Israel has killed over 600 in West Bank since October 7th – Day 301

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Israel has killed over 600 in West Bank since October 7th – Day 301
One of the latest massacres to take place in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. (photo)

Israel rains death and destruction on Gaza and West Bank; UNRWA gradually resumes educational activities; anti-Zionist rabbis attend Haniyeh’s funeral; Israeli-American soldier posted videos of Gaza homes, mosque being detonated; Kamala Harris VP contender Shapiro has ties to Israeli military; US aircraft carrier has eyes on Iran; US official says Biden figured out Netanyahu has been lying to him.

By IAK staff, from reports.

Israeli attack on school in Gaza kills at least 15 people

Al Jazeera reports: At least 15 people have been killed in multiple Israeli air raids on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in central Gaza on Saturday, Gaza’s Government Media Office said.

Many others were reportedly injured in the attack on the Hamama school in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City.

Reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza on Saturday, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said that at least three bombs were dropped on the school as rescuers and volunteers inside the facility were trying to help people escape from under the rubble from a bomb just a few minutes earlier.

“Those three bombs destroyed the facility completely. This is the tactic that the Israeli military has widely used in the past. The military drops a bomb that partially destroys facilities, namely evacuation centers, killing a number of people, and then within a few minutes, it drops other bombs,” he said.

The Israeli military said the school was being used as a command centre for Hamas, the Palestinian group that governs Gaza, to hide fighters and manufacture weapons.

Israeli army bombs university in Gaza City, destroying campus buildings

Andalou Agency reports: The Israeli army bombed the University College of Applied Sciences in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood of southwest Gaza City, completely destroying campus buildings, the Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza reported on Saturday.

Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal said in a press release that “Israeli occupation forces, which have penetrated the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood, executed operations of bombing and destroying the university buildings, leading to their total demolition.”

Eyewitnesses told Anadolu that massive explosions were heard around the university premises, and thick clouds of smoke were seen rising from the area.

Since the onset of the devastating Israeli war on Gaza on Oct. 7, the Israeli army has deliberately targeted and destroyed educational institutions, particularly during ground offensives.

According to statistics from the Government Media Office in Gaza, Israel has destroyed 117 schools and universities, damaged 332 others, and killed 107 scientists, university professors, and researchers.

West Bank: Israeli Drone Strikes Assassinate Nine Palestinians Near Tulkarem

IMEMC reports: Israeli forces assassinated, on Saturday, nine Palestinian young men in two separate drone strikes in the Tulkarem governorate, in northwestern part of the West Bank.

Media sources said that early Saturday morning, an armed Israeli drone fired two missiles at a vehicle carrying five Palestinian young men on a road northeast of Tulkarem.

Nine Palestinians killed in two Israeli attacks in the West Bank, Saturday
Nine Palestinians killed in two Israeli attacks in the West Bank, Saturday (photo)

According to the director of the Martyr Thabet Thabet Governmental Hospital in Tulkarem, reported that five badly burned bodies arrived at the hospital, only one of whom was identified as Haitham Nour al-Din Balidi, 25, from the Tulkarem refugee camp.

Meanwhile, at dawn on Saturday, occupation forces invaded the city of Tulkarem, accompanied by four military bulldozers, which proceeded to raze streets and infrastructure in the city, while reconnaissance drones flew overhead.

Bulldozers destroyed streets and privately-owned property in the eastern part of the city and razed streets and infrastructure inside the Tulkarem camp, amid heavy gunfire.

The army reportedly opened fire with tear gas canisters towards a group of journalists near the Tulkarem camp, causing at least three of them to sustain inhalation injuries.

Furthermore, on Saturday afternoon, a second Israeli drone strike killed four more Palestinian citizens while they were present on lands located between the towns of Iktaba and Bal’a, northeast of the city.

Media sources said that an armed Israeli drone fired a missile at a group of citizens, killing four young men.

Sources added that a large army force surrounded the site, prevented ambulance crews from reaching the slain men, before confiscating the bodies.

AL JAZEERA ADDS: Israel is averaging 40 raids per day in the occupied West Bank, a massive increase since the war started.

