Starvation deepens as Israel makes excuses, US and Germany provide cover – Day 263
Another child dies of malnutrition as 96% of Gazans face severe food insecurity; dozens killed in Israeli attacks; ten child leg amputations a day; medicine running out; Israeli military dog attacks Gazan woman; former Shin Bet head calls for end to occupation, Netanyahu’s ‘toxic leadership’ will lead to end of Zionism; Jeffrey Epstein boasted about being a Mossad agent; 43 Jewish groups pressure Wikipedia; Israel lies about Hind Rajab, 6; Israeli reservist refusers; Netanyahu sweetens deal for reservists; more.
By IAK staff, from reports.
Palestinian child dies of malnutrition as hunger crisis rages:
Azzam al-Shaer, a Palestinian child, died on Tuesday from malnutrition in Gaza, making him at least the fifth child to die of hunger in the last week as a result of Israel’s offensive on the besieged enclave.
Al-Shaer, a young Palestinian boy, died at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City after the hospital was unable to obtain medicine to treat him, according to Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent in the Gaza Strip.
A video posted on X shows Azzam’s small, emaciated corpse lying flat on a table. His cheeks hollowed out and his rib cage protruding. Azzam’s arms are shriveled.
“Azzam al-Shaer died of malnutrition as a result of the ongoing hunger war practised by Israel against Palestinians in Gaza,” al-Ghoul wrote on X.
“This child was deprived of treatment due to the ongoing siege and could not find medicine due to the destruction of hospitals and the health sector,” he said.
Mercy Corps: 96% of Gaza facing high level of food insecurity:
Mercy Corps statement: The new IPC acute food security report released today projects that 96 percent of Gaza’s population – 2.15 million people – face high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phases 3,4 and 5) through September. While the latest analysis projects fewer people will face catastrophic levels of hunger in the coming months – 495,000 compared to the previously projected 1.1 million – there remains a high risk of famine amidst a deteriorating health and humanitarian situation across the entire Gaza Strip as long as conflict continues and humanitarian access is restricted.
Mercy Corps’ Vice President of Global Policy and Advocacy, Kate Phillips-Barrasso, says:
“The fact that the entire population of Gaza is at emergency levels of hunger with nearly 500,000 people starving should come as no surprise, as the world has been watching Gaza’s humanitarian crisis worsen for nine months. The Rafah offensive brought the aid response to a halt, thwarting the ability of humanitarian organizations to mitigate the suffering of 2.15 million people who are experiencing severe food insecurity. People are enduring subhuman conditions, resorting to desperate measures like boiling weeds, eating animal feed, and exchanging clothes for money to stave off hunger and keep their children alive.
“Denied and delayed humanitarian convoys and lack of safe access for aid workers remain critical barriers to organizations seeking to provide relief as Gaza’s food crisis worsens. Despite some food trickling in, humanitarian aid is limited, scrutinized at the border, and, when permitted to cross, typically only reaches some city centers without proper security. Compounding the suffering is oppressive summer heat, no access to clean water, and increasing exposure to garbage and sewage. This lethal equation will undoubtedly lead to acute suffering and mortality.
“The international community must apply relentless pressure to achieve a ceasefire and ensure sustained humanitarian access now. The population cannot endure these hardships any longer. The toll of military action has been far too high, and we fear without dramatic changes to the provision of humanitarian aid, the death toll will climb as people succumb to months of deprivation.”
No aid has entered Gaza for about 50 days:
Director-general of the Government Media Office Ismail al-Thawabta has told Al Jazeera that no aid has entered Gaza for about 50 days.
“The occupation [Israeli forces] practices a policy of starvation to achieve political gains,” he said.
RECOMMENDED READING (Middle East Eye): Hunger ‘worse than bombings’ for starving Palestinians
UN tells Israel it will suspend aid operations across Gaza without improved safety:
Associated Press reports: Senior UN officials have told Israel they will suspend aid operations across Gaza unless urgent steps are taken to better protect humanitarian workers, two UN officials said.
A UN letter sent to senior Israeli officials this month said Israel must provide UN workers with direct communication with Israeli forces on the ground in Gaza, among other steps, the officials said.
