Palestinian national and Islamic forces called for massive marches and demonstrations throughout the West Bank, under the slogan “Friday of Rage,” in rejection of the Israeli aggression on Gaza and in support of the Palestinian resistance.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that the Israeli occupation forces killed 9 Palestinians today, Friday, in different areas of the West Bank.

In Hebron, two young men were injured by Israeli occupation bullets, and dozens suffered from suffocation, during confrontations that broke out in the center of Hebron.

Local sources reported that two young men were injured by occupation bullets in the thigh and abdomen, and dozens suffered from suffocation from toxic tear gas.

A massive march had begun from the Hussein bin Ali Mosque to Bab al-Zawiya in the center of the city. Similar marches were also launched in the towns of Dura and Yatta, south of Hebron, in response to the call of the Fatah movement and the National and Islamic Action factions, denouncing the crimes of the occupation against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank. Including Jerusalem.

In the village of Tuwani in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, a young man was shot by a colonialist, today, Friday, and two others sustained bruises.

The head of the Tuwani village council, Muhammad Rabi, confirmed that a settler, under the protection of the Israeli occupation army, shot the young man, Zakaria Naeem Al-Adra, while he was near the village mosque, wounding him in the abdomen. He was subsequently transferred to the Martyr Abu Al-Hassan Al-Qasim Hospital in Yatta, where his injury was described as critical.

He added that the occupation army assaulted two young men with rifle butts, wounding one of them in the head and the other in the chest, after which they were transferred to health clinics in Yatta.

In Nablus, a child was injured by Israeli occupation forces’ bullets, during clashes that broke out near the Beit Furik military checkpoint, east of Nablus.

Ahmed Jibril, director of the Red Crescent Ambulance and Emergency Center in Nablus, reported that a 14-year-old child was injured by occupation bullets in the head, describing his injury as serious.

In Tubas, a number of young men were injured by live bullets, rubber-coated metal bullets, and suffocation, during confrontations with the Israeli occupation forces, east of Atuf, south of Tubas.

Moataz Bisharat, the official responsible for the settlement file in Tubas Governorate, reported that three young men were injured by live and metal bullets, one of whom suffered serious injuries, in addition to dozens of cases of suffocation.

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By Diala Al Aza

In the Gaza Strip where children make up more than half of the population of about two million people, the war has a more severe impact because of the major effects it has on this group for many years.

Some may ask, how can parents reduce the burden of the bombing on their children's heads? Is there even time and luxury for psychological care during war?

In this report, we will answer these questions through the testimonies of some families who have experienced repeated wars in the Strip, but the current war is “unlike it,” as many Gazans describe.

“The people of the Gaza Strip agreed on one idea: we sleep together so we can die together.”

Journalist Hanan Abu Daghim said in a brief conversation I had with her via WhatsApp that she gave up her career in these circumstances in order to stay with her children.

She added: “My house in the Al-Rimal neighborhood was severely damaged. A few days ago, I moved from it to my brother’s house, where three families spent the night together. When the bombing intensifies, the children begin to recite the Shahada. When the bombing intensifies, I gather the children and try to distract them by playing together, even though I myself need someone to calm my mind.” During the bombing, it helps me psychologically. We try to overcome the situation by telling the children: It is a crisis and it will pass, and that God is with us.”

Hanan, who appreciates the role of the journalist in these circumstances, says that she believes that the safety of her family is a priority, and she adds: “I assure you that the people of the Gaza Strip are united on one idea, which is to sleep with all of their children in the same room so that if a shell falls on the house, everyone dies.” The family is together so that no one is left alive and mourns the dead.”

“When the bombing ends, I will buy you a nice gift.”

Another mother named Sahar Kamal, who lives in Khan Yunis in the south of the Gaza Strip, has two children. When the bombing intensifies, her daughter, Rital - 4 years old - begins to complain about the annoying sound of the bombing, which causes her a headache, so Sahar promises her “a beautiful gift as soon as the situation calms down, provided that it calms down.” Sahar also tries to make funny sounds to make her two-year-old child laugh too.

Laila Muhammad, in her thirties and mother of five children, says that as a mother she feels very afraid for her children and tries to protect them inside the house, as she considers going out and being displaced “very difficult, and in this war there is no safe place at all, and through the experience of displacement in past wars, my daughter Salma still remembers these moments.” And every day she says to me, “We don’t want to leave the house. I don’t want to die outside our house.” She feels that the missiles are chasing anyone who walks in the street because we lived through these moments before, and she is afraid of that. At night, she is terrified by the sound of the planes.

A night in Gaza: “Not even candles are available”

The situation does not seem much different to Manal Salem, who says that she sits with her children in the room and they start arranging the toys so that they do not focus on the sounds of the bombing. She added: “My eldest son, Faris, who is eight years old, goes to the bathroom a lot and sometimes urinates on himself, out of extreme fear. He hates the sound of airplanes. I am waiting for things to calm down a little so that I can go to a psychologist to treat my children and get out of this situation.”

“Children’s songs were louder than the sound of missiles.”

Iman Bashir describes this war as “unlike what the Gaza Strip witnessed in previous wars.” I had spoken to Iman, a mother of three children, during the previous war on Gaza in May 2021. At that time, she informed me of some personal attempts to help her children psychologically to deal with the effects of war, such as reading stories during the bombing, and if the bombing was loud, she would turn on the loudspeakers with some children’s songs so that they would louder than the sound of the missiles outside.

But now, during this war that began on the morning of October 7, Iman says in a very brief message via WhatsApp: “This time (the war) is different, very bad. I don’t know what to do, as my husband is outside the country and I have 3 children and more.” The situation is getting worse, there is a power outage, so I don’t know what to do. Just pray for us.”

"Continuous psychological crises"

Save the Children published a report last year, presenting a comparison of the psychological state of children in the Gaza Strip in recent years, and showed that about 88 percent of children suffer from emotional disorders in 2022 compared to 55 percent in previous years, along with a number of others. Among the psychological disorders that children suffer from, the percentage of which is increasing, such as fear, anxiety, and extreme sadness, according to the report.

The Gaza Strip is among the most densely populated areas in the world, with about 2.3 million Palestinians living in an area 41 kilometers (25 miles) long and 10 kilometers wide. About 80 percent of Gaza's population depends on international aid, according to the United Nations, and about one million people depend on daily food aid.

With every war, or after it, the sector witnesses, individuals, activists, and non-profit organizations try to help children overcome the traumas they have experienced. Among them is a young activist named Ahmed Hijazi, who documents, through his accounts on social media platforms, some simple and purposeful activities with one goal: “to make the children of Gaza happy.”

But what the young man Ahmed Hijazi presented changed as soon as the war began. He began documenting the health situation of children in the Gaza Strip, whether those who had been bombed themselves or what they are experiencing these days.

Is mental health a “luxury” in times of war?

This question may come to those who live in war conditions or even to those who are watching from a distance. In light of the lack of a safe place in Gaza, where there are no shelters and the interruption of the road network as well as electricity and water, taking care of mental health seems like an unimportant luxury. But according to psychologists, what is called “psychological first aid” is beneficial in the long term, even if you follow simple steps.

One of the non-profit organizations, for example, offers advice to families and their children on Facebook. Among the advice provided by the specialists of this organization is: “Participating children in expressing their feelings helps in overcoming the loss.”

The director of the Gaza Mental Health Program, Dr. Yasser Abu Jamea, says, “Children’s cognitive abilities are not like adults, but they sense danger significantly and noticeably, just by looking into the eyes of their families, when they notice tension in adults, and of course when they hear the sounds of bombing and explosions.”

Dr. Abu Jamaa advises people in Gaza to try to reduce some habits to reduce the transfer of stress and anxiety from adults to children, saying: “Parents should reduce looking through windows, reduce following the news all the time, and involve children in searching for a safe place in the house, or Planning to move to a relative’s house. Involving children in this decision makes them feel reassured, especially when they hear the sound of explosions.”

Dr. Abu Jamaa adds that parents should try to “follow methods that contribute to ridding their children of anxiety, such as encouraging them to talk about their fears, but without resorting to providing them with false news or fake promises. It is more appropriate to talk about fear and engage with them in normal daily activities, and try to continue.” In the daily routine as much as possible.

