Israeli “precision strike” with US-made weaponry kills 40 Gazans, US assumes good intentions – Day 244

Israeli “precision strike” with US-made weaponry kills 40 Gazans, US assumes good intentions – Day 244

Another Israeli attack on sheltering Gazans in Nuseirat, another US assumption that Israel was trying its best – reportedly with US-made weaponry; Israel assassinates mayor of Nuseirat; ceasefire proposal in limbo; a peek inside Israel’s notorious prison for Gaza detainees; 4 Palestinians killed in West Bank, as Israeli forces shoot at first responders; Briahna Joy Gray fired; Israel carries out home demolitions; Netanyahu to speak to Congress July 24; NAACP’s “historic” demand to Biden to end arms transfers to Israel; most young people in UK reportedly don’t think Israel should exist; free course on Palestine from SFSU professor, more

By IAK staff, from reports.

Israeli strike on UN school kills dozens in Gaza:

Reuters reports: Israel hit a Gaza school on Thursday with what it described as a targeted airstrike on up to 30 Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters.Hamas denies this claim; a Hamas official said 40 people were killed including women and children sheltering at the U.N. site.

Video footage showed Palestinians hauling away bodies and scores of injured in a hospital after the attack, which took place at a sensitive moment in mediated talks on a ceasefire that would involve releasing hostages held by Hamas and some of the Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said that Israeli forces hit the UN school overnight in Nuseirat “without prior warning to the displaced or Unrwa,” and that 6,000 displaced people were sheltering at the school when it was targeted.

RECOMMENDED READING (Palestine Chronicle): Smoke and Shrapnel – the Palestine Chronicle Interviews Survivors from Nuseirat School Massacre.

US in contact with Israel following deadly UN school attack:

During a news conference, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller reiterated Israel’s statement that it targeted Hamas fighters in “a precision strike” on a UN school in the Nuseirat refugee camp.

The attack killed at least 40 people, including internally displaced people sheltering there.

“The government of Israel has said they’re going to release more information about this strike, including the names of those who died in it. We expect them to be fully transparent in making that information public,” said Miller.

“We’ve seen the claims that 14 children were killed in this strike and certainly when you see – if that is accurate – that 14 children were killed, those aren’t [Hamas],” he added.

“It gets back to this question of intent and results. Even if the intent is what the [Israeli army] has said publicly: that they were trying use a precision strike just to target 20 to 30 militants, if you have seen 14 children die in that strike that shows that something went wrong.”

In contrast, Josep Borrell Fontelles, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs, called for an investigation into the attack.

ABC NEWS ADDS: Israel claimed Thursday the school was being used as a Hamas compound, without providing evidence. Israel’s military said it was not aware of any civilian casualties in the strike on the school in Nuseirat refugee camp, and later said it had confirmed killing nine militants.

NOTE: Israel has consistently bombed civilian locations, claiming that Hamas fighters were present, then failed to produce evidence, or used unnecessarily destructive bombs. Among Israel’s lies are numerous atrocity stories about the October 7th attack that have since been proven untrue (more examples here). In addition, a number of the Israeli soldiers and civilians killed on October 7 were shown to have been killed by Israeli fire – a fact that is absent from the official Israeli narrative. Another Israeli lie resulted in a devastating withdrawal of humanitarian aid funding for Gaza. Previously, Israel has been caught in many lies – for example, this and this and this.


Evidence of US weaponry used during Israeli strike on UN school:

Video footage shows Palestinians hauling away bodies and scores of injured people after Israel’s attack on a UN-operated school.

An investigation traces a part in the weapon fired by an Israeli fighter jet to US-based company Honeywell.

The deadly strike took place at a sensitive moment in mediated talks on a ceasefire that would involve releasing captives held by Hamas and some of the Palestinians being held in Israeli jails.


Mayor of Nuseirat killed in Israeli strike:

The prominent mayor of Nuseirat, Dr. Iyad al-Maghari, was among five people killed in an Israeli raid on central Gaza, an Al Jazeera correspondent reports.

In a post on X, Ramy Abdul, chairman of the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, called al-Maghari “one of the most active mayors in the Gaza Strip”.

Al Jazeera adds: The press office released a statement calling the killing of Iyad Ahmed al-Maghari, mayor of Nuseirat, “a war crime aimed at creating a state of chaos”.

Al-Maghari was “loyal and dedicated to his work” and continued to assist the people of the Nuseirat refugee camp throughout the war.

Israeli strikes previously killed the mayors of az-Zahra in the south and the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, while destroying the headquarters of several municipalities across the enclave.

“The mayors who were assassinated were faithful examples of diligent and continuous service,” the statement said.