They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations with Israeli officials. The UN officials say there has been no final decision on suspending operations across Gaza and that talks with Israelis were ongoing.
The UN World Food Program has already suspended aid delivery from a U.S.-built pier in Gaza over security concerns.
Israeli military officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Israeli air strikes kill dozens of Palestinian civilians across Gaza:
Al Jazeera reports: Israeli forces have killed dozens of Palestinian civilians in overnight attacks across Gaza.
Two air raids hit schools in Gaza City, killing at least 14 people. Another attack in the Shati camp, one of the Gaza Strip’s eight historic refugee camps, killed 10 people.
In central Gaza, an air raid killed five people, including four children, and wounded at least 10 others late on Monday, hospital officials said.
‘Israel is deluded if it thinks harming my relatives will change my stance’ – Hamas chief:
Middle East Eye reports: The head of Hamas’ political wing, Ismail Haniyeh, said on Tuesday that “If Israel thinks that harming my family members will change my position and the resistance to the occupation, then it is delusional.”
Haniyeh added that every person killed in the Gaza Strip is like a family member to him.
On cease-fire and hostage release negotiations, Haniyeh said that “Hamas showed great flexibility and agreed to all the proposals for a cease-fire on the condition of the war ending and [the Israeli army] withdrawing from the Strip. We stand by our principles, and any agreement must include a full cease-fire.”
Haniyeh’s statement follows the killing of his sister by Israeli forces on Tuesday.
According to medical sources, at least 10 people of the Haniyeh family were killed in an Israeli airstrike on their home in the Beach refugee camp, western Gaza City.
Israel’s track record of killing Palestinians seeking aid:
At least 10 Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli attack on people seeking aid supplies and guards securing aid truck, were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis.
This is not the first time Israel has targeted Palestinians waiting for aid in Gaza where food supplies have been running low.
- At least nine people were killed and 30 wounded last week when Israeli forces targeted a group of people awaiting aid trucks near the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) aid crossing in Rafah.
- On February 29, at least 112 Palestinians were killed and more than 750 wounded after Israeli troops opened fire on hundreds waiting for food aid southwest of Gaza City, in an event known as the “flour massacre”.
- Just days later, Israeli forces killed and wounded dozens of people in southern Gaza City as people waited for aid distribution.
- Gaza’s Government Media Office said in March that Israeli forces had killed more than 400 Palestinians as they waited for aid deliveries.
Ten children per day in Gaza have their legs amputated – UNRWA:
The head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, highlighted on 25 June the horrific injury and maiming of Palestinian children resulting from Israel’s bombing of Gaza.
“Basically, we have, every day, 10 children who are losing one leg or two legs on average,” Lazzarini told reporters in Geneva.
UNRWA used data from the UN children’s agency UNICEF and noted that the figure mentioned “does not even include the arms and the hands, and we have many more” ofthese.
“Ten per day, that means around 2,000 children after the more than 260 days of this brutal war,” Lazzarini added.
He further noted that amputations are being carried out in “horrible conditions.”
Gaza’s Health Ministry sounds alarm on depleting medication:
The ministry has warned that health facilities in Gaza are either devoid of or about to run out of critical supplies, including medication necessary to perform surgery and treat kidney and cancer patients.
Health centers also lack medicine for maternal health and reproductive and psychiatric medication, it said.
The ministry called on the international community to “quickly intervene and provide the necessary needs of medicines and medical supplies to save the lives of patients and injured people”.
Leaked camera clips show Israeli military dog attacking Palestinian woman:
Al Jazeera has obtained leaked clips from a camera installed on an Israeli army dog, showing it attacking an elderly Palestinian woman in her home in Jabaliya, in the northern Gaza Strip.
The woman told Al Jazeera that she had refused to leave her home, so Israeli forces set a dog on her while she was still in bed.
The dog “dragged me and pulled me all the way to the entrance [of the house]. Now I have a serious injury. There are no hospitals or anything to treat my injury. My hand is still untreated,” she said. [See video here.]