Schools turned into shelters

Schools are usually a haven for children to meet friends, study and play in the yards, but UNRWA schools in the Gaza Strip opened their doors this year to receive displaced families. According to the latest figures issued by the agency, more than 280,000 Gazan citizens went to more than 92 schools and affiliated facilities in the Gaza Strip as of Thursday, the sixth day of the war. While thousands of others were displaced to government schools in the Strip.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Refugees said that the schools and facilities where people have taken shelter are extremely overcrowded and have limited food and water supplies.

“I feel like my whole body hurts because I hide my sadness and crying from my children.”

Souad Jabr, a thirty-year-old mother from Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip, says that mothers are living in a difficult situation in the war, so they must be strong in front of their children. She adds: "I feel like my whole body is hurting because of hiding my sadness and crying from my children. I feel that negative energy is causing spasms in my body's muscles and damaging my nerves. I try to be strong in front of my children."

Every mother tries to prepare a bag to store the necessary papers so that she and the children can evacuate quickly during the bombing. This is what happened with Souad Jabr, who left her house after the Al-Sikka area was bombed and then returned again to her house, which was slightly damaged, as “there is no safe place.” .

With the start of the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip following the Al-Qassam Brigades attack on various areas inside Israel, the Israeli Ministry of Defense issued a warning to residents of some areas in the Gaza Strip, urging them to evacuate their homes and go to points it considered “safe” for their safety.

Israeli army spokesman Avichai Adraee posted on his account on the hte circular included 4 specific shelter areas, meaning that there is a “safe” area for each number of residential neighborhoods.

The BBC News Arabic audit team noticed a similarity between some of the videos and pictures circulating of the places bombed by the Israeli army and the places where Gaza residents were directed to take shelter.

The BBC team investigated and collected photos, videos and testimonies from residents of the areas affected by the Israeli bombing, and it became clear that two of the four areas designated by Israel as safe areas were actually bombed later than the warnings issued.

In addition to the visual evidence, the audit team heard testimonies from residents of the affected areas who confirmed that there had been a bombing and that they were not safe in the areas designated by the Israeli army. Rather, most of them were taking shelter in hospitals affiliated with UNRWA, such as Wissam Abu Jarad, who sent us exclusive pictures from inside the Al-Shifa complex, where many are taking shelter from Gaza residents. 

Source: BBC news

During his Friday meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Amman, Jordan's King Abdullah II warned against any attempts to displace Palestinians to neighboring countries amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The King also cautioned against any efforts to displace Palestinians from all Palestinian territories or cause their displacement, emphasizing the importance of not exporting the crisis to neighboring countries and exacerbating the refugee issue, according to a statement from the Royal Court.

The Israeli army acknowledged the killing of one of its high-ranking officers during Operation Al-Aqsa Flood launched by the Palestinian resistance since last Saturday. He is the third colonel that Israel has lost in the battle.

According to the updated lists of those killed in the Israeli army, Colonel (res.) Leon Bar (53 years old), a senior officer in the West Bank Division, was killed during combat operations in the Gaza envelope.

The confession comes days after his killing on October 8, the second day of the Al-Aqsa Flood.

The total number of Israeli deaths exceeded 1,300, including 258 officers and soldiers, according to the latest Israeli army data.

Bar is the third colonel to be lost by the Israeli army in this battle, which witnessed the killing of dozens of officers and members of the army and police.

Colonel Yonatan Steinberg (42 years old), commander of the Nahal Brigade (one of the five infantry brigades in the Israeli army), was killed at the beginning of the battle during clashes with fighters from the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), near the Israeli Kerem Shalom site in the southeast of the Gaza Strip.

Steinberg was on his way to the site run by his subordinates, but one of the resistance fighters managed to kill him during a clash.

Colonel Roy Youssef Levy (44 years old), commander of the Multi-Dimensional Unit (Ghost Unit), was also killed in clashes with Al-Qassam fighters in the Ra'im settlement.

Source: Al Jazeera + Israeli press

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrived in the Jordanian capital, Amman, on Friday as part of a tour in the region aimed at providing support to Israel in its war on the Gaza Strip.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met in the Jordanian capital, Amman, on Friday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

According to Anatolia News Agency, the meeting focused on discussing the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

Yesterday, Thursday, the Palestinian President affirmed his rejection of the “killing of civilians” on both sides in the war between Israel and Hamas, calling for an end to the “aggression” against Gaza.

Mahmoud Abbas said during his meeting with Jordanian King Abdullah II in Amman, “We reject the practices related to killing civilians or abusing them on both sides because they violate morality, religion, and international law,” calling for “the release of civilians, prisoners, and detainees, the provision of humanitarian medical and relief aid, and the opening of humanitarian corridors.” Urgent in the Gaza Strip.

The Jordanian Royal Court said that King Abdullah II stressed to the US Secretary of State the necessity of opening humanitarian corridors to bring aid into Gaza, and the importance of stopping the escalation and war on Gaza and protecting civilians.

These meetings come as part of the US Secretary of State's tour in the region, which he began with a visit to Tel Aviv, which he arrived yesterday, Thursday, to confirm American "support and solidarity" with Israel after the sudden "Al-Aqsa Flood" operation carried out by the Palestinian resistance last Saturday.

During the speeches he delivered after his arrival in Tel Aviv, Blinken launched a violent attack on the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), and also said that he was visiting Israel as a Jew and not as a foreign minister, stressing his country's absolute support for Israel and its "right to defend itself."

In a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Blinken said that his visit carries a message that they will always be there for the Israelis who do not have to defend themselves alone, he said.

While the US State Department said earlier that Blinken will go to Qatar today, Friday, to meet with officials there, Blinken revealed that he will also visit Egypt and the Emirates in addition to Saudi Arabia, indicating that during his tour he will continue to “Pressure on countries to help prevent the conflict from expanding and to use their influence on Hamas to immediately and unconditionally release the Israeli hostages.”

Defense minister

Within the framework of the American support for Israel that Blinken emphasized, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is also scheduled to arrive in Tel Aviv, where he will meet with Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Galant and other members of the Israeli War Cabinet, to affirm Washington’s “firm commitment to Israel’s security.” According to a statement by the US Department of Defense.

The ministry's statement made it clear that Austin "looks forward to speaking in depth with Israeli officials about their practical planning and goals related to the conflict" with the Palestinians, and "will also discuss the aid needs of Israeli security."

Source: Agencies

The “Al-Aqsa Flood” battle imposed a confrontation different from its predecessors. It is impossible for it to end, like previous confrontations, with a ceasefire agreement and regional sponsorship of a temporary truce, after it broke all previous rules of engagement and destroyed the Israeli deterrence equation, which Tel Aviv needs an open battle without restrictions or a time limit, and unlimited international support in order to restore it. That is, to the complete annihilation of the Gaza Strip under the pretext of liquidating the Hamas movement and the rest of the armed Palestinian factions, and this is impossible.

For Hamas and the rest of the factions that operate as armed organizations outside official authority, survival can be considered a victory, regardless of the losses in people and stones. As for Israel, what happened, far from what it will end, will require decades to restore the principle of superiority in the collective consciousness of the population of Israel, and restore confidence in the army institution that failed to achieve collective security for them.

For the first time since its founding, it is threatened by counter-migration, especially by the middle class opposed to the ruling right-wing religious movements and parties, which may find a safe haven in Europe. There is also an internal demographic threat; that it is difficult to convince the residents of the settlements surrounding the Gaza Strip to return quickly.

In fact, after the “Al-Aqsa Flood,” the confrontation was no longer between the Hamas movement and the Israeli occupation, but rather returned to the starting point between the Palestinian issue and the Israeli entity. That is, returning the region and the world to an existential conflict built in the Israeli mind to eliminate what remains of the other side, that is, a final liquidation of the Palestinian issue. This goal is not only to achieve a military victory, but more importantly for the Israeli ruling elite is to get rid of any future obligations towards the Palestinians as a people. 

This is clear through the systematic marginalization of the Palestinian National Authority and its weakening to justify that there is no Palestinian peace partner on the one hand, and on the other hand the policies of annexing lands in the West Bank for decades have become a geographical obstacle to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

And now the attempt to push for the displacement of the residents of Gaza towards Sinai; that threatens Egyptian national security in particular and Arab collective security in general, and takes the crisis to more dangerous levels.

