UNRWA can’t access aid for Gaza, where the need is “beyond catastrophic”; Israeli snipers kill scores of Palestinians; Super Bowl ads for Israel; Gaza civil society in danger of collapse; Israeli soldiers rob Gaza bank; Gaza patients die without oxygen promised by Israel; Israeli military kills 67 Gazans to rescue 2 prisoners; testimonies from female prisoners; Israeli settlements growing 3% per year; Palestinian deaths in West Bank…
By IAK staff, from reports
Jerusalem Post reports: The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the main United Nations agency providing aid to Palestinians in Gaza, is facing growing administrative hurdles from Israel, with a shipment amounting to a month’s supply of food blocked in Israel’s Ashdod port, the agency’s chief said. The city of Ashdod is roughly 20 miles from the Gaza border.
UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said on Friday that the organization had been informed by a contractor that provided handling services in the port of Ashdod that it could no longer continue working with UNRWA, following instructions from the Israeli authorities, due to unsubstantiated allegations against several UNRWA employees.
As a result, a shipment from Turkey consisting of 1,049 containers of supplies, including flour, chickpeas, sugar, and cooking oil, enough to cover the needs of 1.1 million people for a month, was blocked in the port, Lazzarini said.
NOTE: “Intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival, including willfully impeding relief supplies as provided for under the Geneva Conventions” constitutes a war crime in international armed conflicts.
NOTE: Israel’s accusations against UNRWA staff were made with little to no evidence – a fact that has not stopped powerful nations to withdraw funding from the organization. UNRWA serves around 5.6 million Palestinian refugees.
Al Jazeera reports: Ismail al-Thawabta, the director-general of the Government Media Office in the Gaza Strip, has told Al Jazeera that the humanitarian situation in the northern Gaza Strip is beyond the catastrophic stage.
“Some families receive only half a meal within 48 hours,” he said. “Citizens in the northern Gaza Strip cannot even find fodder and grains.”
Al Jazeera’s correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul reports: About 100 bodies were recovered after the Israeli army withdrawal from two Gaza City neighborhoods.
Most of them had been killed by sniper bullets, al-Ghoul said.
The municipality of Gaza reports: More than 700 million liters of wastewater had leaked into the streets of Gaza City and the seaside since the Israeli offensive was launched on October 7.
“This is considered a health and environmental catastrophe and threatens the city’s underground reserves.”
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reports: In addition to attacks on residential homes, Israeli forces are now also targeting the civil order in Rafah city. There has been recent systematic and intentional targeting of police departments and personnel.
So far, we are looking at three separate attacks that killed police personnel, including the director of the investigative department and the director of the police department.
People here think that this is the beginning of such attacks as Israel seeks to cause civil disorder in Rafah city.
The police department here has been working very hard to secure the delivery of humanitarian trucks, and to establish some sort of stability in healthcare facilities and food distribution.
Rafah city will be heading for a civil collapse if such attacks continue.
Andalou Agency reports: Maariv newspaper, citing Israeli officers, said on Sunday that Israeli soldiers seized 200 million shekels ($54.29 million) from the Bank of Palestine headquarters in Gaza.
“Israeli soldiers were at the Bank of Palestine headquarters in Gaza last week to prevent money from reaching Hamas,” an Israeli military spokesman told Maariv, without providing further details.
He said this step “was decided at the political level.”
Andalou Agency reports: “The Israeli occupation forces claim to have delivered oxygen cylinders to Al-Amal Hospital, but in reality, they have prevented oxygen from reaching the hospital for over a week, resulting in the deaths of three patients, despite continuous coordination efforts with international organizations,” the Red Crescent said in a statement Sunday.
The Red Crescent denied that Israeli forces brought any medical equipment into the hospital.
“During their raid on the hospital yesterday (Saturday), the occupation forces destroyed medical equipment, assaulted staff, and arrested nine medical and administrative staff, along with four wounded individuals and five patients’ companions,” it added.
Reuters reports: Israel freed two Israeli-Argentinian hostages in Rafah on Monday under the cover of airstrikes which local health officials said killed 67 Palestinians and wounded dozens in the southern Gaza city that is the last refuge of about a million displaced civilians. Ha’aretz adds,
“A soldier was lightly wounded in the operation.”
