Palestinians mourn Pope’s death; many Israelis cheer – War on Gaza Day 563
Israel occupation forces demolish homes in Hebron and Ramallah
Israeli occupation forces, on Monday morning, demolished a residential building in the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, along with two homes in the town of Ni’lin, west of Ramallah. The demolitions come as part of a continued escalation in the destruction of Palestinian property across the occupied West Bank.
According to local sources, an Israeli military unit raided Beit Ummar and began demolishing a multi-storey residential building under the pretext of lacking a construction permit. This justification is frequently used by Israeli authorities to demolish Palestinian homes, despite the severe restrictions placed on obtaining permits in areas classified as “C”.
Activist and media coordinator Mohammad Awad stated that the demolished building, which was still under construction, had seven floors, each measuring 210 square meters.
In a separate incident in the town of Ni’lin, Israeli forces, accompanied by military bulldozers, demolished two homes belonging to members of the Surour family, displacing four households without offering alternative housing or support.
NOTE: Israel admits that its construction permit system is highly discriminatory. Between 2016 and 2020, 99.1 percent of Palestinian requests for building permits were rejected, according to dataprovided by the IDF’s Civil Administration.
RELATED: Israel has turbocharged West Bank housing demolitions under the cover of war
Israeli Finance Minster Bezalel Smotrich has provoked an angry backlash after he suggested that the release of captives in Gaza was “not the most important thing” for the government.
On Monday, Smotrich said in an interview with Galey Israel radio that the “Gaza problem” must be eliminated, citing a “tremendous opportunity”.
Smotrich believes the end of former US President Joe Biden’s tenure at the White House and the political demise of rivals, like former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and former Israeli army chief of staff Herzi Halevi, means there are no longer any obstacles to fulfilling a hardline Israeli policy on Gaza.
“We have to say the truth, returning the hostages is not the most important thing,” he said (continue reading here).
Trump’s NSC Director for Israel and Iran Previously Worked for Israeli Ministry of Defense
The American official overseeing White House policy toward both Israel and Iran inside the National Security Council formerly worked for the Israeli Ministry of Defense, Drop Site News has learned. Merav Ceren’s appointment as Director for Israel and Iran at the NSC has not previously been reported, but her work with Israel’s MoD is well known among GOP circles.
New U.S. Ambassador to Israel Huckabee Says Taking on Role Is ‘A Calling From God Himself’
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee met with President Isaac Herzog on Monday in Jerusalem, in a ceremony marking the start of his tenure.
“I come to stand today with the State of Israel and with the Jewish people, because I believe that it is not simply a geopolitical position, but a divine position,” Huckabee said in his speech.
He said taking on the role was “not so much saying yes to a president … but it was yes to a calling from God himself, to come and fulfill what I believe is not just a job, but a mission.”
“We stand with the people of Israel … We share the values of the Bible,” Huckabee told his audience. “We share the understanding that the Judeo-Christian foundation is the foundation of all of Western civilization.”
Huckabee, an evangelical Christian, has been a vocal supporter of Israel throughout his political career. He has visited Israel dozens of times, describing his connection as “not so much political as it is visceral, personal.”
Last week, Mike Huckabee said, “The relationship between the United States and Israel is…rooted in our love of democracy and our love of the Judeo-Christian understanding that every life has worth and value.”
Asked about demands on Israel to resume aid in Gaza amid a now 18-month war in the Strip, Huckabee did not press Israel, saying that Hamas “brought this upon themselves.”
“If Hamas had been a civil people, if they had been something less than savages that massacred, in the most vicious way, innocent civilians … they did not attack soldiers. They attacked civilians. They attacked women, children, babies, helpless, elderly people.
“Everything that people see there is not the result of anything other than the vicious hatred that Hamas harbors and carried out on October the 7th.” Hamas is now “paying the price,” he said. “And tragically, so many innocent people are paying the price for the sins and the evil of these monsters.”
He has previously said Israel has “title deed” to the occupied West Bank, and that he refuses to refer to the area as the West Bank, saying it is Judea and Samaria, the Biblical name for the area. Adding that “there is no such thing as an occupation” or “settlements, they are communities”.
NOTE: Huckabee’s comments (pro-Israel talking points) imply that history began on October 7th, as though the Hamas fighters attacked Israel for no reason. In fact, Israel has been oppressing Palestinians since its creation in 1948, and even before that.
Huckabee’s statements also reveal ignorance – or dishonesty – about Israel (it is not a democracy, and it does not consider every life of worth and value) and October 7th (go here to read about the myths and hoaxes associated with the Hamas attack).
The people of Palestine have many legitimate grievances for which resistance is an appropriate response. Israel is, according to the International Court of Justice, plausibly committing genocide,illegal occupation, apartheid, extermination, and a targeted campaign of starvation – to name a few.
International law supports the efforts of resistance groups against an occupying power, even to the point of armed resistance.
RELATED:
Why as a Christian, I won’t be condemning Hamas anytime soon
What does the Bible really say about modern Israel?
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