This is what Saudi writer Tariq Al-Hamid pointed out in his recent article in Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper entitled “Beware of Changing Maps,” where he said: “What is happening is dangerous and may change the maps and reality on the ground and may bring us back to negotiating everything we had geographically.”

In practice, it is impossible for the main parties concerned with the Palestinian issue to accept Tel Aviv’s plans, led by Riyadh and most of its Arab brothers, which presented its vision for a just and comprehensive peace based on the principle of a two-state solution and considered the Palestine Liberation Organization and the National Authority an essential partner in the solution. This was what embarrassed Hamas and reduced the influence of its regional supporters on the one hand, and on the other hand, adherence to the two-state solution constitutes a real nightmare for the ruling Israeli right, which before the crisis was facing a structural crisis and rejection by the so-called Israeli society, which is more inclined towards extremism, and this It is clear from the choices of its voters.

In the early statement issued by the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs and what was reported by the official Saudi media from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, that “the Kingdom’s firm position towards championing the Palestinian cause and supporting efforts aimed at achieving a comprehensive and just peace that guarantees the Palestinian people’s access to their legitimate rights,” Riyadh is taking a different path than everyone else, away from the excesses of “resistance” towards Palestine and the West’s irrational bias in favor of Israel, as Riyadh confirms that the Palestinian issue is stable despite the cruelty of the changes.

Sources: Asharq Al-Awsat

Today, Thursday, settlers launched attacks on citizens in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem, today, Friday.

In Hebron, settlers demolished two agricultural rooms and a wall, and uprooted fruit trees, in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron.

The coordinator of the Popular and National Committees to Resist the Wall and Settlements, south of Hebron, Ratib Al-Jabour, said that settlers from the “Susya” settlement demolished two agricultural rooms belonging to the citizen Hassan Ali Al-Nawaja’a. They also demolished a wall and uprooted fruit trees belonging to the citizen Awad Al-Nawaja’a.

In Nablus, today, Friday, settlers attacked olive pickers in the village of Tal, southwest of the city of Nablus.

Local sources reported that a group of settlers, protected by the occupation army, attacked farmers while they were picking olives in the Karkaba area, west of the village.

The Israeli occupation forces turned the city of Jerusalem and its old town into a military barracks before Friday prayers.

The Israeli police deployed extensively and prevented worshipers from reaching Al-Aqsa Mosque to perform Friday prayers, with the exception of those over seventy years of age, as the confrontations since the launch of Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood” against the occupation entered its seventh day.

Large Israeli police forces were deployed around the Old City and its alleys, and set up checkpoints at its entrances.

The Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem revealed that “the Old City is completely surrounded, with only those over 70 years of age allowed to enter,” adding that “Al-Aqsa Mosque is almost empty of worshipers.”

Eyewitnesses explained that "the Old City and its surroundings resemble a military barracks, with the large presence of Israeli police in it, which prevents non-residents from entering it."

The conclusion about the impotence of the strong is not my idea, but rather an inference from the French strategic researcher Bertrand Badie, and he began his book: “The Impotence of Power” with this idea. After a long review of the facts and events, he concluded with the idea of the powerlessness of the strong, using the Palestinian issue as evidence of this. 

The Israelis have always been in a position of power and superiority, and the strong are the ones who can compromise without fear. Because his strength protects him. If he concedes, he will not give up a right, but rather moderate in the areas that the “excess of power” gave him, and in return, he gains peace and legitimacy. The Israelis did it twice, and both times they regretted it, backed down, and moved in more radical directions. They gave up Sinai, which they invaded in 1967, in exchange for peace with Egypt. 

Then they debated with Egypt for years over the issue of Taba, and they agreed with the Palestinians in Oslo in 1993. Then they regretted it and killed Yitzhak Rabin two years later. After that, radicals from both sides competed to thwart “Oslo” once and for all. !

International resolutions have not changed. As for the facts of the power and inability of the strong, they passed through four stages: In the first stage, there was the belief that the conflict could not be led by the Palestinians, and that the Arab countries were leading the conflict; therefore, the focus must be on forcing it to make peace so that the “issue” will end. 

In the second stage, when success seemed imminent to them, they believed that Jordan could be the alternative Palestinian homeland by spreading chaos in it and displacing the Palestinians there. However, after the first intifada, a new thinking began, represented by Yitzhak Rabin’s team, which was based on satisfying the Palestinians with a quasi-state. But after the cooperation of the radicals on both sides to thwart “Oslo,” the fourth trend emerged or the issue entered the fourth stage, which is based on permanent war and the strengthening of settlements, with an oscillating position on the part of the Palestinian Authority between weakening and canceling and indirect communication with “Hamas” on the basis of establishing a mini-state in Gaza only.

This stage is still ongoing. But after 2007, “worrying” factors appeared among the Palestinians and among the Israelis. The Gazans have never stopped ambitious in one arena against Israel, with an increasing tendency to contest the authority in Ramallah. The Iranians and Hezbollah have become an important factor in the conflict with Israel through Hezbollah and directly by supporting Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The third factor is the decline and then the cessation of the Americans and the international community from supporting renegotiation. The fourth factor is the control of the right and the establishment of settler governments and religious fanatics in Israel, and this is the main characteristic of the policies during the days of the Netanyahu governments up to the era of Donald Trump, when the old idea of ending the Palestinian issue through peace with the Arabs, all Arabs, returned!

What, according to Bertrand Badie, shows the powerlessness of the strong? The inability to achieve complete victory over the “weak” by superior force.

This is what a writer in the New York Times told them after the recent Hamas attack on the Second Yom Kippur Day on Israel. The inability of the superior force appeared in many ways. Despite intelligence, fences, iron domes, and roving fighter planes, thousands of Palestinian fighters left without anyone being aware of them, whether in terms of the major incursions into the settlements surrounding Gaza, or in terms of the thousands of rockets that covered the skies of the Hebrew state.

The second surprise was that thousands of Israelis were killed and wounded, and hundreds were captured. For the first time after 1973, Israel lost again, and it was no longer protected from that lethality by the armies. Fighters are armed groups that strike and withdraw, and their losses, if they lose, are limited. Because the ideological militias attack in small numbers, the losses of the superior state are large, and the losses of the attackers, groups or alone, cannot be compared to them. 

The strength of the weak here appears in his belief in the cause he is fighting for, and in the end the land is his land and he has not forgotten it, and is always preparing to return to it: Didn’t you see how the “Taliban” did in Afghanistan with the huge numbers of Americans and Atlanticists? It was forced to withdraw, and then the Americans and their allies were forced to withdraw and flee just as the soldiers and settlers fled from the colonies of the Gaza Strip!

What does this writer suggest to the Israelis and the Americans? Their most important mistake is not that they do not negotiate for peace after a ceasefire in the proliferating wars. Rather, they all the time want to stifle the Palestinian Authority for two reasons: it exists in parts of the West Bank, and they want to seize what remains of the West Bank under its authority. The second reason is that the authority is a vestige of Oslo, and its legitimacy is based on it and on international resolutions. They don't want this or that. As for Hamas, they have always negotiated to support it in power, and because they are not interested in seizing control of Gaza again.

The writer fears that the arrogant power will have ambitions to seize Gaza again. This threatens a major massacre, and more deaths on both sides, with the war not ending. If the power of “Hamas” and “Jihad” is broken, there will be seven or eight million Palestinians on the land of historic Palestine, in addition to refugees in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.

It is best now, despite the multiplication of difficulties and the hardening of the fronts with blood and destruction, to revive Abu Mazen, if possible. The Israelis and Hamas together are the ones who destroyed the Palestinian Authority. The Israelis seek to seize control, and Hamas seeks to replace the authority. A return to Abu Mazen and to Arab mediations is what will save the possibilities for peace, even with the Arab countries. There is no Arab today who is not very proud of what Hamas has accomplished. Moreover, most Arabs do not like Iranian roles in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen! Saving Palestine or a solution for it is still possible with the help of Egypt, Jordan and Qatar, which is an Israeli and Arab interest!

There are many people in Israel and America who consider that the wars in and against Palestine have no end. This means endless suffering for the Palestinian people, whose land is still occupied and all the areas that were occupied by colonialism have been liberated. Then, the continued suffering of the Palestinians means a lack of reassurance and stability in Israel, and a tendency towards a second or third migration. One should not rely on absolute American support in order not to return to the peace process.

