Al Mayadeen – December 15, 2024
Day 436 of Israeli genocide in Gaza: 44,976 killed, 106,759 wounded
The Israeli occupation commits five massacres across the Gaza Strip in 24 hours, killing 46 Palestinians and injuring 135 others.
In the latest toll issued by the Ministry of Health in Gaza on day 436 of the ongoing genocide, the number of martyrs has reached 44,976, with 106,759 wounded since October 7, 2023.
The Israeli occupation committed five massacres across the Gaza Strip in 24 hours, killing 46 Palestinians and injuring 135 others, according to the Ministry.
At dawn Sunday, Israeli warplanes and artillery targeted Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, while occupation forces demolished entire residential blocs.
Overnight, in the northern Gaza Strip, strikes and explosives planted by troops destroyed homes in the Jabalia and Beit Lahia, as Israeli mechanized forces fired their guns at the Saftawi area.
Homes in Gaza City were also targeted, where 14 people were killed and another 30 were injured in Gaza City. Strikes targeted the homes of the Abu Iskandar and Arouk families in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, while another strike targeted a house on al-Nafaq Street, where Palestinians were either killed or injured.
In the al-Zaytoun neighborhood, in southern Gaza City, an airstrike killed at least seven people, while several other bodies remain to be recovered by authorities, as they are stuck underneath the piles of rubble resulting from the strike.
In the central Gaza Strip, Israeli occupation forces bombed the al-Nuseirat refugee camp, using both warplanes and artillery multiple times.
Another strike targeted tents sheltering forcibly displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah, injuring eight people who were transferred to nearby hospitals. In western Deir al-Balah, the Durra Stadium, also housing Palestinians, was struck by occupation forces.
In the southern Gaza Strip, Israeli attack helicopters fired two missiles at the al-Bayouk family home in Khan Younis.
Israel kills dozens of Palestinians in raids on homes, schools across Gaza
The Israeli military has killed dozens of Palestinians, mostly in the northern Gaza Strip, in airstrikes on homes and schools sheltering displaced people.
Gaza's civil defense agency said Sunday that rescuers working through the night recovered the bodies of 18 people.
Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said dozens more were injured in the "ongoing aggression and Israeli aerial and artillery bombardment" across Gaza.
The dead included at least three children, Bassal said.
Four people, he said, were killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting a house in central Gaza City.
Another four were killed, and eight injured, when an Israeli missile hit a tent sheltering dozens of displaced people in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.
Residents said several houses were bombed and some set ablaze in the northern towns of Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabalia camp.
In Beit Hanoun, the regime’s forces besieged families sheltering in a school and stormed the building and kidnapped several men, according to medics and residents.
At least 15 people were also killed and wounded during the raid on the school, they said. Among the victims were a couple and their two daughters, medics said.
A health facility has completely been destroyed by Israeli forces in Jabalia, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The facility -- Abu Shbak Health Center -- provided essential first aid services and mental healthcare.
In the southern Gaza Strip, the Israeli military has again ordered displaced people to “evacuate” two residential areas, including locations previously designated as a safe zone, and “move immediately westward to the humanitarian zone.”
The Israeli military has on several occasions forced Palestinians to move toward locations it claims are "humanitarian.”
Recent research by Action For Humanity (AFH) found that more than a quarter of the 200,000 people in the “humanitarian zones” in central Gaza have had to move 10 or more times in the past 14 months.
The research, based on testimonials from Palestinians forcibly transferred to the designated “humanitarian zone” in the middle/south of Gaza, has made it clear that there are no real humanitarian zones in Gaza.
It also said that the “evacuation orders” Israel issues are not aimed at getting Palestinians out of harm’s way.
The use of terms like “evacuation orders” by the Israeli regime and the Western media serves only to whitewash what is currently happening before the eyes of the world in Gaza, which is “land grabs under the threat of extermination,” the research found.
Palestine Information Center – December 15, 2024
Martyrdom of journalist Muhammad Qrainawi and his family in Israeli shelling in central Gaza
Journalist Muhammad Jabr Qrainawi, an editor at the SANAD News Agency, was martyred on Saturday evening in an Israeli airstrike that targeted his home in the Al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.
SANAD reported that Qrainawi was martyred along with his wife, Maram, and their three children, Jabr, Sidra, and Ayat, in the Israeli strike that hit their home near the “Block 6” roundabout in Al-Bureij.
The agency noted that Qrainawi worked to cover and convey the suffering of citizens in Gaza during the war through his stories and distinctive reports, despite the harsh conditions resulting from the ongoing genocide.
It recalled that Qrainawi and his wife were injured in the early months of the Israeli war when an Israeli strike targeted their home in Al-Bureij. He was rescued from the rubble and returned to his journalistic work until he was martyred yesterday evening.
On Saturday morning, the martyrdom of journalist Muhammad Bahloush was announced after an airstrike targeted his home on Ahmed Yassin Street in the Al-Safatawi neighborhood in northern Gaza City.