A joint operation by the Israeli military, the domestic Shin Bet security service and the Special Police Unit in Rafah freed Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Hare, 70, the military said.
Below is a photo of the house where the captives were kept.
Palestine Chronicle reports: The Government Media Office in Gaza published an update about the scale of destruction by the Israeli army in the besieged Gaza Strip, starting on October 7.
The count is not final, due to the fact that over 7,000 Palestinians remain missing, and are presumed dead – either under the rubble of their homes, or scattered in the streets in areas that civil defense workers cannot reach.
The numbers, stats and estimates below cover the period between October 7, 2023, and February 11, 2024.
Genocide in Numbers
- 128 days of the war.
- 2,438 massacres.
- 35,176 martyred and missing.
- 28,176 martyrs whose bodies have reached the hospitals.
- 12,300 child martyrs.
- 8,400 women martyrs.
- 340 medical worker martyrs.
- 46 civil defense martyrs.
- 124 journalist martyrs.
- 7,000 missing; 70% of them are children and women.
- 67,784 wounded.
- 11,000 wounded in need of travel for life-saving and critical treatment.
- 10,000 cancer patients at risk of death.
- 700,000 Gazans infected with infectious diseases as a result of displacement.
- 8,000 cases of viral hepatitis infection due to displacement.
- 60,000 pregnant women are at risk due to lack of access to health care.
- 350,000 chronic patients are at risk due to lack of administration of medications.
- 99 arrests of health workers.
- 10 arrests of journalists whose names are known.
- 2 million displaced in the Gaza Strip.
- 142 government headquarters destroyed by the occupation.
- 100 schools and universities completely destroyed by the occupation.
- 295 schools and universities partially destroyed by the occupation.
- 184 mosques completely destroyed by the occupation.
- 266 mosques partially destroyed by the occupation.
- 3 churches targeted and destroyed by the occupation.
- 70,000 residential units completely destroyed by the occupation.
- 290,000 residential units partially destroyed by the occupation.
- 66,000 tons of explosives dropped by the occupation on Gaza.
- 30 hospitals taken out of service by the occupation.
- 53 health centers taken out of service by the occupation.
- 150 health centers partially destroyed by the occupation.
- 123 ambulances completely destroyed by the occupation.
- 200 archaeological and heritage sites destroyed by the occupation.
B’tselem reports: From the start of the war in Gaza Strip to the end of 2023, Israel arrested about 5,500 Palestinians, including 184 women, some of them Palestinian citizens of Israel.
B’Tselem collected testimonies from three women who were arrested in the Hebron area on 26 October 2023. All three were released in late November along with other female detainees and prisoners, as part of a deal with Hamas, which released women and minors abducted on 7 October 2023.
The testimonies paint a picture of extreme violence against these women , from the moment soldiers barged into their homes and arrested them to the day they were released. The women were removed from their homes violently, in the middle of the night, blindfolded and painfully handcuffed.
They were then transferred between several prisons. Every transfer came with beating, swearing, and threats to themselves and their families, including threats of rape. The women were humiliatingly strip-searched several times. They went through several interrogation sessions, during which they were threatened and falsely accused without any evidence presented to them.
Read the full report here.
ABC News reports: The population of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank grew nearly 3% in 2023, according to a new report based on population statistics from the Israeli government.
The report, released Sunday by the pro-settler group WestBankJewishPopulationStats.com, found the settler population jumped to 517,407 as of Dec. 31, from 502,991 a year earlier [not including the settler population in occupied East Jerusalem, which is estimated at 200,000].
The settler population has grown over 15% in the last five years, the report said. Last year, it passed the half-million mark, a major threshold.
This year’s report predicted “accelerated growth” in the coming years, claiming the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel, which triggered the current war in Gaza, persuaded many Israelis who were formerly opposed to settlement-building on occupied land to change positions.
The international community overwhelmingly considers Israel’s settlements to be illegal and obstacles to peace by occupying land the Palestinians seek for their state. Israel considers the West Bank to be “disputed” and says the territory’s fate should be decided in negotiations. The Biden administration recently sanctioned four settlers for violence against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank.
NOTE: Israeli settlements and settlers on Palestinian land are a violation of international law.
Al Jazeera reports: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised “safe passage” to displaced civilians in Rafah, ahead of an Israeli incursion into Gaza’s southernmost city.