Strategic researcher Siham Al-Wakil, who lectured at Chatham House, pointed out the importance of what the Saudi Crown Prince proposed for an integrated peace with Israel, based on stopping wars through a two-state solution. Western presidents who issued a statement in support of Israel also spoke of freedom and justice for Israelis and Palestinians. 

The Israelis enjoy both things, so where is the freedom, justice and fairness of the Palestinian people?!

Source: Al Sharq Al Awsat

“The Middle East has never been calmer than it is today over the past two decades,” Jake Sullivan, national security adviser to US President Joe Biden, bragged about the alleged successes achieved by the US administration in “advancing the cause of peace” in a region that has not been at peace for more than 100 years. general.

Sullivan's statements of excessive naive optimism came a few days before Hamas launched its bloodiest attack on Israel to date. This sparked a kind of crisis that even pessimists in their vision of the Middle East, like the author of this article, thought was a thing of the past.

Immediately, two analyzes emerged from the attack:

The first revolves around the fact that on October 7, Israel experienced its version of the September 11 attacks that struck the United States. However, the attack that Israel faced on October 7 is worse than the attacks of September 11. It is worth noting that the attack carried out by Al-Qaeda against the United States resulted in the deaths of three thousand people, while Israel mourns more than a thousand people as a result of the recent attack. When the numbers are adjusted to reflect the difference between the two countries in terms of population, we find that Israel lost the equivalent of thirty thousand American citizens.

The second analysis indicates the failure of Israeli intelligence, which is supposed to be the best in the world, to know what is about to happen, just as the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) failed before the September 11 attacks.

However, what should be noted is that October 7 ended the situation that had existed between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip since 2009, when it was Israel that violated the previous status quo.

In general, the status quo between two warring parties is broken when one of them feels that it is untenable.

In 2009, Israel could no longer bear the daily bombing targeting its towns and villages in the south. At the time, Israeli army commanders talked about “mowing the grass” in Gaza or cutting down Hamas’ poisonous weeds.

This campaign reached its peak in 2008-2009 with the launch of Operation “Cast Lead,” which turned a large part of the Strip into rubble, while leaving the poisonous weeds almost untouched.

At the time, Israeli leaders declared their desire to “break Hamas’ bones,” but not to the point of completely incapacitating it.

In doing so, they ignored the advice of a writer from Florence: “Do not wound a deadly enemy and then leave him to recover!” Either turn him into a friend or kill him.”

For their part, Israeli leaders tried to implement a strategy they had used against hostile Arab neighbors since 1948: “Get them to the dentist every ten years to get their fangs trimmed.”

The mistake that the Israelis made was not distinguishing between the traditional state structures that administer the country, and responding to the minimum needs of its society, and a non-governmental entity that shows little interest in the people living under its rule. Indeed, Hamas was in a position to completely ignore the needs of the people living in the Strip. 

For its part, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) covers basic needs, such as food, education, and health care, with the help of more than a hundred non-governmental organizations from thirty countries, in addition to recurring donations from countries willing to show solidarity with the Palestinians. In some cases, the matter amounts to foreign donors bearing the wages of employees in the local administration.

Thanks to “gifts” from “certain friendly forces,” Hamas and its junior partner, the Islamic Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine, do not need to buy the weapons they depend on.

The attack launched by Hamas may have stemmed from pure opportunism, meaning that its leaders could not ignore the unprecedented political crisis caused by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's attempt to shackle the Israeli Supreme Court. They also inevitably noted President Biden's indirect campaign to push Netanyahu out of power. Also, criticism from some foreign donors that Hamas is receiving huge sums of money, without doing much to advance the “cause,” may have contributed to the group’s decision to break the status quo.

The question now: what next? Breaking the status quo can be an effective way to end the stalemate of a situation, provided that the party breaking the status quo demands something that the opponent has the ability to provide. For example, after breaking the status quo by waging the Yom Kippur War, Egypt regained its lost territories. In a similar context, Jordan guaranteed the security of its agreed-upon borders through normalization with Israel.

However, in the case of Hamas, none of these outcomes are imaginable, as Hamas does not want to acquire lands, because Israel has already withdrawn from the Gaza Strip in 2005. If Hamas were actually working to build a state, it would have been It can use the last two decades to attract foreign investment, including from wealthy Palestinians around the world, with the aim of transforming the Strip into a vibrant little powerhouse on the banks of the Mediterranean. Perhaps Israel and its friends would have helped in trying to reduce the feelings of revenge in the hearts of the Palestinians.

However, as its charter clearly states, Hamas is not interested in building a state, but rather seeks to eliminate Israel - something the Israelis are unlikely to offer it.

Therefore, Hamas may end up in a situation worse than before, with continued destruction in the Gaza Strip, its weapons running out, and its best fighters being sent into the battlefield. As for the threat of executing prisoners, including citizens of countries other than Israel, it may eliminate a large part of sympathy towards the Palestinian “cause”, especially in the West.

What is worse for Hamas is that Israel may regain the image of the victim that it had lost for reasons, including the efforts of anti-Semitic figures and movements around the world. On the other hand, the recent operations of Hamas restore the old image of the Palestinians as terrorists and hostage takers - an image that Mahmoud Abbas and his group succeeded in changing through decades of perseverance, and even humiliation.

In the midst of the formation of a new situation, the initiative remains largely in the hands of Netanyahu. Given his feeling that his turbulent career as prime minister will inevitably end, Samson may be tempted by the option of total destruction. If he chooses to do so, he will be acting out of character, given that he has so far been cautious about using the military option.

In addition to the above, the current confrontation reveals the inability or unwillingness of the Biden administration to get rid of the disastrous policy towards the Middle East that President Barack Obama previously followed by ignoring friends, in the hope of warming relations with enemies.

There's a quote by Jake Sullivan that goes like this: In the Middle East, when things seem good, you should expect bad news.

Source: Al Sharq Al Awsat

By Jonathan Landay

The United States must prepare for possible simultaneous wars with Russia and China by expanding its conventional forces, strengthening alliances and enhancing its nuclear weapons modernization program, a congressionally appointed bipartisan panel said on Thursday.

A senior official involved in the report declined to say if the panel's intelligence briefings showed any Chinese and Russian nuclear weapons cooperation.

"We worry ... there may be ultimate coordination between them in some way, which gets us to this two-war construct," the official said on condition of anonymity.

The findings would upend current U.S. national security strategy calling for winning one conflict while deterring another and require huge defense spending increases with uncertain congressional support.

"We do recognize budget realities, but we also believe the nation must make these investments," the Democratic chair, Madelyn Creedon, a former deputy head of the agency that oversees U.S. nuclear weapons, and the vice chair, Jon Kyl, a retired Republican senator, said in the report's preface.

Addressing a briefing held to release the report, Kyl said the president and Congress must "take the case to the American people" that higher defense spending is a small price to pay "to hopefully preclude" a possible nuclear war involving the United States, China and Russia.

The report contrasts with U.S. President Joe Biden's position that the current U.S. nuclear arsenal is sufficient to deter the combined forces of Russia and China.

The arsenal's makeup "still exceeds what is necessary to hold a sufficient number of adversary targets at risk so as to deter enemy nuclear attack," the Arms Control Association advocacy group said in response to the report.

"The United States and its allies must be ready to deter and defeat both adversaries simultaneously," the Strategic Posture Commission said. "The U.S.-led international order and the values it upholds are at risk from the Chinese and Russian authoritarian regimes."

Congress in 2022 created the panel of six Democrats and six Republicans to assess long-term threats to the United States and recommend changes in U.S. conventional and nuclear forces.

The panel accepted a Pentagon forecast that China's rapid nuclear arsenal expansion likely will give it 1,500 nuclear warheads by 2035, confronting the United States with a second major nuclear-armed rival for the first time.

The Chinese and Russian threats will become acute in the 2027-2035 timeframe so "decisions need to be made now in order for the nation to be prepared," said the 145-page report.

The report said the 30-year U.S. nuclear arms modernization program, which began in 2010 and was estimated in 2017 to cost around $400 billion by 2046, must be fully funded to upgrade all warheads, delivery systems and infrastructure on schedule.