West Bank: contrary to Int’l Court ruling, Israel demolished Palestinian structures, approved settlement plans in July

Andalou Agency reports: The Israeli army demolished 135 homes and other facilities in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in July alone, the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Committee reported on Saturday.

According to the committee’s monthly report, “Israeli authorities carried out 98 demolition activities in July, affecting 135 structures, including 62 inhabited homes, 14 uninhabited homes, and 12 agricultural facilities.”

The report also noted that the Israeli army issued demolition notices for 16 homes and other structures in several West Bank provinces.

Regarding illegal Israeli settler attacks, the report said “Illegal settlers carried out 196 assaults ranging from land seizures and expansion activities to extrajudicial executions, vandalism, land leveling, tree uprooting, property seizures, roadblocks, and the burning of homes and vehicles.”

The report stated: “Israeli authorities reviewed 54 illegal settlement plans for the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem in July, approving 20, including one in Jerusalem and 19 in West Bank settlements.”

Additionally, 33 plans were submitted for future approval, with one in Jerusalem and 32 in West Bank provinces.

According to the report, Israeli authorities also “legalized three new settlement outposts, adding to the 11 outposts already in the process of legalization since the beginning of the year.”

Settlement outposts are small communities established by illegal Israeli settlers on privately owned Palestinian land without approval from the Israeli government.

In a landmark opinion on July 19, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land “illegal” and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

UN agency gradually resuming educational activities in Gaza amid Israeli offensive

Andalou Agency reports: The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) announced on Saturday that it began a gradual resumption of educational activities in some shelters in the central and southern Gaza Strip this week.

In an interview with Anadolu, UNRWA Media Director Inas Hamdan explained that the resumed activities are part of a longer-term plan, focusing initially on sports, arts, drama, and games.

She added that these activities will also include psychosocial support for students in various shelters, tailored to the prevailing conditions.

Hamdan stressed that while this step aims to help children affected by the ongoing war regain a semblance of normalcy, it is still too early to discuss a comprehensive educational plan due to the continuing war and multiple challenges.

The UNRWA reported earlier this week that 85% of its schools in Gaza, or 477 out of 564 buildings, have been either directly damaged or require significant repairs to become operational again.

RECOMMENDED READING: ‘Suffering horrifically’: 10 months of Israel’s ‘war on children’ in Gaza

Anti-Zionist rabbis attend Haniyeh’s funeral in Doha

Andalou Agency reports: Rabbis from the anti-Zionist Jewish movement “Neturei Karta” attended the funeral of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in the Qatari capital Doha.

Neturei Karta announced on its Facebook page that “anti-Zionist Jewish Rabbis arrived in Qatar to participate in the funeral procession of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh.”

A viral video from Haniyeh’s funeral showed these rabbis holding signs reading “Jews are not Zionists.”

This movement is made up of Orthodox Jews who say Zionism is an ideology that does not represent Judaism.

“This latest crime was committed amidst the ten-month-long genocide launched on the besieged Gaza, with tens of thousands killed in the brutal aggressive war, leading to a humanitarian disaster within the territory under siege,” the movement said.

Neturei Karta revealed that its rabbis had met with Haniyeh during a “historic humanitarian visit” to Gaza in 2009, where they “emphasized the authentic Jewish opposition to Zionism and the hope to live peacefully as we did historically.”

The rabbinic delegation had assured Haniyeh that “according to the Jewish religion, Jews are forbidden to have their own sovereign state and are forbidden to kill, steal, or fight any nation.”

They informed Haniyeh that “authentic Jews stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people until total liberation” and pointed out that “the State of Israel does not represent the Jewish people, and the nationalistic movement does not represent Judaism, which is a holy religion.”

Hamas says it has started process of choosing new leader

Al Jazeera reports: Hamas has issued a statement saying it has initiated a broad consultation process to select a new leader of its movement following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh.

Haniyeh headed the group’s political bureau. His deputy, Saleh al-Arouri, who was killed in an Israeli strike in Beirut in January, would have been the automatic replacement.

