Israel attacks Gaza, Yemen, Lebanon with US, NATO weapons – Day 287
Baby born after mother killed in Gaza; Israeli raids in West Bank tripled; Palestinians at the Olympics; Israel gets weapons from countries that have officially halted arms sales; Israel bombs Lebanon, Yemen; Israel’s privileged soldiers will be vaccinated against polio, as Gazans remain at risk; Netanyahu’s intransigent response to ICJ; UK minister calls out pro-Israel lobby; how much aid has the US given Israel since October 7th?; Biden’s withdrawal may be linked to Netanyahu’s visit; Germany criticizes Israel’s opposition to Palestinian state; more.
By IAK staff, from reports.
AFP reports: A Gaza hospital said Saturday it saved a baby boy from his mother’s womb after she died from wounds sustained in an Israeli strike.
Ola Adnan Harb al-Kurd, who was nine months pregnant, barely survived a punishing night of missile strikes that reportedly killed more than 24 people, including six members of the same family.
Doctors were unable to save the mother, but quickly staged an emergency cesarean section “and extracted the fetus,” the surgeon told AFP.
The newborn was initially in critical condition, but after receiving oxygen and medical attention was stabilized, said Raed al-Saudi, head of the hospital’s obstetrics and gynecology department.
He was placed in an incubator and transferred to Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah.
Kurd was among three women and a child killed by an Israeli missile fired on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, according to a medical official at Al-Awda Hospital. Her husband was also wounded in the strike on the family home.
Israel has not confirmed individual strikes, but a military statement said troops were “conducting targeted raids on terrorist infrastructure sites” in central Gaza.
Gaza ministry warns residents of Israel’s safe passage hoax
Israeli raids more than triple in occupied West Bank
Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh reports from Ramallah: The number of daily raids in the West Bank, whether at night or in the morning, has more than tripled in these past months. We’ve also seen an escalation in attacks by illegal Israeli settlers.
Yesterday, as that ruling at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) was being read against the Israeli occupation, settlers attacked Palestinians in the Nablus area in Huwara; they burned businesses and fields.
Also in the South Hebron Hills, there was an attack by a group of Israeli settlers against a family. A woman, who was severely beaten, is now being treated in hospital.
In all those attacks of Israeli settlers, the Israeli soldiers were close by defending the settlers and protecting them and barring the Palestinians from defending themselves, which is something again referenced by the judges at the ICJ in The Hague.
Palestinians are winners by just being at Paris Games, say athletes
Reuters reports: The presence of Palestinian athletes at the Paris Olympic Games is already a major victory for the team amid the conflict in the Middle East, they said on Saturday, less than a week before the start of the Olympics.
The Palestinian team for the Games starting on Friday consists of six athletes who will be competing in boxing, judo, taekwondo, shooting and swimming, with slim hopes of a medal. “Whether a medal or not, we already win,” swimmer Yazan Al Bawwab told Reuters.
“The fact that we’re here. The fact that people don’t want us to be here, they don’t want us to play sports. They don’t want us to exist.”
“People don’t want Palestinians to exist. They look at the flag and they don’t want it. So to be here is a win,” said Al Bawwab, who will be the team’s flag bearer during the opening ceremony.
Palestinian sports officials have said that since the start of the conflict in October 2023 more than 300 athletes, referees and sports officials have been killed and all sports facilities in Gaza demolished.
“I said it before but I’m one of the luckiest people in the world,” swimmer Valerie Tarazi said. “I have the opportunity to compete for my country, to raise the flag for my country.”
“My heart is with them. Every time I swim, every time I jump in the pool, I’m thinking about the people of Palestine, their struggles. And I just want to represent them in the best way possible.”
Israeli official implies call for Olympics ban for athletes is ‘unsportsmanlike’
Al Jazeera reports: An official with Israel’s Foreign Ministry has suggested that calls from the Palestine Olympic Committee (POC) for a ban on Israeli athletes participating in the Paris Olympics over the war on Gaza is unfair.
POC has called for a ban on Israeli athletes at the games in Paris, which start on July 26, as they say some have failed to uphold the Olympic spirit.
The POC cited examples including Israeli Olympians visiting troops and posting pictures of signed missiles used by Israel in its war on Gaza, in which about 39,000 people have been killed.
“The reason why we’re doing this – for the human rights violations happening in Gaza, and the killings and murders of every single person,” said Nader Jayousi, the deputy secretary-general of the POC.
European countries use 3rd-party countries to keep arming Israel: British journalist
Andalou Agency reports: European countries continue providing weapons to Israel through third countries and secret deals, according to some media reports.
Although countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, and the UK have announced a halt to arms sales to Israel, international media reports suggest otherwise.