Israeli military provides no proof that Doctors Without Borders staffer it killed was Palestinian fighter:
Al Jazeera reports: The Israeli military has alleged, without providing any proof, that a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) staff member who was killed in a drone strike in Gaza City was a Palestinian fighter.
MSF has called the killing of their colleague “cynical and abhorrent”, saying the 33-year-old physiotherapist and father of three was on his way to work at a clinic when he was killed by the Israeli military.
Five other people, including three children, were also killed in the attack which took place near the MSF clinic where he worked, the medical aid group said.
Posting on X, Israel’s military said that Fadi Jihad Muhammad al-Wadiya, who was killed on Tuesday morning while riding his bicycle in Gaza City, was a “unique centre of knowledge” in “electronics and chemistry” for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
“[Al-Wadiya was] involved in the development and promotion of the organisation’s missile system,” the military wrote, offering no evidence to support their allegation.
Israel targeted livestreams that could be used as evidence, probe finds:
An international media investigation has found Israeli tank fire was likely behind a strike on the AFP news agency’s office in Gaza City. A consortium led by investigative outlet Forbidden Stories and iinvolving around 50 journalists from 13 outlets carried out a four-month probe into several strikes involving journalists and media infrastructure since the war in Gaza erupted on October 7.
The group published a report entitled: “The destruction of press infrastructure in Gaza: A strategy to blind the public“
“Since October 7, the Israeli military seems to have deliberately targeted cameras filming live from the Gaza Strip. Buildings housing press organizations – crucial refuges for journalists in the Gaza Strip – have been destroyed, with the apparent objective of stifling information and preventing the reality of the ongoing war from being broadcast to the world.”
The investigation noted other examples where livestreams appeared to be targeted, including an attack on the office of the Palestinian Media Group (PMG) just one hour before the strike on the AFP’s office.
Like the AFP, the PMG had been livestreaming the war to clients that included the Reuters news agency. One of PMG’s journalists was also injured in the attack.
An earlier investigation by AFP found an Israeli tank was likely behind an attack on journalists in southern Lebanon which killed Reuters video journalist Issam Abdallah, 37, and seriously injured an AFP photographer. Al Jazeera was livestreaming from the same location at the time of the attack.
Israeli authorities also recently briefly blocked the livestream of the AP news agency last month, the investigation noted.
Irene Khan, the UN special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, said that livestream footage could become “critical evidence” in investigations into potential war crimes.
Israel lies about investigating 6-year-old Hind Rajab’s death:
The Intercept reports: The Israeli military never contacted the Palestine Red Crescent Society about Israel’s killing of a 6-year-old Palestinian girl, her family members, and the paramedics sent to save her, a Red Crescent spokesperson told The Intercept, refuting the State Department’s first substantive remarks about the killing that took place 148 days ago.
“Since the attack at our ambulances that was dispatched to save Hind Rajab, there has been no investigations made by the Israelis or any contact from the Israelis to the Red Crescent,” said spokesperson Nebal Farsakh. “We as the Palestinian Red Crescent have not received any kind of communication from the Israeli military.”
On Monday, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said that, according to Israel, the Red Crescent and the United Nations had rebuffed Israeli efforts to investigate the incident that had made headlines around the world. On January 29, Hind and her 15-year-old cousin made a desperate call to the Red Crescent, asking for help while stuck in a car with family members they said were killed by Israeli fire. After hours of negotiations with the Israeli military to coordinate safe passage, the Red Crescent dispatched an ambulance to save Hind (her cousin was killed during their first call), only for the medics to be found dead near Hind days later.
“All I can tell you is what they’ve told us. And what they have said is, they went to the U.N. and the Palestinian Red Crescent and asked them to supply information that would help them, and what they claim is that they were given none,” Miller said.
Miller, when citing Israel’s claim that there were no tanks in the area, said, “I am not attesting to any of these facts.” Asked about whether the U.S. will verify any of Israel’s statements, he added, “It is not for us to do it.”
“Those agencies can come forward and provide information, it’s easy to do so. If in fact they have information, they should come forward and do it, and provide, and we’ll be happy to look at that.”
(Read the full article here.)
RECOMMENDED READING: You need to meet this little girl named Hind).