Other recommendations included deploying more tactical nuclear weapons in Asia and Europe, developing plans to deploy some or all reserve U.S. nuclear warheads, and production of more B-21 stealth bombers and new Columbia-class nuclear submarines beyond the numbers now planned.

The panel also called for boosting the "size, type, and posture" of U.S. and allied conventional forces. If such measures are not taken, the United States "will likely" have to increase its reliance on nuclear weapons, the report said.

Source: Reuters

The Israeli military on Friday (13/10/2023) issued an ultimatum to all civilians to evacuate the city of Gaza and move to the southern areas of the enclave. They were only given 24 hours. This ultimatum is believed to be a signal of Israel's imminent ground attack on Gaza.

In recent days, the Israeli military has positioned their tanks near the border with Gaza. They have also called up at least 300,000 reserve troops. "Now is the time to go to war," asserted Yoav Gallant, Israel's Defense Minister, on Thursday (10/12/2023).

Until Thursday, Israeli fighter jets continued to bombard Gaza in response to a surprise attack launched by Hamas on southern Israel on Saturday (10/7/2023). The attack killed more than 1,300 Israeli citizens, mostly civilians. Hamas also took more than 300 people hostage from the attack.

"Civilian residents in Gaza City, evacuate yourselves to the south for your own safety and that of your families," said the Israeli military in a written statement.

They also asked residents in Gaza Strip to stay away and keep a distance from Hamas group. The population of Gaza is around 2.3 million souls, occupying an enclave of 362.5 square kilometers. The ultimatum is directed towards almost half of the entire population in Gaza Strip or around 1.1 million people.

The Israeli military has announced that they will be carrying out a "massive" operation in the city of Gaza in the coming days. Civilian residents will only be able to return to the area after the next announcement has been made.

Not only was the military ultimatum from Israel conveyed to the Palestinian residents in Gaza Strip, but it was also sent to the United Nations Headquarters. "This is chaotic, no one understands what should be done," said Inas Hamdan, an official from the Palestinian refugee agency managed by the United Nations in the city of Gaza.

UN staff evacuated

Hamdan revealed that all United Nations staff in the city of Gaza and northern Gaza have been ordered to evacuate to the south to Rafah. He also packed his belongings into a bag and shouted to his colleagues to pack up quickly.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has announced that it has relocated its operational center and international staff to the southern region of Gaza. Note: PBB should not be translated as it is a forbidden word.

The United Nations has stated that the large-scale evacuation warning they received from the Israeli military also applies to UN staff and hundreds of thousands of refugees who are sheltered in UN-owned schools and facilities.

The UN deems it impossible to make such a movement without causing a humanitarian impact. 

"The United Nations considers it impossible to make such a move without causing humanitarian impacts," said Stephane Dujarric, a spokesperson for the UN. (Note: PBB is not translated as it is a forbidden word)

"The United Nations has strongly requested that such orders, if they indeed exist, be canceled to avoid the tragedy that has already occurred from turning into a situation of complete disaster," he said.

Another UN official said that the UN is currently attempting to clarify Israel's military ultimatum to the most senior official in Palestine. "This has never happened before," said the UN official who requested anonymity.

.

Nebal Farsakh, spokesperson for the Palestine Red Crescent in Gaza City, stated that it is almost impossible for more than 1 million people to evacuate to the south within 24 hours. "Forget about food, forget about electricity, forget about fuel. The only thing that matters is whether you can get out, whether you will survive," he said.

"What will happen to our patients?" said Farsakh. "We are taking care of the injured, the elderly, and children in hospitals."

Farewell phrases"

Farsakh stated that many medical personnel refused to leave hospitals and did not want to abandon their patients. They, he said, chose to say "goodbye" to their fleeing colleagues.

A Hamas official stated that Israel's military announcement is "false propaganda" and warned residents not to be affected by it. The Hamas Refugee Affairs Authority said on Friday that residents in the northern Gaza area should "stay steadfast in your homes and stand firm against the psychological warfare launched by the occupying forces."

Also read: Without Humanitarian Routes, Gaza Civilians are "Just Waiting for Time"

The military ultimatum from Israel is seen as a signal of their imminent ground attack on Gaza. The Israeli military has not confirmed the decision to launch the ground attack. On Thursday, they stated that they were preparing, but no decision had been made yet.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was previously determined to "destroy" Hamas. He has declared a war against the group.

Israeli military spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht, said on Thursday that Israeli troops are "prepared to launch ground maneuvers" if ordered by political leaders. (AP/REUTERS)

Source: compas.id

Entire Palestinian families are still trapped under the rubble, while civil defense crews receive an increasing number of rescue calls for families who fell victim to violent Israeli air strikes on Gaza, which are increasing in intensity as tension enters its seventh day.

Photographers' cameras monitored the accumulation of bodies of martyrs of the Israeli occupation's aggression against the Gaza Strip in front of Al-Shifa Hospital in the Strip, due to the fullness of the morgues and the lack of places for this increasing number of bodies.

According to Al Jazeera, this scene is unprecedented, and the situation did not reach it in previous wars on Gaza, as the bodies of the martyrs do not find room in the refrigerators, which forced the families of the martyrs and medical teams to stack the bodies in front of the hospital after packing them in bags without doing the necessary to prepare them.

Al Jazeera's camera showed a number of people performing funeral prayers for their martyrs in front of the hospital, in light of the targeting of mosques and the fear of a repeat of this if the bodies were transported there to pray over them. It is expected that the people will bury those bodies in mass graves, as there are no longer enough graves.

The camera also showed the bodies of the martyrs of one family being transported in a cargo vehicle, where a member of that family appears carrying the body of his daughter who died in the bombing of a house in the Zaytoun area, in addition to his wife, who was pregnant, and two other of his children, his parents, his brother, his brother’s wife, and their four children.

Source: Al Jazeera

The spokeswoman for the Palestinian Red Crescent, Nepal Farsakh, spoke on Friday of the “impossibility” of deporting more than a million Palestinians to southern Gaza in less than 24 hours, according to the orders of the Israeli army.

“There is no way more than a million people can be safely transported so quickly,” Farsakh told the Associated Press.

She added: "Forget food. Forget electricity. Forget fuel. The only worry now is whether the operation will work or not, and whether you will live."

She continued: "What will happen to our patients? We have wounded. We have elderly people. We have children in hospitals."

The spokeswoman pointed out that "many doctors refuse to evacuate hospitals and abandon patients."

In the same context, Enas Hamdan, an official at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip, explained to the Associated Press: “This is chaos. No one understands what to do.”

It stated: "All UN staff in Gaza City and northern Gaza were told to evacuate south towards Rafah."

UNRWA announced that it had moved its central operations headquarters and international employees to southern Gaza, to continue its humanitarian operations and support its employees and Palestinian refugees.

Source: (Associated Press)

Earlier on Friday, the Israeli army issued a statement in which it asked about half of Gaza’s population to evacuate the north of the Strip and head to its south within the next 24 hours.

On Friday, the Israeli authorities began evacuating settlements near the Gaza Strip of their residents, according to Israeli media reports.

Press reports stated that about 10,000 settlers were evacuated from the towns surrounding Gaza to the city of Eilat.

The towns and settlements of the Gaza Strip have been the target of Palestinian resistance rockets over the past few days.

These movements coincide with the Israeli army issuing orders to the residents of Gaza to evacuate the northern Gaza Strip and head to its south within 24 hours.

The Israeli steps, in parallel with launching violent raids on Gaza, indicate an imminent ground attack on the Strip, expected within hours.

By Rebecca J. Alvarez, For The Inquirer

I am a proud Jew who believes in Judaism beyond Zionism, and who believes that everyone deserves to live in peace, including the Palestinian people. I am also a Jew who grew up in a Zionist home in Buffalo, N.Y.

As a child, I remember plunking spare change in the metal Jewish National Fund box on my kitchen windowsill, intending to send those coins to Israel, where I thought that my money would help plant trees and build a stronger Jewish state.

I understood how important it was to give tzedakah, or “charity”; however, now I know that this money was used to plant forests that covered the ruins of Palestinians’ homes. Zionism, the agenda of the Israeli government — which differs from the religion of Judaism — was woven throughout the Hebrew school I attended, and learning these principles was as natural as learning about community care or environmentalism.