The UK maintains that it has not directly supplied arms to Israel since Oct. 7 last year, which marks the beginning of Tel Aviv’s devastating Gaza offensive that has killed over 38,800 Palestinians. However, estimations suggest that private British companies have continued to sell Israel weapons.
Italy, meanwhile, has reportedly halted arms supplies to Israel as required by law. But according to a report in business magazine Altreconomia, the country’s Customs Agency data confirmed that Rome exported arms and ammunition to Tel Aviv between December 2023 and January 2024.
Despite Norwegian law prohibiting arms sales to any country at war, media reports have said Israel continues to procure weapons produced in a US subsidiary of a defense company in which Oslo has a 50% stake.
While the Greek Cypriot administration appears on paper to be one of Tel Aviv’s smallest arms suppliers, it has been claimed that Western nations are using it as a military stockpile site for their own weapons destined for Israel.
Media reports indicate that the British base in Southern Cyprus has facilitated more than 30 military transport flights delivering weapons and equipment to Israel since the attacks on Gaza began.
British journalist Iain Overton told Anadolu that almost all European countries, including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the UK, have exported arms to Israel in the past, and many continue to do so today.
Overton cited the example of the UK, which issued 100 export licenses for arms sales to Israel since Oct. 7, hiding this fact for months, only to later reveal the truth.
He noted that many other European countries also sell arms to Israel, adding that this is often concealed from the public.
(Read the full article here.)
NATO/US Complicity in The Relentless Israeli Genocide of Gaza
World Beyond War reports: According to NATO documents, NATO and Israel have worked together for almost 30 years, cooperating in science and technology, counter terrorism, civil preparedness, countering weapons of mass destruction and women, peace and security.
To strengthen NATO naval interoperability NATO brought on Israel as a partner for its Operation Sea Guardian. Israel’s military medical academy now serves as a “unique asset” for NATO’s Partnership Training and Education Centers community.
Israel is not officially integrated in NATO but is part of the Mediterranean Dialogue, a program sponsored by NATO in cooperation with seven countries of the Mediterranean.
NATO’s long-standing working relationship with Israel has translated into NATO countries selling weapons to Israel and other countries buying weapons from Israel’s big weapons industry.
Israel ranks 98th in world population, with a population of 9.4 million, only 0.11 percent of the world’s population, and ranks 154th of all countries in land mass. Despite its small population and land, a study by SIPRI ranks Israel as the world’s 15th top weapons importer, receiving 2.1 percent of all imports, according to globally available data from 2019-2023. Israel is the world’s 9th top weapons exporter, responsible for 2.4 percent of exports.
With the exception of Canada, the Netherlands, Spain, and Belgium, the remainder of the 32 NATO members continue to sell/send weapons to Israel as Israel conducts genocide operations on Palestinians in Gaza.
All of the Israeli Air Force’s manned aircraft that are bombing people in Gaza are American-made, with the exception of one helicopter built by France’s Airbus Helicopters. Israel is the first international operator of the U.S. F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the most technologically advanced fighter jet ever made, and had taken delivery of 36 of 75 F-35s by the end of 2023, paying for them with U.S. assistance.
(Read the full article by Colonel (Ret) Ann Wright, here.)
Israeli jets bomb Yemen city in response to Tel Aviv drone strike
The Cradle reports: Israeli warplanes launched heavy raids on Yemen’s western port city of Hodeidah on 20 July, targeting fuel depots and oil refineries as well as the province’s power station, according to reports in Saudi media and Yemen’s Al-Masirah TV.
Local reports say the air raids left several dead and wounded. Videos shared on social media show massive fires blazing at the Port of Hodeidah.
Nasr El-Din Amer, Vice President of the Ansarallah Media Authority, stressed on Saturday evening that the Israeli raids “will not change” Yemen’s steadfast support for the Palestinian resistance in Gaza.
“We are also a people who, when targeted, do not retreat but instead increase in determination and conviction in the necessity of confrontation and response. We are Yemen, the land of faith, wisdom, jihad, and steadfastness.”
Ansarallah spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam issued a similar statement, saying that by targeting civilian facilities, Israel “aims to double the suffering of the people and pressure Yemen to stop supporting Gaza.This is a dream that, Allah willing, will never come true.”
Israel’s first-ever direct attack on Yemen comes one day after Sanaa launched an unprecedented drone strike on the city of Tel Aviv, bypassing all air defense systems before hitting a building near the US consulate.
Hours after this attack, the Israeli prime minister said in a televised address that Israel will “defend ourselves by all means…I have a message for Israel’s enemies: Make no mistake. We will defend ourselves by all means, on all fronts. Anyone who harms us will pay a very heavy price for their aggression.”
Israel strikes Hezbollah ammunition depot in south Lebanon, sources say
Reuters reports: Israeli strikes late on Saturday targeted a depot storing ammunition belonging to Lebanese armed group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, three security sources told Reuters.