In an interview with ABC News, Netanyahu reiterated his intention to extend Israel’s military operation to the city.
Despite international alarm over the potential for carnage in a city crammed with more than half of the Gaza Strip’s 2.4 million people, Netanyahu said: “We’re going to do it”.
He conceded he agrees “with the Americans” that the operation will need to first plan for the impact on civilians.
“We’re going to do it while providing safe passage for the civilian population so they can leave,” he said, according to published extracts of the interview.
RECOMMENDED READING (Gideon Levy): An Israeli Incursion Into Gaza’s Rafah Will Be an Unprecedented Humanitarian Catastrophe
Ha’aretz reports: Egypt has reinforced its security presence along the border with Gaza, witnesses and a security source told the dpa news agency.
Security reinforcements and intensive security patrols were seen along the border, especially in the area of the Rafah crossing and the Kerem Shalom crossing, according to witnesses. Reinforcement was deployed after Israel said on Friday it would launch a military operation in the border city of Rafah, a security official told dpa.
The source also said maintenance operations are underway to increase the height of fences and reinforce barbed wire after damage from Israeli bombing of the crossing area.
WEST BANK: IMEMC reports: Israeli forces shot and killed, on Sunday evening, Palestinian Rami Rashed Al-Batha, 35, who allegedly attempting to carry out a stabbing attack near Beitar Illit illegal colony, west of Bethlehem in the southern occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that the Israeli forces shot the young man with at least twenty rounds to several parts of his body, The army initially confiscated the slain man’s corpse before releasing it to the PRCS.
No Israelis were injured.
WEST BANK: IMEMC reports: Also on Sunday night, Israeli occupation police shot and killed a Palestinian youth, Mohammad Tariq Abu Sneina, 15, after he allegedly attempted to carry out a stabbing attack in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem.
Israeli occupation forces stationed at a military roadblock on Al-Wad Street in the Old City of Jerusalem approached the child to conduct a search, when the child allegedly took out a knife and tried to stab them.
After firing live rounds at the accused attacker, injuring him, he was left laying on the ground bleeding while soldiers prevented Palestinian ambulances from approaching him.
Two ads were broadcast during the Super Bowl on behalf of Israel; one violated FCC regulations.
ADC shows the ad and reports: “This advertisement was aired without the proper disclaimers mandated by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations.” An email announcement said:
The FCC’s rules are clear: Broadcasts, especially those with content sponsored by foreign governments, must include clear disclaimers so viewers are aware of the source. Not disclosing that Israel is behind the broadcast by is not just a violation of regulatory standards by CBS and the NFL, it is also a breach of public trust.
The following video was created in response
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A second ad was paid for by Robert Kraft, a fervent Israel partisan. The Nation reports:
His Foundation to Combat Antisemitism (FCAS) will be spending an estimated $7 million to buy a Super Bowl ad titled “Stop Jewish Hate” that will be seen by well over 100 million people. Under Kraft’s direction, the ad’s goal is to create a propaganda campaign to counter the reports and images from Gaza (read more)
After killing over 30 thousand Palestinians, Robert Kraft paid 7 million for a “Stop Jewish hate” commercial ad in the Super Bowl. I really don’t understand. I don’t. https://t.co/L2PwCY2IJy
— Jamin🇸🇻 (@JaminGarcia_) February 11, 2024
New York Times reports: The Senate on Sunday pushed a $95 billion emergency aid bill for Ukraine and Israel past a critical hurdle, with a bipartisan vote that kept it on track for passage within days.
The vote was 67-27 to move forward on the package, which would dedicate $60.1 billion to helping Kyiv in its war against Russian aggression, send $14.1 billion to Israel for its war against Hamas* and fund almost $10 billion in humanitarian assistance for civilians in conflict zones [including the Palestinian territories], while addressing threats to the Indo-Pacific region. In a rare Sunday session, 18 Republicans joined Democrats to advance the measure, which leaders hope the Senate will approve as early as Tuesday.
*NOTE: Israel’s war is not against Hamas, but against all Palestinians:
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Regarding Gaza, Israeli leaders have declared, “it is an entire nation that is responsible,” and “all of Gaza should be erased” and “there is no such thing as uninvolved civilians in Gaza” and “Now we all have one common goal—erasing the Gaza Strip from the face of the earth.”
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Amnesty International reports, “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.