Palestinians pray outside the Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al Balah, central Gaza, as airstrike victims are brought for treatment
Palestinians pray outside the Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al Balah, central Gaza, as airstrike victims are brought for treatment (screengrab)

Israeli ceasefire proposal does not guarantee Gaza war will end:

Middle East Eye reports: Israel has not offered guarantees for a “permanent” ceasefire and a complete withdrawal from Gaza in its response to a plan presented by mediators, a copy of the proposal seen by Middle East Eye shows.

Israel instead agreed to a “temporary cessation of military operations” for 42 days, which would be followed by open-ended talks to reach a permanent ceasefire.

The “temporary ceasefire” would be extended after the initial 42-day phase “as long as negotiations on the conditions of stage two of [the] agreement are ongoing”, the document said.

The Israeli response also offers limited withdrawal of troops in the first phase of the three-stage agreement and says the complete pullout would take place in the second phase, which is subject to further discussions.

It also stipulates Israel can veto the release of at least 100 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences in the first phase. [Israel often quickly re-imprisons people it releases.]

The document, revealed in full exclusively by MEE, is dated 27 May, four days before parts of it were presented by US President Joe Biden.

Biden dubbed it a “comprehensive” Israeli proposal for a “full and complete ceasefire” as he declared it was “time for this war to end”.

However, the draft is an Israeli counteroffer to a proposal mediated by the US, Qatar and Egypt on 6 May, which Hamas said it had agreed to.

(Read the full article here.)

Young Palestinian boys view the damage at United Nations-run al-Sardi school in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp
Young Palestinian boys view the damage at United Nations-run al-Sardi school in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp (screengrab)

Hamas official says Biden Gaza ceasefire plan ‘just words’:

New York Times reports: Once an obscure barracks, Sde Teiman is now a makeshift interrogation site and a major focus of accusations that the Israeli military has mistreated detainees, including people later determined to have no ties to Hamas or other armed groups. In interviews, former detainees described beatings and other abuse in the facility.

The military, which has not previously granted access to the media, allowed The New York Times to briefly see part of the detention facility as well as to interview its commanders and other officials, on condition of preserving their anonymity.

By late May, roughly 4,000 Gazan detainees had spent up to three months in limbo at Sde Teiman, including several dozen people captured during the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on Israel in October, according to the site commanders who spoke to The Times.

After interrogation, around 70 percent of detainees had been sent to purpose-built prisons for further investigation and prosecution, the commanders said. The rest, at least 1,200 people, had been found to be civilians and returned to Gaza, without charge, apology or compensation.

(Read the full article here.)


CPJ condemns mistreatment of journalists during Wednesday’s Flag March in Jerusalem:

The Committee to Protect Journalists Thursday condemned the harassment and assault of Palestinian journalist Saif Kwasmi and Israeli journalist Nir Hasson during yesterday’s Jerusalem Day Flag March and urged Israeli authorities to identify the attackers and hold them to account.

During the annual Jerusalem Day Flag March, which commemorates the June 5 capture of East Jerusalem by Israeli forces in the 1967 war, Israeli settlers and far right protesters assaulted Palestinian freelance journalist Saif Kwasmi, who contributes to the local news agency Al-Asiman News, and Israeli journalist Nir Hasson, a reporter for the Israeli daily Haaretz.

“Israeli security forces stood idly by while protesters harassed and assaulted Palestinian and Israeli journalists who were reporting on the march. Not only did they fail to do their duty, but they blamed Palestinian journalist Saif Kwasmi for protecting himself from aggression,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martìnez de la Serna. “We call on Israeli authorities to investigate these incidents, identify the culprits and hold them to account.”

AFP ADDS: The US government also condemned the harassment and assault of the journalists.

NOTE: The Israeli government has faced criticism from human rights and press advocates for the killing of more than 100 journalists and media workers in its war on Gaza and for its ban on Al Jazeera operations in Israel.
Scene from June 6th Flag March in Jerusalem,a yearly event in which extremist settlers often harass Palestinians along their route.
Scene from June 6th Flag March in Jerusalem,a yearly event in which extremist settlers often harass Palestinians along their route. (screengrab)

West Bank: Israeli forces kill 4 Palestinians Thursday, one a teen:

A Palestinian young man was Thursday dawn killed by the Israeli occupation army in the town of Ya`bad, southwest of Jenin.

According to local sources, Mohammad Hafez Rafik Abu Bakr, 26, was killed after he was shot by Israeli soldiers.

Later in the day, three Palestinians were shot dead and nearly 15 others sustained injuries, some seriously, after being shot by Israeli occupation forces during their incursion into the city of Jenin and its refugee camp, north of the occupied West Bank.

Director of Jenin Governmental Hospital, Wissam Bakr, told WAFA that three Palestinians were killed during the Israeli aggression on the city. The three were identified as Ibrahim Taher al-Saadi, 21, the youth Issa Nafez Jallad, 17, and Uday Ayman Marei, 24.

