Israeli-imposed mass starvation, airstrikes continue to kill in Gaza – Day 260

contact@ifamericansknew.org June 23, 2024Conscientious objector, cuba, famine, gaza pier, hind rajab, human shield, international court of justice, malnutrition, west bank death

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Another child dies of malnutrition; dozens killed by Israeli airstrikes; US-built pier malfunctions yet again; West Bank youth dies after soldiers shot him in stomach; Palestinian used as human shield; two US servicemen seek conscientious objector status over support of Israel in Gaza; Military expert says US is seen as taking orders from Netanyahu: Hind Rajab case investigation; Cuba joins ICJ genocide case, more.

By IAK staff, from reports.

Malnutrition takes another young life, as Israel continues to impose famine-like conditions:

Andalou Agency reports: Another child died of malnutrition at Kamal Adwan Hospital in North Gaza on Saturday, raising the total this week to four amid ongoing Israeli restrictions on aid, the health center’s director announced on Saturday.

“We lost a child in the hospital’s nursery department in recent hours due to malnutrition,” Hossam Abu Safiya said in a news conference held in the northern Gaza Strip.

“This is the fourth child to be killed in the hospital during the last week due to malnutrition,” he added.

Abu Safiya said that over the past two weeks, the hospital had diagnosed over 250 children with symptoms of malnutrition, warning that the Gaza Strip “is confronting a genuine health crisis that initially affects children and could extend to adults.”

He highlighted that recent premature births at the hospital have been attributed to maternal malnutrition.

This video depicts one of the recent child malnutrition deaths:

Israel strikes refugee camps, killing dozens:

On Saturday, at least 42 Palestinians were killed by Israeli attacks on the Shati refugee camp and the Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza City, the head of Gaza’s Government Media Office told Al Jazeera.

Reporting from Deir el-Balah, in central Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said the Israeli military targeted a residential neighborhood in the Shati refugee camp, where displaced Palestinians from the north of the territory were told to seek refuge.

Piece of US-built pier (again) washes onto Israeli shores:

Parts of the Gaza floating dock washed up to Frishman Beach in Tel Aviv, according to Israeli media.

Footage posted by local platforms showed parts of the US-built pier on the shores of the beach amid crowds of stunned settlers.

Part of an American-built pier off the coast of Gaza that broke off recently and washed up on the Israeli coast of Ashdod (screenshot)

West Bank: Palestinian boy in Ramallah succumbs to critical injury:

Al Jazeera reports: A Palestinian boy has died after he was critically injured with a bullet fired by Israeli forces near Ramallah in northern West Bank.

In a statement, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that the 12-year-old boy had died due to critical injuries he sustained about a week ago in Ramallah.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the boy was shot in his stomach during an Israeli incursion into the Am’ari refugee camp in Ramallah.

West Bank: Israeli forces strap wounded Palestinian to jeep during raid:

Reuters reports: Israeli army forces strapped a wounded Palestinian man to the hood of a military jeep during an arrest raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Saturday.

A video circulating on social media and verified by Reuters showed a Palestinian resident of Jenin, Mujahed Azmi, on the jeep that passes through two ambulances.

MONDOWEISS interviewed an eyewitness, whose description of the incident was much different. from Reuters He said Israeli forces raided the house where he, the victim, and others were sleeping, shooting them.

The Israeli forces seized one of the injured men and strapped him to the front of a military vehicle, driving around while parading him as a human shield before eventually handing him over to Palestinian medical teams, who transported him to a hospital in Jenin.

Another eyewitness told Mondoweiss that the Israeli forces deliberately mistreated the injured man.

“They appeared to be toying with him for amusement,” the eyewitness said, pointing out that the man was neither wanted nor a resistance fighter, but an unarmed civilian. This was evidenced by the fact that Israeli forces did not arrest him but handed him over to the Palestinian ambulance after he had been left strapped to the front of the vehicle for several minutes in the hot summer sun.

The owner of the home that was raided said that the young men were sleeping in his house as they did every night. The army had nothing against them, and they were not suspected of any resistance activity. But the Israeli special forces shot them directly while they were sleeping.