The strikes on the town of Adloun, about 40 km (25 miles) north of Lebanon’s border with Israel, set off a string of loud explosions heard by witnesses across the south of Lebanon.
At least four civilians in Adloun were wounded in the strikes, a medical source and a security source told Reuters.
IDF to Vaccinate Israeli Soldiers Against Polio After Virus Found in Gaza Sewage
Ha’aretz reports: The Israeli army will begin on Sunday to vaccinate against polio all soldiers operating in Gaza or due to enter there soon, after a high concentration of the virus was found in sewage in Gaza.
The IDF stresses that the soldiers not make any use of the local Gazan water system, and that the army regularly brings in large quantities of water from Israel, including millions of bottles of water for drinking and bathing, and tons of ice, as well as field showers, soap and disinfectant wipes.
Regarding a possible polio outbreak in Gaza, the IDF says that, according to the information it has, there is no confirmation of any clinical cases of the disease, but that there is real concern over a possible outbreak, especially given the conditions in Gaza.
NOTE: Palestinians in Gaza have no choice but to use local water. An Oxfam report released July 18, Water War Crimes, reveals how Israel has been systematically weaponizing water against Palestinians in Gaza, showing disregard for human life and international law.
The report, finds that Israel’s cutting of external water supply, systematic destruction of water facilities and deliberate aid obstruction have reduced the amount of water available in Gaza by 94% to 4.74 liters a day per person – just under a third of the recommended minimum in emergencies and less than a single toilet flush.
Israeli military attacks have damaged or destroyed five water and sanitation infrastructure sites every three days since the start of the war.
Israel has destroyed 70% of all sewage pumps and 100% of all wastewater treatment plants, as well as the main water quality testing laboratories in Gaza, and restricted the entry of Oxfam water testing equipment.
Gaza City has lost nearly all its water production capacity, with 88% of its water wells and 100% of its desalination plants damaged or destroyed.
The report also highlighted the dire impact of this extreme lack of clean water and sanitation on Palestinians’ health, with more than a quarter (26%) of Gaza’s population falling severely ill from easily preventable diseases.
RECOMMENDED READING:
‘Buying Our Own Stolen Water’ in Bethlehem – Scorching Summer Awaits Palestinians in the West Bank
Human rights reports on Israel-Palestine (regularly updated)
Netanyahu filed draft decision rejecting ICJ’s advisory opinion –without consulting Israel’s AG
Ha’aretz reports: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu filed on Sunday a draft decision that rejects the advisory opinion published by the International Court of Justice on Friday about the illegality of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.
The draft was written without the collaboration of Israel’s Attorney General, Gali Baharav-Miara, and the legal opinion attached to it was written by Professor Talia Einhorn.
“The people of Israel are not occupiers in their own land and in their eternal capital, Jerusalem!” the document reads, and “Israel rejects the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, that blatantly ignored the natural and historic right of the Jewish people over the state of Israel, that was recognized in International law.”
The statement adds that the ICJ opinion ignores the right of Israeli citizens to settle in any parts of the land, “from accepted international legal principles regarding territories that did not have a foreign sovereign, and from Israel’s duty and right for self-defense and safe boundaries.”
RECOMMENDED READING: Netanyahu purveyed a fictional history of Israel to Jordan Peterson
Root out the ‘poison’ of the pro-Israel lobby, says former Tory minister cleared of anti-Semitism
Middle East Monitor reports: A former Conservative minister and Foreign Office official has been cleared of anti-Semitism allegations following an internal party investigation. Following his exoneration, Sir Alan Duncan issued a stark warning to his party, asserting that if the Conservative Party hopes to recover from its huge defeat in the recent General Election, it must confront and address what he termed the “poison” in its midst.
According to Duncan, this “poison” is the undue influence of pro-Israel lobbying groups, particularly the Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI), on party policy and decision-making. He argued that this influence has led to a distortion of UK foreign policy, prioritising Israeli interests over Britain’s, and has undermined the party’s integrity.
Anti-Semitism allegations against Duncan — a major target of the pro-Israel lobby — stemmed from comments he made during an interview in which he took aim at the CFI over its influence on government policy and criticized senior Conservative figures for not acknowledging the illegality of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. “The Conservative Friends of Israel has been doing the bidding of Netanyahu,” Duncan told Ferrari, “bypassing all proper processes of government to exercise undue influence at the top of government.”
He argued that “money, improper influence, and the promotion of Israeli interests above our own [British interests] have contributed to the destruction of the UK’s independent foreign policy.”
Drawing on his experience in the Foreign Office, Duncan revealed that there is “a lot of deep concern amongst officials and ambassadors about this undue influence.”
(Read the full article here.)