My mother grew up as one of the few Jews in Chambersburg, Pa., and fell in love with the idea of Israel as a homeland. She has told me many times how she would walk home from school to the anti-Semitic taunts of her classmates. My pain burns alongside hers as I see how alive these memories still are for her. Her Hungarian father worked hard to give his family a safe life, and had his passport stamped with swastikas in the late 1930s, risking his life to get his siblings out of Sátoraljaújhely and settled into small towns throughout Pennsylvania.

My father, a Dominican doctor, grew up under the Trujillo dictatorship in a multigenerational home in La Vega. When he fell in love with my mother, he also fell in love with Judaism through his love for science and questioning.

We are a proud family of survivors who believe in strength, family, respecting warning signs, and moving toward the possibility of a better future.

I know that my parents’ investment in Zionism was in good faith. They wanted their children to know peace and to understand that there was a homeland waiting for them in Israel, full of freshly planted trees and away from the violence of those who didn’t respect them. It is a terrible irony for me that this “gift” of a homeland came at the price of taking land from Palestinians who wanted the same thing for their children.

It is possible to hold two thoughts in tension. I love my parents, and I don’t want this gift.

To be clear, I don’t condone the taking of innocent life. Regardless of what many people believed Zionism was, the ultimate impact of this ideology has been oppression and conflict. The Israeli government may have just declared war on Hamas, but its war on Palestinians started over 75 years ago. Israeli apartheid and occupation — and the United States’ complicity in that oppression — are the source of this violence.

For the past year, the most racist, fundamentalist, far-right government in Israeli history has ruthlessly escalated its military occupation over Palestinians in the name of Jewish supremacy, with violent expulsions and home demolitions, mass killings, military raids on refugee camps, unrelenting siege, and daily humiliation.

Like many Jews of my generation, my thinking on these issues has changed dramatically in the last 16 years. I have found more direction since joining the Philadelphia chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace. Through direct action, events, and conversations, I’ve gotten clear on my belief that we all deserve liberation, safety, and equality.

We all deserve liberation, safety, and equality.

Inevitably, oppressed people everywhere will seek — and gain — their freedom. The only way to get there is by uprooting the sources of the violence.

My parents and I agree that all life is holy, but struggle to find a middle ground on this issue. My belief is that the unchecked military funding, diplomatic cover, and billions of dollars flowing from the U.S. enable and empower Israel’s apartheid actions.

In addition to being a pro-Palestinian anti-Zionist Dominican Hungarian Jew, it may not be surprising to hear that I am also a trauma therapist. I teach my clients about trauma-informed care, which includes coming out of my own freeze state and into thoughtful responses to human suffering. It includes separating out the false binary of a victim/perpetrator narrative and instead seeking ways to empower choice, voice, and freedom.

Through many years of struggle and dreaming, my family passed down the will to survive and thrive. I understand that to be silent on Palestine is to be complicit in the erasure of a people who also deserve to survive and thrive.

Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer

At dawn on Thursday, the occupation forces stormed a number of Palestinian cities and camps in the West Bank.

Al-Quds correspondent in Jenin said that armed confrontations broke out at dawn today between the resistance and the occupation forces, which stormed the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin, in search of those they call the wanted.

Our correspondent reported that special units infiltrated with vehicles bearing a Palestinian license plate to arrest wanted persons, but the resistance discovered the ambush, which led to the outbreak of violent clashes, which included throwing explosive devices and shooting at soldiers who were launching raids and search campaigns, besieging homes and threatening to bomb them.

In Nablus, an elderly man was injured by live bullets and others suffocated during confrontations that took place at dawn today, after the occupation stormed the city of Nablus and launched an arrest campaign that targeted three citizens.

Sources in the Palestinian Red Crescent reported that an elderly citizen (70 years old) was injured by live bullets in the abdomen during confrontations with the occupation east of Nablus. He was taken to the hospital, and 20 others suffered from suffocation as a result of inhaling toxic tear gas.

In Bethlehem, a young man was injured by live bullets during confrontations with Israeli occupation forces in the Dheisheh camp, south of Bethlehem.

Local sources reported that the confrontations broke out after the occupation forces stormed the camp, resulting in an 18-year-old young man being injured by live bullets in the foot, after which he was taken to the hospital.

U.S. public opinion has become more sympathetic toward Palestinians in recent years, but experts say attitudes could shift again amid the reignited conflict.

The newly launched war between Hamas and the Israeli government, which is now bombarding the Gaza Strip, could also mark a turning point for U.S. public opinion. Recent polling suggests that Americans’ perceptions of Israelis and Palestinians had been evolving and turning less one-sided, but analysts say more change is likely on the way in the wake of the recent bloodshed.

Historically, support for Israel has remained strong, but more Americans – especially young people and Democrats – have become sympathetic to Palestinians in recent years.

The polling outfit Gallup found in March 2023 that 49% of Democratic Party supporters were more sympathetic toward the Palestinian people – a high for the 21st century – while 38% sided with Israelis. Millennials polled in that same survey also became more supportive of Palestinians than Israelis for the first time this century. And while a majority of all Americans surveyed by Gallup still sympathized more with Israelis, the percentage support for Palestinians grew for the fifth consecutive year, up to 31% in 2023.

The nonpartisan Pew Research Center has published similar results in recent years. In a survey from May 2022, the organization found that while Americans are overall more supportive of Israel, U.S. adult respondents under the age of 30 viewed the Palestinian people at least as warmly as the Israeli people. The trend was similar for Democratic respondents, while Republicans have remained steadfastly more supportive of the Israeli people.

“The polls show that, in comparison to the past decades, more Americans are at least exposed to the perspective and experiences of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, and the diaspora that has family in Palestine,” says Sahar Aziz, a distinguished professor at Rutgers Law School. “And those experiences are miserable.”

She explains that the “lens through which people center the experiences and perspectives of those who are the weaker people in a system – that lends itself to empathy toward Palestinians.”

But overall, Americans’ opinions have actually become more positive toward both sides of the conflict, according to Pew. At the same time, American respondents to a March 2023 Pew survey viewed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu more negatively than positively. (Netanyahu’s approval ratings have dipped in Israel as well, and recent polls conducted after the Hamas attacks suggest it has soured ever further.)

Indeed, critiques aimed at the policies of the Israeli government had been growing prior to the recent Hamas attacks and the “debate was expanding,” says Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of J Street, a U.S.-based pro-Israel organization that advocates for diplomacy. But now, he says, “nothing will be the same.”

“One of the things about horrific tragedies like this is that it can harden people's minds again, harden people's hearts,” Ben-Ami adds. “Our perspective as an organization is that the only resolution to this horrific conflict between Jews and Palestinians is through diplomacy and compromise.

 “Ultimately, there will have to be independence and freedom and self-determination for both peoples, or they won't stop killing each other,” he says. “But that message is going to be very hard for people to hear in the immediate aftermath, and violence, unfortunately, begets violence.”

Ben-Ami describes the invasion and attacks by Hamas as “the worst experience that most of us have actually ever had in our lives,” referencing stories from people in Israel who found themselves in the middle of mortar explosions and gunfire. In the days following, onlookers have been retreating “to their corners” and “nuance is not particularly at a premium.”

Aziz, who is also the author of “The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes Religious Freedom,” worries what the lack of nuance could mean for Americans’ growing support for Palestinians, and whether that empathy was temporary. The poll numbers referenced above – which marked a “shift in mentality,” especially among young people – “are being tested now,” she adds.

In remarks Tuesday about the crisis, U.S. President Joe Biden separated the human rights struggles of Palestinians from the actions of Hamas, saying the organization “does not stand for the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and self-determination.”

The president’s speech “struck the right tone,” says Amy Spitalnick, the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, a nonprofit that works to strengthen Jewish community relations. She says he spoke with the type of “moral clarity” that’s needed right now, where Hamas’ attack must be condemned unequivocally while also advocating for the “need for a Palestinian state” and Palestinian rights.

“That's going to be challenging in a conversation that has been so polarized and so black and white,” Spitalnick says. “And it makes it all the more urgent because there will be very real efforts by some to fuel further division and hate and disinformation.”

Source: USNEWS

Today, Friday, the Israeli occupation forces launched a massive arrest campaign in various parts of the West Bank, targeting 45 citizens, including freed detainees.