Several top Hamas officials could replace Haniyeh once the group’s Shura council, the main consultative body, meets.

NYT ‘completely fabricated’ report saying Haniyeh killed by remote bomb: Hamas

The Cradle reports: Speaking to The Cradle, Hamas representative in Iran Khaled Kaddoumi called “ridiculous” and “completely fabricated” a recent New York Times (NYT) report claiming to reveal how Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran this week.

The NYT report from 1 August claimed Haniyeh was killed by an explosive device planted in his room in a guest house controlled by the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC). The bomb was planted two months ago and detonated remotely by Israel’s intelligence service, the Mossad, NYT report claimed.

Haniyeh was in the Iranian capital, Tehran, for the inauguration of newly elected President Masoud Pezeshkian.

In contrast, Kaddoumi stated that Haniyeh and his bodyguard were killed by explosives dropped from the air.

“I was there, and the wall and ceiling of the place where he was were collapsed. It is clear from the appearance of the place after the attack, and from the body of the martyr leader Ismail Haniyeh, that the targeting was carried out by an air-dropped projectile,” Kaddoumi told The Cradle.

He noted further, “There are ongoing investigations, and technicians who inspected the crime scene will issue detailed reports on what happened.”

Israeli-American soldier posted videos showing detonation of Gaza homes and mosque

The Guardian reports: An American-Israeli man deployed in Gaza with a combat engineering unit of Israel’s armed forces posted videos online that show indiscriminate fire at a destroyed building and the detonation of homes and a mosque.

One video posted by the man, Bram Settenbrino, and filmed from the shooter’s viewpoint, shows dozens of rounds being fired into the ruins of a building. Another video shows what appears to be an armored vehicle’s fire-control system trained on a mosque before it is razed to the ground. Others depict the detonation of several homes as soldiers cheer.

It is not clear whether Settenbrino personally filmed the videos or was involved in the acts depicted in them, but the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Settenbrino did not dispute the videos’ authenticity. The videos recently went viral on X, drawing accusations that they showed “war crimes”. Settenbrino wrote in a message to the Guardian that the videos were “taken out of context” but declined to elaborate. “I have not committed any war crimes whatsoever,” he added.

After the Guardian reached out to Settenbrino and his family, his father published a response attributed to his son through Arutz Sheva, a news site associated with the settler right. “The machine gun fire video in question was suppressive fire in an area cleared of civilians after my team was attacked by Hamas terrorists from that area. The mosque that was blown up was being used to house armed terrorists and weapons stockpiles and used as a base to attack IDF soldiers.”

The soldier’s father said his son had “sent a congratulatory video dedicating a detonation to honor a friend’s new marriage”, and that the family business had received threats since the videos began circulating.

Israeli soldiers have shared scores of videos during the 10-month war showing themselves mocking Palestinians in Gaza and destroying Palestinian property. Some have been used as evidence in the genocide case against Israel at the international court of justice (ICJ).

With thousands of Americans serving in the IDF, potential misconduct documented by soldiers themselves raises uncomfortable questions for US officials about their willingness to enforce federal law against citizens acting in an overseas war the US government funds and supports.

The extensive destruction of property, when “not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly” is a violation of international law regulating conflict and a war crime under US law.

Kamala Harris VP contender Josh Shapiro downplays Israeli military volunteer experience

Times of Israel reports: Pennsylvania Governor and potential Democratic vice presidential nominee Josh Shapiro on Friday sought to distance himself from a recently uncovered op-ed he wrote in college, in which he identified as a former volunteer in the IDF and argued that the Palestinians are too “battle-minded” to pursue peace with Israel.

“While he was in high school, Josh Shapiro was required to do a service project, which he and several classmates completed through a program that took them to a kibbutz in Israel where he worked on a farm and at a fishery,” Shapiro’s spokesperson Manuel Bonder told The Times of Israel.

“The program also included volunteering on service projects on an Israeli army base. At no time was he engaged in any military activities,” Bonder added in a statement responding to an inquiry regarding the nature of his volunteer work.