For its part, the Government Media Office (GMO) in Gaza said that the number of martyred journalists has risen to 195 following the martyrdom of Qrainawi.
The GMO condemned in the strongest terms the targeting, killing, and assassination of Palestinian journalists by the Israeli occupation army, calling on all countries to condemn these systematic crimes against Palestinian journalists and media personnel in Gaza.
The GMO held Israel, the U.S. administration, and countries complicit in this genocide, such as the United Kingdom, Germany, and France, fully responsible for committing these heinous crimes.
https://english.palinfo.com/news/2024/12/15/330493/
Palestine Information Center – December 15, 2024
On its Anniversary:
Hamas reaffirms commitment to end aggression, fulfill Palestinians aspirations
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)
On the 37th anniversary of its inception, the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, pledged to “remain faithful to the blood of the martyrs and the sacrifices and resilience of our people, and to continue all efforts until the end of aggression and the fulfillment of our people’s aspirations for freedom and self-determination.”
In a statement issued on Saturday to mark its 37th anniversary, Hamas affirmed its commitment to continuing resistance and defending the rights of the Palestinian people, emphasizing its loyalty to the blood of the martyrs and the sacrifices of the Palestinian people in the face of Israeli aggression
.
The Movement said that the anniversary of its founding this year comes amidst the ongoing Israeli aggression for the 435th day, in the context of unprecedented genocide, ethnic cleansing, and forced displacement in modern history. It praised the resilience of the Palestinian people and the bravery of the resistance that has thwarted the Israeli plans.
Hamas confirmed that its principles have remained steadfast since its founding and will continue its struggle until achieving freedom and self-determination, calling on the Palestinian people to adhere to their constants and national rights, foremost among which are the liberation of the land, return, and the establishment of an independent state.
Key points highlighted by the Movement in its statement:
- Openness to Initiatives:
Hamas announced its readiness to engage with any serious initiatives to stop the aggression and alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people, provided that their rights are upheld, including the return of displaced individuals, the withdrawal of the occupation, the reconstruction of Gaza, and the achievement of a prisoner exchange deal. - Rejection of External Projects:
It emphasized its rejection of any international or Israeli projects aimed at determining the future of the Gaza Strip in a way that serves the occupation. - Holding the U.S. Responsible:
The Movement held the Biden administration politically and morally accountable for its support of the occupation, calling for a correction of this course and an end to the war. - Accountability for the Occupation:
It called on the International Court of Justice and human rights organizations to pursue the occupation and its leaders for their crimes in Gaza. - Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque:
Hamas affirmed that Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa are central to the conflict, and attempts by the occupation to Judaize them or change their features will not succeed. - Escalation of Resistance:
The Movement urged the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Jerusalem to escalate resistance against the occupation and extremist settlers, and to protect Al-Aqsa Mosque from desecration. - Support for the Palestinian People:
Hamas appreciated the support of Arab and Islamic peoples and free individuals around the world, calling for continued international pressure and solidarity actions until the end of aggression.
- In conclusion, the Movement renewed its pledge to continue along the path of resistance until achieving victory and liberation, expressing pride in the martyrs, prisoners, and wounded of the Palestinian people, and affirming its belief in the inevitability of the occupation’s demise.
https://english.palinfo.com/news/2024/12/15/330482/
Palestine Information Center – December 13, 2024
The road for Palestine liberation can only go through Palestine itself
By Ramzy Baroud
A new kind of unity around Palestine is finally finding its way to the Palestine solidarity movement worldwide. The reason is obvious: Gaza.
The world’s first live-streamed genocide is taking place in the Gaza Strip. The growing compassion and solidarity with the Palestinian victims have helped to re-center priorities from the typical political and ideological conflicts back to where they should have always been: the plight of the Palestinian people.
In other words, it is the sheer criminality of Israel; the steadfastness, resilience and dignity of the Palestinians; and the genuine love for Palestine and its people from ordinary people that have imposed themselves on the rest of the world.
While many solidarity groups, despite their differences, have always found margins for unity around Palestine, many have not. Instead of rallying in support of a Palestinian justice-based discourse, mainly focused on ending the Israeli occupation, dismantling apartheid and obtaining full Palestinian rights, many groups have rallied around their own ideological, political and often personal priorities.
This has led to deep divisions and, ultimately, the unfortunate splintering of what was meant to be a single global movement. Although many people claim, rightly, that the movement has suffered the dire consequences of the Syrian war and other conflicts linked to the so-called Arab Spring, in truth the movement has been prone historically to divisions, long before the recent Middle East upheavals.
The collapse of the Soviet Union, starting in 1990, has left permanent scars on all progressive movements across the world. In the words of Domenico Losurdo, “western Marxists” retreated to their academic hubs, and “eastern Marxists” were left alone fighting the scourges of the US-led “new world order”.
