Israel is unrelenting in Gaza, West Bank, as UK takes a small step back – Day 331
Compilation of news reports – IAK staff
Some 158,992 children vaccinated against polio in Gaza
Al Jazeera reports:
Medical teams have vaccinated 158,992 children after two days in a complex polio vaccination campaign in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry.
The six-day vaccination campaign aims to reach about 640,000 Palestinian children and comes after the first polio case in 25 years in Gaza was discovered this month.
Israel agreed to pause its military offensive in Gaza to allow health workers to administer the vaccines, UN officials say. Hamas also pledged to halt fighting to support the effort.
Israel bombs Palestinians buying bread, killing 8 in northern Gaza
Al Jazeera reports:
In just one of many strikes across Gaza, the Israeli army has attacked a queue of people buying bread in front of a shelter for displaced Palestinians in the Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip, killing at least 8 and injuring several others.
According to an unnamed source, the Israeli air raid targeted a bread-selling point in Jabaliya near a school turned into a shelter for hundreds of people displaced by the war.
“Five martyrs and others were wounded in an Israeli air strike on a gathering of people in front of Al-Fakhura School,” Gaza Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal said in a statement.
Updates from the West Bank
The Israeli aggression, since dawn last Wednesday, on the West Bank until now, has resulted in the killing of 30 citizens, including 18 in the Jenin Governorate, five in Tulkarm, four in Tubas, and three in Hebron, which raises the death toll in the West Bank since October 7, 2023 to 682.
TULKARM: The Israeli occupation forces today raided the city of Tulkarm. Local sources said that the occupation forces, accompanied by several bulldozers, broke into the city from its western part, and roamed its streets and neighborhoods.
During the raid, the occupation forces also besieged two hospitals, and destroyed infrastructure and private property.
A spokesperson told WAFA that the camp is now under a strict siege. All entrances and roads leading to it were blocked, and snipers were deployed in all areas, amid heavy and indiscriminate firing on every moving object.
JENIN: Eyewitnesses told WAFA that the occupation forces withdrew from Khalid bin al-Walid Mosque, which was used as a military barracks, after desecrating it, smashing its windows, and leaving food and drink waste in it.
The occupation soldiers maintained the siege of the city’s hospitals, preventing ambulances from transporting patients, while occupation forces attacked volunteer crews who tried to transport food and supplies to the besieged families in Jenin camp.
CENSORSHIP: Al Jazeera Arabic has reported that Israeli forces made an Al Jazeera photographer delete an image taken at the entrance to Shuhada Street in Hebron, in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli occupation forces Monday assaulted the photographer of the Palestinian News and Information Agency (WAFA) in Ramallah, Mohammed Abu Zeid, and seized his camera’s memory chip.
The Israeli occupation forces targeted on Monday a group of journalists in the center of Jenin.
Medical sources said that the occupation forces opened fire on the journalists, which led to the injury of two with shrapnel from live bullets,
Meanwhile, the occupation military vehicles attempted to run over a group of journalists while they were covering the ongoing aggression against the city and its camp.
![Palestinians raise the white flag as they flee their homes after Israeli forces took them over in Jenin [Nasser Ishtayeh/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images]](https://israelpalestinenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/9-2-f-300x200.jpg)
Israeli minister calls for ‘declaration of war’ on Palestinians in West Bank
The Cradle reports:
An Israeli minister called on the government to declare a state of war in occupied West Bank cities and settlements, Israel Hayom reported on 2 September.
Orit Strock, the Israeli Minister of Settlement, made the demand while addressing the Military Secretary Roman Gofman and the Security Cabinet for Political and Security Affairs on Monday.
Strock, of the Religious Zionism party, has been at the forefront of the movement calling for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza to settle Jews in their place.
In July 2023, before the current war in Gaza started, she called for launching a war against Gaza to retake the strip and rebuild Jewish settlements, including Gush Katif, which was evacuated in 2005 as part of the Disengagement plan of then-prime minister Ariel Sharon.
She suggested this would require going to war, adding that “sadly, a return to the Gaza Strip will involve many casualties.”
![Palestinians walk past the rubble of destroyed buildings and streets on Friday following the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Nur Shams refugee camp in the occupied West Bank’s Tulkarem area after a 48-hour military incursion [Issam Rimaw/Anadolu]. The scene looks like the kind of destruction we're used to seeing in Gaza.](https://israelpalestinenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/9-1-n-300x200.png)
UN Special Rapporteur calls out Israel’s eliminationist policy
Press Release from UN Human Rights Office:
Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur for Palestine, came out strongly against Israel’s actions in a statement Monday.
