“100 Kilotons Is Roughly Seven Hiroshimas” – War on Gaza Day 565

contact@ifamericansknew.org April 24, 2025 Bezalel Smotrich, hiroshima, icj, itamar ben gvir, palestinian prisoners, West Bank

4-year-old twins Saba and Sana Abu Saif, were killed in the bombing of their family home in the Tuffah neighborhood, in Gaza, Palestine (Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor)

Compilation of news reports – IAK staff

Israeli attacks on Gaza killed at least 45 and injured more than 100 on Wednesday, according to medical sources.

Israeli soldiers also shot and killed a 12-year-old boy in al-Yamoun in the occupied West Bank.

NOTE: The Gaza Health Ministry’s daily casualty figures are based on the number of dead and wounded Palestinians brought to hospitals, and does not include victims that are under the rubble or elsewhere, where ambulance and civil defense crews can not reach them.

More than 90% of homes in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Wednesday, citing data from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), as Israel’s ongoing war on the enclave plunges civilians deeper into humanitarian catastrophe.

RELATED: Hamas to propose 5-year truce, prisoner swap to end Gaza war

Israeli air strike hits Gaza children’s hospital

Israel bombed Al-Durrah Children’s Hospital, east of Gaza City, at dawn on Wednesday, destroying the hospital’s solar panels and causing significant damage to the intensive care unit and the alternative power system inside the healthcare facility.

A Grim Reminder About Gaza: 100 Kilotons Is Roughly Seven Hiroshimas

The annihilation of Gaza is staggering.

Israel has dropped more than 100,000 tons of bombs on Gaza. That’s 100+ kilotons. The Hiroshima bomb was roughly 15 kilotons. That means the small area of Gaza has been punished by bombing that is the equivalent in explosive force to seven Hiroshimas (continue reading here).

Palestinians scavenge for plastic and wood in trash heaps to meet their families’ needs as fuel shortage continues under the Israeli blockade and attacks in Gaza, April 19, 2025 (Hamza Z. H. Qraiqea/Anadolu Agency)

More lives at risk as Israel destroys rescue equipment in Gaza

Over 30 bulldozers & other heavy machinery in Gaza, some donated during the ceasefire, have been bombed by Israeli forces in the past 24h. They were used to clear rubble, repair critical infrastructure & rescue people trapped under rubble after strikes. More lives are at risk now.

A graveyard for construction equipment and trucks rendered unusable due to Israeli attacks on Jabaliya, Gaza, April 22, 2025. (Abdalhkem Abu Riash – Anadolu Agency)

Sexual assault, rape against Gaza detainees continue, say Palestinian rights groups

The Palestinian Authority’s Commission of Detainees and Ex-detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Club yesterday revealed harrowing testimonies from detainees held in Israel’s Negev and Ofer prisons.

In a joint statement, the two organizations said: “Rape and sexual assaults against Gaza detainees are ongoing.”

“In Ofer camp, guards intentionally restrain detainees and repeatedly insert a stick into the detainee’s anus until he feels he is suffocating,” according to one of the detainees.

The statement continued: “The more the detainee screams in pain, the more the guard intensifies the abuse.”

It also stated that some detainees were raped in front of others, with the intent of breaking their spirit and spreading fear among them.

Ten Palestinians released by the Israeli army are brought to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Red Cross vehicles for medical check-up in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on April 21, 2025 (Ashraf Amra/Anadolu Agency)

Armed Israeli settlers wreak havoc in West Bank village, as soldiers watch

A group of extremist Jewish settlers this morning stormed Bardala village in the northern Jordan Valley and opened fire at local residents, injuring five of them.

According to Al Jazeera Net, armed settlers set fire to a tent, a sheep shelter and swaths of cultivated land and opened fire at Bardala villagers who tried to defend themselves and their property.

The settlers also prevented fire trucks from entering the area to extinguish the flames, while Israeli occupation forces stopped ambulances at the Hamra checkpoint, delaying the transfer of the wounded citizens to the hospital.

Settlers also gathered on roads near Bardala village and attacked Palestinian cars, amid intensive presence of Israeli military and police forces in the area.

A view of destroyed area after the Israeli settlers attacked the town of Sincil in Ramallah, West Bank on April 23, 2025 (Issam Rimawi /Anadolu Agency)

Israel’s Smotrich threatens to topple government if Gaza not occupied

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened Wednesday to topple the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if the army does not occupy the Gaza Strip and rule it militarily.

