas leaders killed by Israel

Palestinian death toll from October 7 – July 31: at least 40,071* (39,480 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 591 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 53 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons (27 from Gaza, 18 from West Bank).
  • At least 41 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 31: at least 96,548 (including at least 91,128 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 – July 31: ~1,486 (~1,139 on October 7, 2023, of which ~32 were Americans, and ~36 were children); 331 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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