NOTE: Actual antisemitism is not as prevalent as Israel partisans would like us to think. A large portion of what they call antisemitism is simply criticism of Israel, the self-proclaimed “Jewish State.” Most of the animosity Israel experiences is opposition to Zionism. Zionism is not a benign philosophy, but a racist ideology – the ideology under which Israel dispossessed 750,000 Palestinian people and exiled them to Gaza and other locations. The so-called “demonization” of Israel is in most cases a legitimate criticism of Israel’s policies ofoccupation, apartheid, and genocide, and other illegal practices.
Pakistan calls Netanyahu a ‘terrorist’
Voice of America reports: Under pressure from right wing protesters, Pakistan’s government declared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a terrorist Friday, demanding the leader be brought to justice for alleged war crimes against Palestinians.
The statement by Rana Sanaullah, adviser to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on political and public affairs, was part of a deal with a religious political party, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan or TLP, to end its days-long sit-in on a key road outside the capital.
Thousands of TLP supporters rallied near the capital last Saturday to condemn Israeli strikes in Gaza. They demanded the government declare Netanyahu a terrorist, boycott Israeli products and send aid to Palestinians.
How much aid has the US given to Israel since October 7th?
Middle East Monitor reports: In the aftermath of the Hamas attack of 7 October, 2023, the Biden administration announced its support for Israel in the form of a $105 billion national security package, including military and humanitarian assistance for Israel and Ukraine.
Of this $105 billion, $14.3 billion – as supplementary funding – was meant to provide security support to Israel, release hostages, provide humanitarian aid to Israel and Gaza and replenish Israel’s stockpile of interceptors for its Iron Dome missile defense system, artillery shells and other munitions.
The assistance further included support for air and missile defense, investments in the industrial base and replenishment of US stocks to aid Israel. This aid is intended to improve Israel’s air and missile defence systems’ readiness and help procure and develop various missile defence components.
Additionally, $3.7 billion in aid and assistance continued under the Ten-Year Memorandum of Understanding between the US and Israel, enhancing Israel’s military capabilities and security. In comparison, approximately $3.3 billion in aid is given to Israel every year to purchase arms from the US and Israeli companies.
More recently, in April 2024, the Biden administration approved an additional $95 billion assistance package for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. Of this package, $26 billion would go to Israel and $9.15 billion in humanitarian assistance to Gaza, the West Bank and Ukraine.
Biden may delay his withdrawal from presidential race until after Netanyahu’s speech in Congress: Report
New York Times reports: While Mr. Biden and his team publicly insist that he is staying in the race, privately people close to him have said that he is increasingly accepting that he may not be able to, and some have begun discussing dates and venues for a possible announcement that he is stepping aside.
One factor that may stretch out a decision: Advisers believe that Mr. Biden would not want to do it before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel visits Washington on Wednesday at the initiative of Republicans to address Congress, unwilling to give the premier the satisfaction given their strained relations lately over the Gaza war.
Germany: ‘Israel is isolating itself by refusing to establish Palestine state’
Middle East Monitor reports: The German government expressed its deep concern about the Israeli Parliament’s refusal to establish a Palestinian state.
A German Foreign Ministry spokesperson shared on Friday in Berlin: “The decision contradicts many UN Security Council resolutions. Israel is, therefore, distancing itself from the overwhelming majority of the international community and isolating itself. We all know that isolation is the enemy of any security.”
The spokesperson said that although the resolution is non-binding, it: “Poses a setback to our efforts to achieve a balance between the legitimate security interests of Israel and the Palestinians’ right to self-determination,” adding that the German government believes that there is no alternative to a two-state solution that also protects the rights of the Palestinians. He noted that Israel’s long-term security can only be guaranteed through a two-state solution, adding: “Just like the Israelis, the Palestinians also have the right to live in security and dignity through their ability to determine their fate in a state of their own.”
The majority of Knesset members voted on Thursday in favor of a resolution rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state.
MORE NEWS:
IMEMC Daily Reports.
The Guardian: Slowly but surely, Israel tightens its grip on Gaza’s lifeline to Egypt
Jacobin: Getting Rid of Netanyahu Is Not Enough – an interview with Gideon Levy
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7 – JULY 20:
Palestinian death toll from October 7 – July 20: at least 39,497* (38,919 in Gaza* – 11,445 women (30%), 16,034 children as of June 17. [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 578 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 death9 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 46 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons (27 from Gaza, 18 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.
- 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 – July 20: at least 95,042 (including at least 89,622 in Gaza and 5,420 in the West Bank, including 830 children).
[It remains unknown how many Americans are among the casualties in Gaza.]Reported Israeli death toll from October 7 – July 20: ~1,481 (~1,139 on October 7, 2023, of which ~32 were Americans, and ~36 were children); 326 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.
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