In Jenin, the Israeli occupation forces arrested, at dawn on Friday, six citizens from the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin.

Local sources reported that the occupation forces arrested: Talal Rajeh Assaf and Majdi Zakarneh, to pressure their two sons to surrender themselves to the occupation authorities. They also arrested: Ramadan Mahmoud Abu Mualla, Riyad Zakarneh and his son Fadi, to pressure his son to surrender himself under the pretext that he is wanted, and Ibrahim. Abu Mualla, after storming the town, raiding their homes, and tampering with their contents, which led to the outbreak of violent confrontations between young men and the occupation forces, without any injuries being reported.

In Hebron, a number of citizens were injured by occupation bullets and cases of suffocation, and 29 others were arrested in several areas of Hebron Governorate.

Local sources reported that the occupation forces raided the city of Hebron and arrested 24 citizens, namely: Bilal Salim Al-Muhtasib, Dirar Abu Manshar, Maher Burqan, Abdul Rahman Al-Jaabari, Amjad Al-Hamouri, Hashem Ali Abu Turki, Hatem Qafisha and his son Anas, Ubaida Abu Sneina, Ikrimah and Khuzaymah. Ghaith, Azzam Salhab, Mustafa Shawar, Amjad and his brother Bahaa Fadl Zahida, Firas Abu Sharkh, Fahd Al-Junaidi, Munther Al-Jubeh, Murad Shaheen, Youssef Talib Abu Sneineh, Abdel Khaleq, Nabil, Mazen Al-Natsheh, and Luqman Al-Hashlamoun, and searched their homes and tampered with their contents.

In the town of Halhul, confrontations broke out with the occupation forces, who fired live bullets, rubber-coated metal bullets, and toxic tear gas, causing three young men to be injured by live bullets in their lower extremities, and dozens of others suffered from suffocation. They were treated in the field, while the young man, Saleh Abu Rayyan, was arrested.

In Al-Fawwar camp, south of Hebron, the occupation forces arrested the young man, Youssef Osama Al-Anati.

In the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, the occupation forces arrested: Muhammad Youssef Abdel Fattah Awad (55 years old), Hamza Muhammad Youssef Awad (26 years old), and Muhammad Khaled Abdullah Awad (25 years old), after besieging two houses in the town.

Local sources reported that the occupation forces stormed the town and surrounded the homes of citizens Muhammad Khaled Abdullah Jarad and Muhammad Ibrahim Mustafa Awad, in the “Al-Habayel” and “Al-Musrara” areas, west of the town, amid gunfire, before arresting both: Muhammad Youssef Abdel Fattah Awad ( 55 years old), Hamza Muhammad Youssef Awad (26 years old), and Muhammad Khaled Abdullah Awad (25 years old).

In the same context, the occupation forces set up military checkpoints at all entrances to Hebron, its towns and camps.

In Ramallah, the occupation forces arrested four citizens from Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate.

Local sources reported that the occupation forces arrested the freed prisoner Ayman Abu Aram from the town of Birzeit in the north, Hilal Abdul Qadir Al-Khawaja, the freed prisoner Mutasim Al-Khawaja from Nilin in the west, and Abada Muhammad Qatusa from the town of Deir Qadis, after they raided and searched their homes.

Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Jolie discussed with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani the consequences of the crisis in Israel and Gaza.

The Canadian Foreign Ministry said that the two sides exchanged concerns about the humanitarian impacts, and agreed to protect civilians in Israel and Gaza.

During the call, the Canadian Foreign Minister expressed her thanks to Qatar for its mediation efforts and promoting stability.

This article aims to analyze the Israeli discourse towards the Palestinians during the “Al-Aqsa Flood” war, by monitoring statements made by Israeli politicians and officials. By using racist rhetoric towards the Palestinians, the Israeli establishment has targeted two categories of the public: an external group and an internal group. The racist discourse directed at the Western public differs, apparently, from the racist discourse directed at the Israeli public, but they meet in goal, which is to justify the killing of Palestinians and the practice of the harshest forms of violence and destruction against them.

The Israeli discourse directed at the European and American West is based on exploiting the “Islamophobia” syndrome (fear of Islam) that is rampant in the West. According to Edward Said, Islamophobia has been linked to Orientalist concepts based on portraying the Muslim as a violent, bloodthirsty person who hates others, especially Jews. In this context, we find the Israeli army spokesman Doron Spielman’s description of the situation in Israel, following Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood,” as “similar to the attacks of September 11, 2001,” which targeted the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in the United States of America. In conjunction with this, “Avichai Adraee” (the Israeli army’s spokesman for Arab media) wrote on his VX page (formerly Twitter), “Hamas and ISIS are two sides of the same coin.” He described the Palestinian resistance factions as ISIS and terrorists.

Israeli army spokesmen strike a sensitive chord in the Western collective consciousness, in which the scenes of September 11 and the practices of ISIS are linked to the growing phenomenon of Islamophobia. Comparing the “Al-Aqsa Flood” to the events of September, and the resistance factions to ISIS, is an extension of an Israeli media strategy adopted by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, when he compared the former Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to the leader of Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, in order to justify getting rid of him, and the goal of this comparison. Insinuating to Western society that there is a common denominator with Israel, which is the fight against “terrorism,” and that Israel is facing “terrorists,” not freedom seekers or a national liberation movement. This goal is clearly demonstrated in a letter by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, addressed to the French ambassador, following the ISIS attacks in France in 2015, when he said: “We are proud of our values, our friendship, and our freedom... When the civilized powers diagnose the problem, they will have no choice but to unite for Eliminate these animals. These animals have a name, which is extremist Islam. We are obligated to stand together to fight extremist Islam.”

We see an echo of the racist, Orientalist Israeli discourse in the speech of US President Joe Biden, when he described the Al-Aqsa flood operation as “pure, pure evil,” and that “Hamas” is “a group whose declared goal is to kill Jews,” considering the Al-Aqsa flood a form of terrorism, declaring that “the brutality of 'Hamas' brings to mind the worst rampage of ISIS." Thus, we find a similarity between the Israeli discourse and the American discourse in describing the resistance of the Palestinian people as terrorism, and stripping it of the national liberation movement, while labeling it as ISIS, in order to justify violent Israeli practices towards the Palestinians.

internally; The Israeli discourse directed to the Israeli public was based on dehumanization of the Palestinians. This is embodied in the statement of Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant when he spoke about launching an aggression against the Gaza Strip, saying: “We are fighting human animals.” This is his justification for cutting off electricity, water, and food from the Gaza Strip. Gallant's statement comes as an extension of a long series of Israeli statements that aim to dehumanize the Palestinians and liken them to animals and insects. Previously, Israeli Chief of Staff Rafael Eitan described the Palestinians as "cockroaches," while former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir compared them to "grasshoppers." Knesset member from the right-wing Likud Party, Yechael Hazan, described Arabs as “worms.”

The Israeli racist discourse aimed at dehumanizing the Palestinians and Arabs was fused into the racist Jewish jurisprudential heritage. This was demonstrated in the speech of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (the spiritual leader of the Shas movement, and the former chief rabbi of the Sephardic Jews in Israel), and his saying: “When a Jew kills a Muslim, it is as if he had killed A snake or a worm, and no one can deny that both the snake and the worm are dangerous to humans, so getting rid of Muslims, like getting rid of worms, is a natural thing to happen.”

The Israeli racist discourse aimed at dehumanizing the Palestinians intersects with the practices of European colonialism, which are based on a superior Orientalist view towards the colonized peoples. The European colonialists have always viewed the colonized peoples as being lower in status than them, and they have been stigmatized with inhuman characteristics that dehumanize them. Whether by likening them to insects or animals, in order to justify killing and getting rid of them.

Conclusion:

We can say that there is an integrated Israeli racist discourse towards the Palestinians. On the one hand, they are demonized and guerrillaized worldwide, and on the other hand, they are dehumanized, with the aim of removing any sympathy for them and justifying violent practices against them, whether by killing through bombing or siege. Starvation, or destroying buildings on the heads of their occupants, including civilians and defenseless children, women and the elderly.