During the attack, Israeli soldiers reportedly fired at the main electricity provider in the camp, prevented ambulances from moving freely and fired at journalists to bar them from reporting.


West Bank: Israeli forces fire at emergency responders removing bodies in Jenin:

The Palestine Red Crescent Society posted video on X showing the paramedics taking cover as they worked to put two men onto stretches and load them into two ambulances.

Palestinian health authorities said earlier at least three Palestinians were killed in the Israeli raid on the camp in the occupied West Bank.

Medics with the PRCS have repeatedly been targeted and killed by Israeli forces since the war on Gaza began. Intentionally killing medical workers is a war crime under international law.


Israeli forces demolish seven homes south of Hebron:

WAFA reports: The Israeli occupation forces today demolished seven Palestinian residents’ homes in the town of Al-Dhaheriya, south of Hebron.

Sources said that Israeli forces, accompanied by a bulldozer, tore down seven houses made of bricks and cement in Wadi Al-Khalil area in the town of Al-Dhahiriya, five of which belonged to the two sibilings Suhail and Jamal Makharza and inhabited by 37 people.

Meanwhile, the two other houses belonged to the two brothers Ratib and Murad Al-Amoul and inhabited by 20 people.

During the demolition operation, the Israeli forces demolished all the energy cells along with solar energy that people rely on to generate electricity.

Suhail Makharza said that the demolition operation caused the displacement of more than 50 people.

(Below: a recent incident of Israeli demolition of a Palestinian home.)


‘Historic’: NAACP urges Biden to end arms transfers to Israel amid Gaza war:

The NAACP, one of the largest Black civil rights organizations in the United States, has urged Joe Biden to “indefinitely” suspend weapon transfers to Israel in a sign of growing discontent with the US president’s support for the Israeli war on Gaza.

In a statement on Thursday, NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said the group has a “responsibility to speak out in the face of injustice and work to hold our elected officials accountable for the promises they’ve made”.

“The Middle East conflict will only be resolved when the US government and international community take action, including limiting access to weapons used against civilians,” Johnson said.

“The NAACP calls on President Biden to draw the red line and indefinitely end the shipment of weapons and artillery to the state of Israel and other states that supply weapons to Hamas”, the Palestinian group that governs Gaza.

[Some Zionists were closely involved in the creation of the NAACP.]


US sanctions Palestinian armed group Lions’ Den, based in occupied West Bank:

Middle East Eye reports: The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on the Lions’ Den, a Palestinian armed group based out of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus.

The Lions’ Den has now become the first Palestinian group to be hit with US sanctions under an executive order issued by US President Joe Biden, which has previously been used to target violent Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

In a statement announcing the move, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller cited attacks by the Lions’ Den on Israelis in the West Bank since 2022.

“The United States condemns any and all acts of violence committed in the West Bank, whoever the perpetrators, and we will use the tools at our disposal to expose and hold accountable those who threaten peace and stability there,” Miller said.

The move would freeze any assets the group holds under US jurisdiction and bar Americans from dealing with the group, though it is unclear if the Lions’ Den holds any links to the US financial system.

The armed group has gained popularity locally since its first official public appearance in September 2022, and has gleaned support from Palestinians across a broader Palestinian political spectrum.

In February, Biden issued an executive order which imposes targeted sanctions on individuals engaged in violence in the occupied West Bank.

The administration’s first targets under the order were four Israeli settlers who engaged in violent activity against Palestinians, including an incident where settlers set fire to cars in an attack that killed one Palestinian civilian.

At the time the executive order was announced, a White House official emphasized that it would apply to Palestinians as well as Israelis.

The US has said that the executive order will not apply to American citizens, another loophole for the tens of thousands of US citizens who have become Israeli settlers in the West Bank – some of whom have been leading the rise in settler violence against Palestinians.

NOTE: Other than the tiny handful of settlers sanctioned earlier this year, about 700,000 Israelis illegally living in the West Bank impunity and the backing of Israel’s armed forces as they harass indigenous Palestinians, destroy their property, and take over their land.
Amnesty International reported in February, “With the world’s eyes fixed on Gaza, Israeli forces have over the past four months unleashed a brutal wave of violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, carrying out unlawful killings, including by using lethal force without necessity or disproportionately during protests and arrest raids, and denying medical assistance to those injured, said Amnesty International.
Notably, International law supports the efforts of resistance groups against an occupying power, even to the point of armed resistance.
RECOMMENDED READING (Electronic Intifada): Genocide alert issued over Israeli violence in West Bank.

U.S. to file UN Security Council resolution calling to release all Israeli hostages in exchange for stopping Gaza combat; Israel opposes:

Ha’aretz reports: Israel disagrees with the phrasing of am American resolution that would be debated in the UN Security Council in the next few days, which calls for the release of all hostages in exchange for a complete Gaza cease-fire.