The balkanization of the socialist movement globally, but mainly in western countries, can still be seen in the view of many socialist groups regarding events in Palestine, and of their proscribed “solutions” to the Israeli occupation. Whether these “solutions” are pertinent or not is of very little value to the struggle of the Palestinians on the ground; after all, these magic formulas are often developed in western academic laboratories, with little or no connection whatsoever to events taking place in Jenin, Khan Yunis or Jabaliya.
Moreover, there is the problem of transnational solidarity. This type of solidarity is simply conditioned on the expected return of an equal amount of solidarity in the form of political reciprocity. This notion is a misinformed application of the concept of intersectionality, as in various disaffected groups offering mutual solidarity to amplify their collective voice and advance their interests.
While intersectionality at a global level is hardly functional, let alone tested — interstate relations are usually governed by political strategy, national interests and geopolitical formations — intersectionality within a national and local framework is very much possible. For the latter to carry meaning, however, it requires an organic understanding of the struggles of each group, a degree of social immersion and genuine love and compassion for one another.
In the case of Palestine, however, this noble idea is often conflated with negotiable and transactional solidarity, which might work at the political stage, especially during times of elections, but rarely helps cement long-term bonds between oppressed communities over time.
The ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza has certainly helped many groups expand the margins of unity so that they may work together to bring the extermination of Gaza to an end, and to hold Israeli war criminals accountable in any way possible. This positive sentiment, however, must continue long after the end of the genocide, until the Palestinian people are finally free from the yoke of Israeli settler colonialism.
The point here is that we already have numerous reasons to find and maintain unity around Palestine, without laboring to find ideological, political or any other kind of common ground.
The settler-colonial Israeli project is but a manifestation of western colonialism and imperialism in their classical definitions. The genocide in Gaza is no different to the genocide of the Herero and Nama people of Namibia at the turn of the 20th century, and US-western interventionism in Palestine is no different to the destructive role played by Western countries in Vietnam and numerous other contested spaces all over the world.
Placing the Israeli occupation of Palestine in a colonial framework has helped many liberate themselves from confused notions about Israel’s “inherent rights” over the Palestinians. Indeed, there can be no justification for the existence of Israel as an exclusively “Jewish State” in a land that belonged to the native Palestinian people.
By the same token, the much-touted Israeli “right to self-defense”, a notion that some “progressives” continue to parrot, does not apply to military occupiers in an active state of aggression or those carrying out genocide.
Keeping the focus on Palestinian priorities also has other benefits, including that of moral clarity. Those who do not find the rights of the Palestinian people compelling enough to develop a united front were never intended to be part of the movement in the first place, thus their “solidarity” is superficial.
The road for Palestine liberation can only go through Palestine itself and, more specifically, the clarity of purpose of the Palestinian people who, more than any other nation in modern times, have paid and continue to pay the highest price for their freedom.
-Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and the Editor of the Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of five books. His latest is ‘These Chains Will Be Broken: Palestinian Stories of Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons’. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA) and also at the Afro-Middle East Center (AMEC).
Israel to deploy automatic weapons in occupied West Bank to protect settlements
Israel is set to deploy remotely operated automatic machine guns to the West Bank in an attempt to prevent potential attacks on illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied territory.
Israel's Army Radio reported on Sunday that the Israeli military has decided to install the automated weapons on watch towers around dozens of settlements and near their entrances to protect them against “armed attacks and infiltration operations" by Palestinians.
The 636th Reconnaissance Unit of the Army's West Bank Division will remotely control and operate the systems, the report said.
It added that the Israeli military will first send the automated weapons, developed by Rafael Combat Systems, to locations it defines as ‘high-risk,’ and expand their deployment over time to include additional locations.
In a post on X, Israeli right-wing minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also said over 120,000 weapons have been distributed to “eligible” Israeli settlers in the West Bank, while tens of thousands more received conditional approvals,"
"We intend to continue arming Israel. That's what we did, and that's what we'll continue to do!" he said.
The latest deployment of weapons comes at a time of heightened tensions in the occupied West Bank, where unrest has risen sharply since the outbreak of the Gaza war.
Since Israel unleashed a war on the besieged Gaza Strip in early October 2023, casualties have been rising in the West Bank as a result of intensified near-daily Israeli raids into villages and cities in the occupied territories.
At least 812 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or extremist Jewish settlers since the war began. More than 6,450 Palestinians have been wounded as well, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
At least 44,875 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have also been killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip during the regime’s genocidal war.
Meanwhile, there are fears of widespread evictions and intensified settlement expansion following the recent re-election of former US President Donald Trump.
In the months leading up to the election, Trump reiterated his unwavering support for Israel’s settlement policies, which will make the Israeli regime feel empowered to accelerate evictions, particularly in areas that are seen as strategic for future settlement developments.
The issue of evictions is a painful chapter in the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with many Palestinians in the West Bank, including East al-Quds, facing court orders to leave their homes for what the Israeli regime deems to be 'legal' settlements, aimed at displacing communities to enhance Israeli sovereignty in disputed territories.