When the Palestinians are demonized, dehumanized, and branded as terrorists and ISIS, it becomes easy for the Israeli military machine to continue its bloody practices, as if it is not committing a crime, or any moral transgression. Those targeted by this killing, destruction, siege, and starvation are not human, or belong to the human race. Rather, they are “human animals” and insects that must be eliminated, without any mercy, compassion, or being affected by the scenes of innocent children and their remains after their homes were bombed.

Source" Institute of Palestinian Studies

Reuters said that Britain sent two ships from the Royal Navy to patrol the eastern Mediterranean and three helicopters.

Reuters quoted a statement by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in which he said that his country would deploy additional military support to enhance security in the region and calm any attempts to escalate the conflict.

The statement indicated that Sunak assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - in a phone call - "his country's firm support for Israel in the wake of the Hamas attack."

Earlier, Germany announced the provision of two drones to Israel.

This comes after the US aircraft carrier Gerald Ford arrived in the eastern Mediterranean, ready to assist Israel in the war it launched against the Gaza Strip, after it was exposed to a sudden operation by the Palestinian resistance movement (Hamas).

On Thursday, the United Nations launched an urgent appeal to collect donations worth $294 million to help residents of the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.

The United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said - in a statement - that this amount aims to help more than 1.2 million people in Gaza and the West Bank, warning that humanitarian organizations no longer have the necessary resources to “adequately respond to the needs of vulnerable Palestinians.”

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said that Israel is practicing collective punishment in Gaza and has no right to violate international law.

The British PA Media agency reported that the Irish Prime Minister also called for opening a humanitarian corridor to allow aid to reach the Palestinians.

"Israel has the right to defend itself, but Israel does not have the right to injustice," Varadkar told Radio and Television Ireland. He expressed his concern about what he sees happening in Gaza at the present time.

He explained that Israel is violating humanitarian law by punishing Palestinian civilians, and that Ireland will seek to open a humanitarian corridor to allow aid to reach Gaza.

Israel is waging a violent war on the Gaza Strip, which has left more than 1,537 martyrs and 6,612 injured, at a time when the number of Israeli deaths at the hands of the Palestinian resistance since the launch of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood has risen to 1,300.

Israel cut off food, water and electricity supplies to Gaza, while the United Nations rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, considered that starving the besieged population in Gaza and depriving them of necessities is a war crime and a crime against humanity.

The UN rapporteur said that a large portion of the population of the besieged Gaza Strip is being exterminated.

International humanitarian law prohibits collective punishment of a group of people for a crime committed by an individual.

Source: German News Agency

Seven Palestinians were killed on Thursday by Israeli occupation forces and settlers in the West Bank, bringing the number of martyrs to 36 martyrs and 650 injured since the Palestinian resistance launched the “Al-Aqsa Flood” battle last Saturday.

Late Thursday evening, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that Farid Malasa (24 years old) died of serious injuries after being shot in the head by occupation forces in the town of Deir Bazi, west of Ramallah.

The Ministry also reported - on its Facebook page - that Samer Saeed Radwan (22 years old) was killed by occupation bullets near the town of Prophet Elias in Qalqilya in the northern West Bank.

Palestinian medical sources reported that the Israeli army was holding Radwan's body.

Near Tulkarm, the boy Muhtadi Majid Salim (17 years old) was killed by occupation bullets during confrontations in the town of Jayyus, according to what was reported by the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Health also reported the murdering of Palestinian woman Randa Abdullah Abdul Aziz Ajaj (37 years old) by occupation bullets near the town of Silwad, east of Ramallah.

The official Palestinian News Agency said that the woman's son was injured by occupation bullets that targeted the car in which they were traveling.

On Thursday afternoon, Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud Wadi (62 years old) and his son Ahmed (25 years old) were killed by bullets fired by settlers at the funeral of 4 martyrs near the village of Al-Sawiya, south of Nablus.

In this context, the Palestinian Red Crescent stated: 4 Palestinians were injured late Thursday evening by occupation bullets in the town of Halhul, north of Hebron in the West Bank.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said on its Facebook page that more than 650 Palestinians have been injured in the West Bank since last Saturday, noting that 210 of them were taken to hospitals.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza has reported the martyrdom of 1,537 Palestinians and the injury of 6,612 others since the beginning of the brutal Israeli aggression on the besieged Strip.

On Friday, bloodthirsty Israeli occupation warplanes continued to bomb residential neighborhoods in the Gaza Strip, as rescue operations are underway to recover the bodies of a number of martyrs and those wounded in the aggression.

Sources reported at least 10 people, including a young girl, were martyred after Israeli warplanes targeted the al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.

Furthermore, occupation warplanes targeted a house belonging to the Saafin family in al-Zaitoun neighborhood, east of Gaza City, according to our correspondent.

 They pointed out that Israeli forces have been concentrating their deadly airstrikes on residential neighborhoods in Gaza. Additionally, they have targeted refugee camps in the Strip in recent hours.

As Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood” - launched by the Palestinian resistance - entered its seventh day, the United Nations said that the Israeli army informed it of the necessity of moving the entire population of northern Gaza (about 1.1 million) to the southern Strip within 24 hours.

The United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said it has moved its central operations center and international staff to southern Gaza to continue its humanitarian operations and support its staff and Palestinian refugees.

The agency added on the X platform, “We urge the Israeli authorities to protect all civilians in UNRWA shelters, including schools.”

United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric said - in a statement - that the number of people requested by the Israeli army to move to the south of the Strip amounts to 1.1 million people.

Dujarric added, "The organization strongly appeals to cancel any deportation order for residents of the northern Gaza Strip to avoid a catastrophic situation," considering that it is impossible to implement such an order without devastating humanitarian consequences.

For its part, the government media office in Gaza said that warning residents of the Strip to move is false propaganda, and “we urge our citizens not to be led by it.”

Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh received phone calls this Thursday evening from a number of senior international officials. During which he urged them to take urgent action to stop the ongoing Israeli occupation aggression against the Gaza Strip, which has claimed hundreds of martyrs and thousands of injuries, by bombing homes on the heads of their residents.

Shtayyeh received calls from the President of the Socialist International, Stefan Löfven, from the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Joseph Borrell, from the British Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, from the Swedish Foreign Minister, Anneken Hütten, and from the Churches in Sweden.

Shtayyeh presented international officials with a picture of the dangerous situation unfolding in the Gaza Strip. Amidst the interruption of the lifeline that threatens the residents of the Gaza Strip with an imminent humanitarian catastrophe.

Shtayyeh called on international officials to work urgently to stop the aggression, restore electricity and water to the Strip, and allow the entry of fuel, food, and medical supplies.

He called for work to evacuate the wounded who were overwhelmed by hospitals while the cemeteries were overflowing with martyrs, and to work to urgently provide hospitals with medical supplies and personnel to save the injured.

The Israeli occupation forces continue to commit massacres against Palestinian families in the Gaza Strip for the sixth day in a row, while a spokesman for the Israeli occupation army confirmed that the military attack on the Islamic Resistance Movement “Hamas” focuses on eliminating the movement’s senior leaders, including its president, Yahya Sinwar.

Salama Maarouf, head of the government media office in the Gaza Strip, said that Israel committed nearly 30 massacres against Palestinian families during its war on the Strip since last Saturday, causing the deaths of hundreds, most of them women and children, the most recent of which was against the Shihab family, which claimed the lives of 31 martyrs and dozens of wounded.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that the death toll from last Saturday until Thursday afternoon had risen to 1,417 martyrs, in addition to the injury of 6,268 others. It added that it recorded the death of 447 child martyrs and 248 female martyrs as a result of the occupation’s continued aggression against the Gaza Strip.

The Ministry warned that the delay in responding to the relief appeal makes the Gaza Strip a mass grave, while international relief organizations confirmed that the lifeline in Gaza has begun to fade, and the time has come to protect humanity there.

Marouf added that the occupation destroyed dozens of residential buildings and towers, in the Al-Karama area (north), Al-Shati camp (west), Al-Bureij (centre), and the cities of Rafah and Khan Yunis (south) and Deir Al-Balah (centre), with 752 residential buildings, including 2,835 units (apartments) demolished. In total, 32 thousand units were severely damaged, of which 1,791 units were uninhabitable, while 42 government headquarters and dozens of public facilities and installations were destroyed. The Israeli bombing also destroyed 89 schools, 9 of which were no longer fit for work, and 11 mosques.