In a statement, Smotrich said that the Israeli premier “is ultimately responsible” for handling the Israeli war on Gaza.

“Launch a campaign to defeat Hamas, occupy Gaza, and implement a temporary military government until another solution is found, return the hostages and launch the Trump plan – or this government has no right to exist,” he said (continue reading here).

Israel’s far-right security minister Ben-Gvir finds welcome at Mar-a-Lago, GOP

Israel’s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was honored at a lavish dinner at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.

Ben-Gvir, who has past convictions for supporting terrorism and was considered persona non grata under the Biden administration, attended a fundraising event at the Florida resort on Tuesday, where he told attendees about harsh new measures implemented against Palestinian prisoners.

“I love the American people very much,” Ben-Gvir told attendees via a translator. “We have a joint war against the jihad.”

Trump himself was absent and the minister was not expected to meet the US president, but Ben-Gvir’s spokesperson said the minister met with “dozens of senior businessmen from Miami” and the Republican House majority whip, Tom Emmer, according to the Times of Israel.

Ben-Gvir posted on X that he “had the honor and privilege of meeting with senior Republican Party officials at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate”, though it is unclear who those officials were.

“They expressed support for my very clear position on how to act in Gaza and that the food and aid depots should be bombed in order to create military and political pressure to bring our hostages home safely” (continue reading here).

RELATED: US synagogues close their doors to Israel MK Ben-Gvir

Israel Stalls and the International Court of Justice Complies

One year ago, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel had fifteen months to prepare their defense (“counter memorial”) against the charges of genocide filed by South Africa. They were told to present their arguments by 28 July 2025.

That seems like a very long time in a case involving the daily killing of many people including children. But it was not enough time for Israel which on 27 March 2025 filed a request to extend the time.

In a very recent decision, the International Court of Justice has obliged and extended the time by six months. Israel can continue killing with impunity and their defense to the International Court of Justice is not required until 28 January 2026.

There has been very little news of this decision. The ICJ did not issue a press release despite the fact this is their most sensational case. Accordingly, the decision has not been reported in the NY Times, Washington Post or London Guardian. Meanwhile Israeli media reported, “EXCLUSIVE: Israel secures six month delay in Hague Court proceedings.”

Another important story that has been largely ignored by western media is regarding the sole Judge who voted in favor of Israel in every single decision so far in this case. That person, Judge Julia Sebutinde, has been revealed to have grossly plagiarized the writings of two ultra-zionists: Douglas Feith and David Brog. Feith is a co-author of the infamous Netanyahu plan “A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm” and part of the Bush/Cheney team that campaigned for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Brog is Jewish but helped to found Christians United for Israel. He is current head of Miriam Adelson’s “Maccabee Task Force”. Anti-zionist scholar Norman Finkelstein has discovered 32% of the ICJ judge’s pro-Israel dissenting opinion was plagiarized from Feith, Brog and others.

NEWS ON CAMPUS PROTESTS, ARRESTS, DEPORTATIONS, CRACK-DOWNS:

Anadolu Agency: US lawmakers visit Rumeysa Ozturk, Mahmoud Khalil, demand their release

Truthout: Over 200 Higher Education Institutions Pledge to Resist Trump Attacks

MORE NEWS:

Middle East Eye: Israel cracks down on official posts mourning Pope Francis

Middle East Monitor: Israeli newspaper says dismantling Hamas not on govt agenda because it’s not a realistic goal

The Guardian: This British-Australian doctor has seen the unspeakable in Gaza. He wants to shout from the rooftops

The Guardian: Dozens of members of UK Jewish body facing disciplinary action over criticism of Israel

The Cradle: PA president demands Hamas release captives to ‘remove Israeli excuse for war’

IMEMC Daily Reports

STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – APRIL 23, 2025:

At least 52,229 Palestinians killed, 125,384 injured – including:
at least 51,266 killed in Gaza (~15,600 children)
at least 963 killed in the West Bank (~187 children)
at least 116,991 injured in Gaza
at least 8,393 injured in the West Bank

According to Palestinian authorities, during the ceasefire Jan. 19- March 18 2025, Israeli attacks killed at least 150 Gazans, and Israel committed at least 962 ceasefire violations.

Thousands of those killed in Gaza have yet to be identified, and an estimated 11,000 more are still buried under rubble.

Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – April 23, 2025: ~1,592 – including ~1,139 on October 7, 2023 (~36 children), 408 military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza, 46 military and civilians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel.

NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries of Israelis on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.

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

Thursday, 24 April 2025