“The writing is on the wall and we cannot continue to ignore it. There is mounting evidence that no Palestinian is safe under Israel’s unfettered control. Apartheid Israel is targeting Gaza and the West Bank simultaneously as part of an overall process of elimination, replacement, and territorial expansion.
“The long-standing impunity granted to Israel is enabling the de-Palestinization of the occupied territory, leaving Palestinians at the mercy of the forces pursuing their elimination as a national group.
“Apartheid Israel is targeting Gaza and the West Bank simultaneously, as part of an overall process of elimination, replacement and territorial expansion.
“The long-standing impunity granted to Israel is enabling the de-Palestinization of the occupied territory, leaving Palestinians at the mercy of the forces pursuing their elimination as a national group.
“The international community, made of both states and non-state actors, including companies and financial institutions, must do everything it can to immediately end the risk of genocide against the Palestinian people under Israel’s occupation, ensure accountability and ultimately end Israel’s colonization of Palestinian territory.”
![Israeli forces carry the dead body of a Palestinian after an operation in Hebron, West Bank on September 1, 2024. [Mamoun Wazwaz – Anadolu Agency]](https://israelpalestinenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/9-2-s-300x200.jpg)
Netanyahu apologizes (sort of), but refuses to change course that got him into trouble
From BBC:
“I ask for your forgiveness for not bringing them back alive,” Netanyahu said during a televised news conference. “We were close, but we didn’t succeed. Hamas will pay a very heavy price for this.”
He added, “No one is more committed to freeing the hostages than me. But no one will preach to me.”
Netanyahu’s words come as hundreds of thousands have been marching against his stance on a ceasefire agreement, one that has delayed the end of the war and presumably resulted in a number of Israeli prisoners’ deaths.
Netanyahu says he will continue to insist on maintaining an Israeli presence along Gaza’s border with Egypt as part of any ceasefire deal.
Netanyahu’s demand to remain in the Philadelphi Corridor has been a major sticking point in truce talks with Hamas, which is demanding a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as part of any deal that would free the dozens of captives held in Gaza.
Netanyahu said if Israel agrees to withdraw, even temporarily, the international community would never allow [us] to return. “It determines our entire future. This is the oxygen of Hamas.”
He added: “The achievement of the war’s objectives goes through the Philadelphi Corridor. … Control of the Philadelphi axis guarantees that the hostages will not be smuggled out of Gaza.”
The press conference held on Monday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has torpedoed the mediators’ attempt to renew cease-fire and hostage deal negotiations, a source familiar with the talks told CNN.
UK suspends handful of arms export licenses to Israel after review
The Guardian reports:
The UK has broken with the Biden administration on a significant part of their tightly coordinated policy towards Israel by announcing it is suspending 30 of 350 arms export licenses to Israel because of a “clear risk” they may be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.
The Foreign Office said a two-month internal review had raised concerns about the way Israel had conducted itself in the conflict in Gaza and that the decision specifically related to concerns around the treatment of Palestinian detainees, the supply of aid to Gaza, and other actions.
No definitive conclusion has been reached about whether UK arms export licenses have contributed to the destruction in the territory. But the scale of the devastation and the number of civilian deaths caused great concern, the Foreign Office said.
The UK foreign secretary, who describes himself as a liberal progressive Zionist, stressed his decision was taken more in sorrow than anger, adding the conclusion did not amount to a full arms embargo.
“We have not – and could not – arbitrate on whether or not Israel has breached international humanitarian law,” he said, adding, “This is a forward-looking evaluation, not a determination of innocence or guilt.”
Israeli PM Netanyahu called the decision “shameful.”
RECOMMENDED READING: The six British prime ministers who have restricted arms sales to Israel
Israeli Air Force Official: Without U.S. Aid, Israel Couldn’t Fight Gaza Beyond a Few Months
Ha’aretz reports:
The Israel Air Force is crafting a recommendation to increase production of bombs, missiles and other ammunition at home, in an attempt to reduce its dependence on other countries, especially the United States, a senior air force officer says.
Such a change would take a few years to implement – and an extra tens of billions of shekels in funding – because most of the air force’s equipment in the war so far was bought from American companies using U.S. military aid.
If the recommendations go through, the Israeli defense industry would greatly increase its manufacturing capacity and have to hire more workers, mostly in engineering and other technical fields.
With Congress’ approval, the Biden administration has sent over unprecedented emergency military aid of $14 billion, on top of the regular annual U.S. military aid of $3.8 billion. Washington has also sent another $500 million for Israel’s air defense systems – Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow.