The resolution calls on Israel and Hamas to agree to the proposal announced by President Biden last week, and agree to a deal that would return all hostages to Israel and include an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and put an end to the war.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly opposed over the last months to the stopping of the war as part of a deal, and hinted on more than one occasion since Biden’s speech that he will not agree to such a proposal, and will strive to renew the war on Hamas after the first phase of the deal, in which children, sick and wounded hostages will be released, is carried out.


Netanyahu to address US Congress on July 24:


SFSU prof’s canceled course on Palestine available free online:

Statement from Popular University for Gaza: As the death toll rises in the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza, San Francisco State University (SFSU) has once again decided to cancel its only Palestine course that Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi was scheduled to teach during this summer school.

This abrupt and irrational decision seeks to criminalize the Palestine curriculum while dismissing and ignoring popular student demand to learn a critical Palestinian perspective that has been absent on U.S. college campuses.

Over the last month, hundreds of students, academics, community leaders, and organizers called on SFSU administrators to urgently reverse their decision to cancel Dr. Abdulhadi’s popular and unique course. Having failed to employ excuses of low enrollment or lack of interest, however, SFSU administrators seem intent on blocking the decolonization of curriculum on Palestine and SWANA and marginalizing the AMED Studies program and its independence.

SFSU’s actions mirror Israeli government policies to erase Palestine and U.S. Israel’s apologists to “exact a heavy price” on anyone who advocates for justice in and for Palestine.

Dr. Abdulhadi has announced that she will not acquiesce to such a colonial agenda but will fight it publicly and defiantly irrespective of the cost and threats to which she has been subjected within and outside SFSU. As an educator inspired by the Spirit of ‘68 and the outstanding student Intifada, she insists on Teaching Palestine to anyone and everyone interested in critical thinking and learning.

Determined to contribute to the steadfastness of Gaza and Palestinian liberation, she will offer her Palestine course online as part of the Popular University for Gaza/Palestine without paid compensation through Teaching Palestine: Pedagogical Praxis and the Indivisibility of Justice.

The course is open to anyone interested in learning about and contributing to the liberation of Palestine through an exciting pedagogical praxis that challenges “traditional” teaching methods and refuses to compromise critical thinking of the Eurocentric and colonial canon.

Those interested can register here. A recording of the first session (June 6) is available here.


UK: most young people think Israel should not exist, as support plummets:

Middle East Monitor reports: A majority of young people in the UK do not believe that Israel should exist, a poll conducted by UnHerd has revealed, providing further evidence that support for the apartheid state has reached a record low. According to a recent YouGov survey, a mere 16 per cent of the British public expressed solidarity with Israel.

The UnHerd survey polled 1,012 voters about foreign policy. One of the most striking findings was that a majority of Britain’s young people do not believe Israel should exist. A staggering 54 per cent of respondents aged 18-24 have this opinion, while only 21 per cent disagreed.

This sentiment is reflected further in another question from the poll, which asked who was more to blame for Israel’s military onslaught on the 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza. Half of the respondents blamed the Israeli government, while only a quarter held Hamas responsible. A mere 19 per cent responded with the view that all parties were equally to blame.

MORE NEWS:

The New Arab: What’s next for pro-Palestinian US student protests this summer?
Mondoweiss: The generation that says ‘no more’: Inside the Columbia University encampments for Palestine.
Electronic Intifada: Gloom grips the West Bank.
Electronic Intifada: I survived nine days under Israeli siege.
Palestine Chronicle: Gaza Genocide – On Mainstream Feminism’s Disregard for the Rights of Other Women.
Middle East Eye: France: Major Paris nightclubs charge Arabs and Black people higher prices.
IMEMC Reports.

Palestinian death toll from October 7 – June 6: at least 37,263* (36,731 in Gaza* – 4,959 women (20%), 7,797 children (32%). This is expected to be a significant undercount since thousands of those killed have yet to be identified – and at least 533 in the West Bank (~131 children). This does not include an estimated 10,000 more still buried under rubble (4,900 women and children). Euro-Med Monitor reports 43,640 Palestinian deaths. (Ralph Nader has estimated 200,000 Palestinians may have been killed in Gaza.)

At least 42 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons (27 from Gaza, 14 from West Bank).

At least 37 Palestinians have died due to malnutrition**.

About 1.7 million, or 75% of Gaza’s population are currently displaced.

About 1.1 million (out of total population of 2.3 million) are facing Catastrophic levels of food insecurity.

Palestinian injuries from October 7 – June 6: at least 88,349 (including at least 83,530 in Gaza and 5,040 in the West Bank).

It remains unknown how many Americans are among the casualties in Gaza.

Reported Israeli death toll from October 7 – June 6: ~1,448 (~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; 16 in the West Bank) and~8,730 injured.

Times of Israel reports: The IDF also 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. 

Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here.

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

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