While Shapiro’s Jewish roots are well established — including his enrollment at the Akiba Hebrew Academy in Philadelphia — the op-ed from his time at the University of Rochester appeared to be the first revelation of such direct ties to the IDF.

“Palestinians will not coexist peacefully,” Shapiro also wrote in a 1993 op-ed titled “Peace Not Possible.”

“They do not have the capabilities to establish their own homeland and make it successful even with the aid of Israel and the United States. They are too battle-minded to be able to establish a peaceful homeland of their own,” added the then-20-year-old student.

Salon reports that Shapiro’s support for Israel has continued in recent times:

“On the contentious issue of Israel’s relentless war against civilians in Gaza, Shapiro sounds much less bothered by the lethal violence than by U.S. activists for Palestinian lives, many of whom he has demonized.”

“In 2021, after Ben & Jerry’s (a company founded and led by Jewish Americans) refused to sell its products in Israel’s illegal settlements, Shapiro, who was then Pennsylvania’s attorney general, threatened the company by urging state agencies to enforce a constitutionally suspect law targeting advocates of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, or BDS, against Israel over its discriminatory policies.

Shapiro smeared such advocates by claiming that “BDS is rooted in antisemitism” – although the effort has wide support globally, including from many Jews, as a thoroughly nonviolent tactic aimed at advancing Palestinian rights.”

After the Oct. 7 attack, critics objected Gov. Shapiro’s one-sided comments: “Not only did you fail to recognize the structural root causes of the conflict,” they argued, “you chose to intentionally ignore the civilian loss of life in Gaza.”

After Democratic governors in other states had called for a ceasefire in Gaza, Shapiro refused to do so.

On May 9, Shapiro invoked student “safety” in demanding the encampment be shut down. Police arrested 33 people. In two different interviews, Shapiro seemed to compare campus ceasefire activists, many of whom are Jewish or students of color, to “white supremacists”…

US aircraft carrier arrives in the Strait of Hormuz: Report

Al Jazeera reports: Israeli Army Radio reports that the US aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt has arrived in the Strait of Hormuz, just 10km (6.2 miles) from the coast of Iran, amid fears of Iranian retaliation for the killings of Hamas’s political leader in Tehran and a Hezbollah commander in Beirut.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has also ordered additional ballistic missile defense-capable cruisers and destroyers to the Middle East and areas under the United States European Command, as well as a new fighter squadron to the Middle East.

In April, the US, UK, France and Jordan helped shoot down missiles and drones fired by Iran at Israel in retaliation for an Israeli strike on Iran’s embassy compound in Damascus.

Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said on Friday that “the Department of Defense continues to take steps to mitigate the possibility of regional escalation by Iran or Iran’s partners and proxies”.

U.S. Official: Biden Realized Netanyahu Lied to Him About Hostage Deal

Ha’aretz reports: A senior official in the Biden administration told Haaretz on Saturday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is ungrateful toward the United States and disregards the significant amount of aid it has provided to Israel throughout the past 10 months of war.

The official also said that the last two conversations between President Joe Biden and Netanyahu – one during a meeting at the White House some 10 days ago, the other over the phone last week – were difficult and tense.

“Biden realized that Netanyahu was lying to him about the hostages,” the official told Haaretz. “He’s not saying it publicly yet, but in the meeting between them, he specifically told him, ‘Stop bullshitting me.'”

“Netanyahu is trying to prolong the war instead of focusing on how to get to a hostage deal,” the official said. “It’s making it harder for us to continue supporting Israel over time.”

Netanyahu responded to the reports Saturday night about the tense conversations between him and Biden through a press release attributed to the Prime Minister’s Office that read, “The prime minister does not interfere in American politics and will work with whoever is elected president, just as he also expects the Americans not to interfere in Israeli politics.”

MORE NEWS:

IMEMC Daily Reports.

STATISTICS OCTOBER 7 – AUGUST 3:

Palestinian death toll from October 7 – August 3: at least 40,186* (39,583 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 603 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 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 1.7 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 – August 3: at least 96,818 (including at least 91,398 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 – August 3: ~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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