The senior air force official told Haaretz that without the Americans’ supply of weapons to the Israel Defense Forces, especially the air force, Israel would have had a hard time sustaining its war for more than a few months.
NOTE: The Leahy Laws require the US to withhold aid to countries that commit Gross Human Rights Violations – but in spite of overwhelming proof of abuse by Israel, our politicians have thus far declined to cut off military support.
The US has made special efforts to create loopholes for Israel, and has bypassedCongressional oversight on at least two major weapons transfers since October 7th, and “quietly approved and delivered more than 100 separate foreign military sales to Israel since the Gaza war began.”
![Palestinians remove whatever belongings they can salvage from the area as the devastation left by the Israeli army’s withdrawal comes to light in eastern Deir al-Balah, Gaza on August 29, 2024. [Ali Jadallah – Anadolu Agency]](https://israelpalestinenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/9-2-g-300x200.jpg)
Council on American-Islamic Relations Calls on Biden to Treat Palestinian and Israeli Lives as Equally Valuable
Press Release from Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR):
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on the Biden administration to treat the lives of Palestinians and Israelis as equally valuable by condemning the murder of a 58-year-old Palestinian man from the West Bank whose body was returned to his family with clear signs of torture after two hours in Israeli custody and by forcing Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire that ends the Gaza genocide and frees all hostages and political prisoners.
Israeli forces raided the home of 58-year-old Ayman Abed on Monday morning and returned body to his family two hours later covered in marks that indicated he had been tortured and beaten in custody.
CAIR has repeatedly condemned the Israeli government’s systematic torture of Palestinian, most recently condemning the torture of children in Gaza as documented in a new report from a human rights organization.
The Washington, D.C., based civil rights organization also condemned the far-right Israeli government’s systematic campaign of collective punishment, destruction of civilian infrastructure and killing of Palestinians in the West Bank, including driving a military vehicle over the body of a dead civilian.
U.S. plans to present ‘take it or leave it’ Israel-Gaza cease-fire deal soon
The Washington Post reports:
The United States has been talking to Egypt and Qatar about the contours of a final “take it or leave it” deal that it plans to present to the parties in the coming weeks — one that, if the two sides fail to accept it, could mark the end of the American-led negotiations, according to a senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private and sensitive deliberations.
“You can’t keep negotiating this. This process has to be called at some point,” said the senior official.
Biden and his top aides claim to have spent several months relentlessly trying to bring Israel and Hamas to an agreement that would see the release of the remaining living hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and a temporary cease-fire in Gaza that they hoped would lay the groundwork for a permanent end to the war.
NOTE: While the Biden administration has claimed often to be “working day and night” on a ceasefire, in reality, it has been working relentlessly to keep Israel armed – including through secret arms sales – to enable itsgenocidal war on the Palestinian people. American arms shipments to Israel since October 7th have surpassed 50,000 tons.
Most Americans are opposed to arms transfers to Israel.
RECOMMENDED READING: An arms embargo on Israel is not a radical idea — it’s the law
![Palestinians wait in line to receive food from charities in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza on August 25, 2024 [Hassan Jedi/Anadolu Agency]](https://israelpalestinenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/8-27-p-300x200.jpg)
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STATISTICS OCTOBER 7 – SEPTEMBER 2:
Palestinian death toll from October 7, 2023 – September 3, 2024: at least 41,501* (40,819 in Gaza* – 11,445 women (30%), 16,251 children as of July 22. [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 682 in the West Bank (~147 children). This does not include an estimated 10,000 more still buried under rubble (4,900 women and children). Euro-Med Monitor reports 49,032 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 45 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons (27 from Gaza, 23 from West Bank).
- At least 41 Palestinians have died due to malnutrition**.
- About 1.9 million of Gaza’s 2.3 million population are currently displaced.
- Almost 500,000 Gazans are currently experiencing catastrophic levels of food insecurity.
Palestinian injuries from October 7 – September 2: at least 99,711 (including at least 94,291 in Gaza and 5,420 in the West Bank, including 830 children). [It remains unknown how man Americans are among the casualties in Gaza.]
Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – September 2, 2024: ~1,452 (~1,139 on October 7, 2023, of which ~32 were Americans, and ~36 were children); 288*** military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza; 25 military and civilians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel) and~10,000 injured.
NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries of Israelis 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.
***Approximately ten of the deaths listed above were Israeli soldiers killed by Hezbollah in fighting at the Israel-Lebanon border. The figure does not include the reportedly 53 Israeli soldiers – nearly 16% of the total Israeli military deaths – killed due to friendly fire in Gaza and other military-related accidents.
† 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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