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Ha’aretz reports, “Since the October 7 attack, the government has done everything it can to advance the development of Jewish neighborhoods in the heart of Palestinian East Jerusalem.”
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Al Jazeera reports: Thousands of Moroccans have taken to the streets of their capital to call for an end to their country’s ties with Israel, in response to what they called the Israeli “genocide” in Gaza.
“Normalization is treason,” and “Stop the massacre”, read banners protesters carried in front of Morocco’s parliament in the centre of Rabat, according to the AFP news agency.
In late 2020, Morocco established diplomatic ties with Israel by signing the US-brokered Abraham Accords.
🚨 BREAKING: As the twin genocidal pincers of Zionism and US imperialism strain to close on Rafah, 800 protestors staged a takeover of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City to demand an end to the siege of Gaza and an end institutional and arts complicity with Zionism 🚨 pic.twitter.com/7Xo0I6IePJ
— Palestinian Youth Movement (@palyouthmvmt) February 10, 2024
Over 1.5 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering in Rafah, and now they are being threatened with attacks. There is nowhere left for them to go. When will it be enough for @POTUS to end support for Netanyahu’s genocide?
— Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) February 11, 2024
Almost half of Gaza’s population has taken refuge in Rafah. There’s nowhere else to go.
The U.S. is funding this mass displacement and massacre of Palestinians. End the complicity!
We must reclaim our humanity & facilitate a lasting ceasefire NOW. https://t.co/95VFN2eMqI
— Congresswoman Cori Bush (@RepCori) February 11, 2024
LIVE: Congress is about to send $14 billion in military aid to Netanyahu’s right-wing government, as he starves thousands of Palestinian children and is threatening a ground invasion of Rafah. This is UNACCEPTABLE. https://t.co/H823JCjXrn
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) February 9, 2024
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7 – FEBRUARY 11:
Palestinian death toll from October 7 – February 11: at least 28,730* (28,340 in Gaza* (over 11,000 children, 7,500 women), and at least 390 in the West Bank (101 children). This does not include an estimated 8,000 more still buried under rubble (70% women and children). Euro-Med Monitor reports 35,096 Palestinian deaths.
About 1.7 million, or 75% of Gaza’s population are currently displaced.
Palestinian injuries from October 7 – February 11: at least 72,434** (including at least 67,984 in Gaza and 4,450 in the West Bank).
It remains unknown how many Americans are among the casualties in Gaza.
Reported Israeli death toll from October 7 – February 11: ~1,374 (~1,139 on October 7, 2023, of which ~574 were civilians, 373 or 337 were security and/or military forces, ~32 were Americans, and ~36 were children); 225 military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza;, 10 in the West Bank) and~8,730 injured.
NBC reports: “According to the latest available IDF data… nearly 1 in 5, or 17%, of all Israel’s losses have come not at the hands of Hamas but from mishaps on its own side.”
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.
Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here.
For more news, go here and here. Broadcast news from the region is here.
Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org
- A wave of new post-Oct 7th “antisemitism” bills completely miss the point
- CNN staff say network’s pro-Israel slant amounts to ‘journalistic malpractice’
- Facts For Peace: the billionaire-backed campaign attacking the Palestinian cause
- Top military expert Col. Douglas MacGregor warns against attack on Iran (video)
- October 7th myths are still out there, killing Palestinians
- NYT: Where Is Hamas Getting Its Weapons? Increasingly, From Israel.
- 12 Essential Facts for Understanding the Current Israel-Gaza Violence
- Falk: Israel used Oct 7 attack as a pretext for its plan to expel Palestinians
- Synopsis of ICJ’s decision on Israeli genocide, reactions, and take-aways
- The West’s complete contempt for the lives of Palestinians will not be forgotten
- Israel has repeatedly rejected Hamas truce offers
- Why the Guardian’s ‘Hamas mass rape’ story doesn’t pass the sniff test
- Israel’s torture and humiliation of female and male Gazan prisoners
- Coverage of Gaza War in NYTimes & other major papers heavily favored Israel, analysis shows
- Two reports debunk New York Times ‘investigative report’ of mass rape on October 7th
- Israel’s Assault on Gaza Is Unlike Any War in Recent Memory
- US poised to give Israel $18 billion in aid this year
- Gaza Civilians, Under Israeli Barrage, Are Being Killed at Historic Pace