Dozens of Israeli reservists refuse to return to Gaza, citing atrocities against civilians (excerpt):
The Cradle reports: A., a 26-year-old Israeli reservist who was tasked with picking targets for assassination, stated that he at first felt it was important to kill the Hamas members, including by dropping bombs on them in their homes with their entire families present.
“When you bomb him, you say: ‘I don’t have a problem that he is now at home with the whole family,’ although there is no indication that killing this person really makes any military sense,” he explained.
But over time, he said, “I felt that what I was doing was futile. We are just chasing heads in order to show some kind of achievement without any strategy or direction.”
He said that about a month into the war, the policy of how many civilians they could kill as “collateral damage” was “very permissive.”
In one case, he picked a target and bombed the man’s house. After the attack, it became clear that the target was outside the house at the time of the bombing and survived, but the bombing killed two women and injured several other people.
“You feel that you are doing something that does not make any military sense, with a risk of very serious injury to people who are undoubtedly innocent, just because you have to show an achievement,” he explained.
Netanyahu announces huge land discounts for soldiers:
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says he will grant “unprecedented discounts” on land in the Negev and Galilee to Israeli military reservists to “strengthen the settlement in these areas”. [There has been a long strategy to judaize the Galilee and Negev.]
He said on X that reservists are now entitled to a discount of up to 91 percent on the price of land in “national priority areas”.
For example, a lot that was worth 700,000 shekels ($187,000) will now only cost 72,800 NIS ($19,400) for eligible reservists, he said.
“This is great news for our reserve soldiers, the defenders of the country, who contribute greatly to its security. We want to make it easier for them and their families to settle in the Negev and the Galilee and strengthen the settlement in these areas,” Netanyahu wrote on X.
Former Shin Bet Leader calls for end to the occupation, criticizes Netanyahu on CNN:
Former Shin Bet Leader Ami Ayalon saidNetanyahu doesn’t want end to the war on Gaza.
He said he remembers when former Israeli Prime Minister Rabin gave the command to break Palestinians’ bones “and some commanders did it, literally.”
“it is not a conflict between Israel and Palestinians anymore, it is a conflict that will create a huge impact on the International Community.”
He said Netanyahu preferred “his political survival to the survival of Israel.” He also said:
“If we shall not end this occupation we shall not have democracy have democracy and we will not have security.”
“Our parents did not come from Arab states and Europe in order to create a totalitarian regime.”
“Palestinians are demanding freedom and they will fight for the end of occupation… this piece of land is ours but it is not only ours. We have only two options to divide it and to keep our Identity or not divide it and lose our identity and use our security as well.”
Los Angeles protests against Israeli land sales reported inaccurately – Rights group:
Elected officials and journalists missed crucial context when reporting on protests at a Los Angeles synagogue that hosted an event allegedly promoting the sale of land in illegally occupied Palestinian territory, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has said in a statement.
We reported earlier that protests took place at the real estate event promoted by the Israel-based agency My Home in Israel.
US President Joe Biden, however, later described on X the occupied Palestinian land sale protests as “antisemitic, and un-American”, saying the right to peaceful protest does not extend to “blocking access to a house of worship”. He did not mention the land sales event.
“We call on political leaders to condemn the organizations involved in the potentially illegal sale of Palestinian land and the counter-protesters who commit violence against anti-genocide protesters with the same fervor used for rightfully condemning antisemitism,” said Hussam Ayloush, the executive director of CAIR’s Los Angeles office.
Wikipedia’s operator rejects petition by pro-Israeli groups:
Middle East Eye reports: The charitable foundation overseeing Wikipedia stated that it honors the choices made by its volunteer editors after a pressure campaign by pro-Israeli organizations urged the foundation to reverse a decision by editors who labeled the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) as an unreliable source on Israel and Zionism.
Over 40 pro-Israeli groups signed a letter to the Wikimedia Foundation’s board, arguing that this decision increases the Jewish community’s susceptibility to antisemitism, according to JTA.
Wikipedia’s editors voted last week to declare the ADL “generally unreliable” on Israel and Palestine as well as the issue of antisemitism.
The report said that an “overwhelming majority” of Wikipedia editors voted to deem the organization unreliable.