HA’ARETZ reports the IDF story: According to a source in the military, soldiers were trying to bring the wounded man to a point where they could transfer him to an ambulance but had no room inside their vehicles. The source also said the man was armed and had escaped forces at the time of his arrest, and once the military learned the man was being transported on the hood of the vehicle, the soldiers were told to stop.

U.S. military members seek conscientious objector status over support of Israel in Gaza:

NBC News reports: The death of 6-year-old Hind Rajab in February after she was trapped under Israeli fire in Gaza sparked international condemnation — and for Larry Hebert Jr., an active duty U.S. airman, the incident accelerated his decision to seek conscientious objector status from the U.S. military.

“She looks almost just like my daughter, and that was something that was extremely hard to grasp, is that all these children that have aspirations and dreams and lives that many of us are living and want, and it’s wholly unjustified to support what’s happening,” said Hebert, who told NBC News in an interview that he worked directly on a U.S. operation to provide weapons sales to Israel.

After witnessing footage of death and destruction in Gaza, senior U.S. Airman Juan Bettancourt said he could no longer ignore the U.S. government’s role in the war, including its supply of weapons, diplomatic coverage and intelligence.

Hebert and Bettancourt are both in the U.S. Air Force and are currently requesting to become conscientious objectors over the United States support of Israel, a decision they said was emboldened by the ongoing war in Gaza. Both referred to Israel’s attack on Gaza as “genocide” and said footage coming out of the region is weighing not only on them but many Americans.

(Read the full article here.)

Investigation shows Israeli tank had ‘clear view’ of car in Hind Rajab case:

A joint investigation by NGO Earshot and Al Jazeera into the killing of Palestinian child Hind Rajab and her family in Gaza City on January 29 challenges a claim by the Israeli military that they were not responsible for the attack.

But a reconstruction of the attack, based on audio of the incident, shows that the Israeli tank from which the shots were fired “would have had a clear view of the car and the two children”, according to Earshot.

Read the thread and watch the footage below:

Military expert says US is seen as taking orders from Netanyahu:

Col. Douglas MacGregor, a 28-year decorated veteran who served as Senior Advisor to the US Secretary of Defense, says Secretary Antony Blinken repeats Netanyahu talking points.

Macgregor was speaking with Lt. Col. Daniel L. Davis, a senior fellow and military expert at Defense Priorities, on his program Daniel Davis /- Deep Dive.

Macgregor, an author of five books who holds a PhD in international relations from the University of Virginia, previously said the US is under Israeli control, and likened Gaza to the Warsaw Ghetto.

Cuba joins International Court case against Israel over alleged genocide in Gaza:

Andalou Agency reports: Cuba on Friday decided to join in South Africa’s case against Israel before the International Court of Justice.

According to Radio Havana Cuba, under its obligations to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Cuba will exercise its right as a third state to present its interpretation of the convention, which it asserts Israel has flagrantly violated in the Gaza Strip.

Cuba stressed that Israel, shielded by US complicity, has consistently ignored its obligations as an occupying power under the Geneva Convention, and that genocide, apartheid, forced displacement, and collective punishments have no place in today’s world and should not be tolerated by the international community. It called for justice and adherence to the UN Charter and international law.

MORE NEWS:

Mondoweiss: Ten Holocaust survivors condemn Israel’s Gaza genocide

Electronic Intifada: Biden administration finally gets angry at Netanyahu, but for wrong reason.

Al Jazeera: Smotrich dreams of Israel annexing the West Bank – is he doing it?

IMEMC Reports.

STATISTICS OCTOBER 7 – JUNE 22:

Palestinian death toll from October 7 – June 22: at least 38,101* (37,551 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 552 in the West Bank (~134 children). This does not include an estimated 10,000 more still buried under rubble (4,900 women and children). Euro-Med Monitor reports 45,223 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 40 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 22: at least 91,111 (including at least 85,911 in Gaza and 5,200 in the West Bank).
It remains unknown how many Americans are among the casualties in Gaza.
Reported Israeli death toll from October 7 – June 22: ~1,466 (~1,139 on October 7, 2023, of which ~32 were Americans, and ~36 were children); 315 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.
Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here.

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

Sunday, 23 June 2024