“ADL no longer appears to adhere to a serious, mainstream and intellectually cogent definition of antisemitism, but has instead given into the shameless politicization of the very subject that it was originally esteemed for being reliable on,” wrote a Wikipedia editor.
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
Alpha Epsilon Pi
American Friends of Likud
American Israel Public Affairs Committee
American Jewish Committee
American Jewish Congress
American Sephardi Federation
American Zionist Movement
AMIT Children
Association of Reform Zionists of America
B’nai B’rith International
CAMERA
Central Conference of American Rabbis
Emunah of America
Greater Miami Jewish Federation
Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America
HIAS
Hillel International
Iranian American Jewish Federation
JCC Association of North America
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Jewish Federations of North America
Jewish Institute for National Security of America
Jewish Labor Committee
Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago
Jewish Women International
Maccabi USA
MERCAZ USA
NA’AMAT USA
National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry
National Council of Jewish Women
National Council of Young Israel
ORT America
Rabbinical Assembly
Rabbinical Council of America
Religious Zionists of America
Union for Reform Judaism
Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
Women’s International Zionist Organization
Women’s League for Conservative Judaism
Women of Reform Judaism
World Jewish Congress-North America
Jeffrey Epstein boasted about being a Mossad agent ‘like Ghislaine Maxwell’s father Robert’
Jeffrey Epstein boasted about being a Mossad agent like Ghislaine Maxwell’s father Robert, according to new bombshell claims made in a lawsuit.
A former girlfriend of the disgraced financier is suing his estate over claims he raped her at his New York mansion and claimed he was an Israeli spy.
The woman from California, referred to as Jane Doe 200, filed the lawsuit in Manhattan Federal Court on Monday and claimed she met Epstein in Los Angeles in 2000.
New German citizens must declare Israel’s right to exist:
Middle East Eye reports: On Tuesday, Germany enacted a landmark citizenship law that explicitly requires applicants to affirm the state of Israel’s right to exist.
“Anyone who shares our values and makes an effort can now get a German passport more quickly and no longer has to give up part of their identity by giving up their old nationality,” said interior minister Nancy Faeser on Tuesday.
“But we have also made it just as clear: anyone who does not share our values cannot get a German passport. We have drawn a crystal-clear red line here and made the law much stricter than before,” she added.
“New test questions have been added on the topics of antisemitism, the right of the state of Israel to exist and Jewish life in Germany,” the interior ministry said.
The test will not ask prospective citizens to affirm the right of a Palestinian state to exist.
German ministry of education draws up lists of pro-Palestinian academics:
Middle East Eye reports: The German Ministry of Education has drawn up lists of professors who don’t toe the government line on Gaza in a bid to deprive them of future funding in academia, a move that is likely to stifle academic freedom.
The revelations were made by the German broadcaster Das Erste on Monday and included controversial details, including resistance from some academics reticent about informing on their colleagues.
One of the emails from an academic warns the Ministry of Education: “I do not want to hide from you that it caused great unease among colleagues to mark names on lists. In my view, this statement is absolutely covered by the right to freedom of expression.”
“If you still want to have the list sent to you, then of course I will do that,” said the academic in reference to pro-Palestinian statements made by some academics.
In response to the concerns expressed, the ministry replied: “Good moning. I find this attitude very difficult, to put it mildly. I ask you to follow our wishes.”
MORE NEWS:
Al Jazeera’s Marc Lamont Hill: Drop the charges against the CUNY 22!
The Intercept: Democratic leaders made half-hearted effort to save Jamaal Bowman from AIPAC’s attacks.
The Guardian: The starvation of Gaza is a perverse repudiation of Judaism’s values.
Palestine Chronicle: “Failed Moral Test” – Australian Parliament Blocks Motion to Recognize Palestinian State.
IMEMC. Israeli Army Injures Two Children, Abducts Thirteen Palestinians In Nablus
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7 – JUNE 25:
Palestinian death toll from October 7 – June 25: at least 38,270* (37,718 in Gaza* – 11,445 women (30%), 15,747 as of June 17children.
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 25: at least 91,577 (including at least 86,377 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 25: ~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.
† 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.
Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org
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