Israel - Palestinian militants launch massive attack, 7 Oct 2023 #5

[JennieM]

1 min ago

UN human rights official warns of potential "mass ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians by Israel​

From CNN’s Sahar Akbarzai and Hadas Gold

Palestinians are in grave danger of “mass ethnic cleansing” by Israel, according to a UN human rights official.

In the wake of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese said that Palestinians have no safe place to be in Gaza.

“Israel has already carried out mass ethnic cleansing of Palestinians under the fog of war,” Albanese said in a news release on Saturday, referencing the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who were expelled or had to flee their homes in 1948 and 1967 wars with Israel.

“Again, in the name of self-defense, Israel is seeking to justify what would amount to ethnic cleansing," Albanese said.

At least 2,778 Palestinians had been killed in Gaza by Israeli bombardment as of Monday, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan rejected Albanese's claims in an interview with CNN. “This utterly false comment is yet another example of the bias the UN displays when haters of Israel are appointed to these positions.
The only thing Albanese was an expert on was “supporting terrorism and antisemitism,” he said.

“Following many examples of Albanese’s antisemitic comments, including remarks about the 'Jewish lobby' and the Holocaust, we know her words are motivated by deep hatred toward Israel,” Erdan said.

During a previous Israeli military campaign in Gaza in 2014, Albanese said on Facebook that: “America and Europe, one of them subjugated by the Jewish Lobby, and the other by the sense of guilt about the Holocaust remain on the sidelines […],” according to a statement from the Mission of Israel to the UN posted in 2022.

Live updates: Israel-Hamas war rages as President Biden visits Tel Aviv

During a high-stakes trip to Israel, US President Joe Biden urged the region to seek peace and not to be "consumed" by rage as violence continues in the aftermath of Hamas' attacks and Israel's subsequent response. Follow here for live updates.

edition.cnn.com

 

[PommyMommy]

Biden facing a difficult diplomatic mission as he travels to Israel | CNN Politics
[...]

The president has been attempting to walk a fine line between supporting Israel and keeping the violence from spiraling into a wider military conflict, a mission made more complicated by the hospital blast. He and other US administration officials have been warning other regional players, namely Iran and its proxy Hezbollah, from expanding the fighting further.

Biden will first meet with Netanyahu for a restricted bilateral meeting, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters aboard Air Force One in a preview of Wednesday’s trip. That meeting will broaden to include other US officials and the Israeli War Cabinet.

In those meetings, Kirby said, “He’s going to get a sense from the Israelis about the situation on the ground, and, more critically, their objectives, their plans, their intentions in the days and weeks ahead.”

[...]

American officials want humanitarian plans for Gaza fully signed off on and implemented before start of the invasion, multiple people familiar with the matter told CNN, describing that task as among Biden’s main objectives during his visit to Tel Aviv on Wednesday.

“We want to see humanitarian assistance flow in – and it’s not just a one and done – we want to see it be able to be sustained: food, water, obviously electrical power, medicine, all the things that the people of Gaza are going to continue to need as this conflict continues to go on. So he’ll make that case very, very clearly,” he said.

[...]

During his trip, Biden will meet with some families impacted by the violence of the past week, including some who have lost loved ones in Israel, and some who “still don’t know the fate of their loved ones,” Kirby said. Some of those family members have loved ones who are being held hostage, though it was not immediately clear whether they are Americans.

[...]

It’s also the second time the president has visited a nation at war this year, following February’s surprise trip to Kyiv. While Biden previously made visits to Iraq and Afghanistan during his time as vice president, the trips to Israel and Ukraine posed a unique security challenge without as much US military control of the area.

@otto

 

[Blacksheep13]

1 min ago

UN human rights official warns of potential "mass ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians by Israel​

From CNN’s Sahar Akbarzai and Hadas Gold

Palestinians are in grave danger of “mass ethnic cleansing” by Israel, according to a UN human rights official.

In the wake of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese said that Palestinians have no safe place to be in Gaza.

“Israel has already carried out mass ethnic cleansing of Palestinians under the fog of war,” Albanese said in a news release on Saturday, referencing the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who were expelled or had to flee their homes in 1948 and 1967 wars with Israel.

“Again, in the name of self-defense, Israel is seeking to justify what would amount to ethnic cleansing," Albanese said.

At least 2,778 Palestinians had been killed in Gaza by Israeli bombardment as of Monday, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan rejected Albanese's claims in an interview with CNN. “This utterly false comment is yet another example of the bias the UN displays when haters of Israel are appointed to these positions.
The only thing Albanese was an expert on was “supporting terrorism and antisemitism,” he said.

“Following many examples of Albanese’s antisemitic comments, including remarks about the 'Jewish lobby' and the Holocaust, we know her words are motivated by deep hatred toward Israel,” Erdan said.

During a previous Israeli military campaign in Gaza in 2014, Albanese said on Facebook that: “America and Europe, one of them subjugated by the Jewish Lobby, and the other by the sense of guilt about the Holocaust remain on the sidelines […],” according to a statement from the Mission of Israel to the UN posted in 2022.

Live updates: Israel-Hamas war rages as President Biden visits Tel Aviv

During a high-stakes trip to Israel, US President Joe Biden urged the region to seek peace and not to be "consumed" by rage as violence continues in the aftermath of Hamas' attacks and Israel's subsequent response. Follow here for live updates.

edition.cnn.com

Give me a break

 

[margarita25]

Biden facing a difficult diplomatic mission as he travels to Israel | CNN Politics
[...]

The president has been attempting to walk a fine line between supporting Israel and keeping the violence from spiraling into a wider military conflict, a mission made more complicated by the hospital blast. He and other US administration officials have been warning other regional players, namely Iran and its proxy Hezbollah, from expanding the fighting further.

Biden will first meet with Netanyahu for a restricted bilateral meeting, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters aboard Air Force One in a preview of Wednesday’s trip. That meeting will broaden to include other US officials and the Israeli War Cabinet.

In those meetings, Kirby said, “He’s going to get a sense from the Israelis about the situation on the ground, and, more critically, their objectives, their plans, their intentions in the days and weeks ahead.”

[...]

American officials want humanitarian plans for Gaza fully signed off on and implemented before start of the invasion, multiple people familiar with the matter told CNN, describing that task as among Biden’s main objectives during his visit to Tel Aviv on Wednesday.

“We want to see humanitarian assistance flow in – and it’s not just a one and done – we want to see it be able to be sustained: food, water, obviously electrical power, medicine, all the things that the people of Gaza are going to continue to need as this conflict continues to go on. So he’ll make that case very, very clearly,” he said.

[...]

During his trip, Biden will meet with some families impacted by the violence of the past week, including some who have lost loved ones in Israel, and some who “still don’t know the fate of their loved ones,” Kirby said. Some of those family members have loved ones who are being held hostage, though it was not immediately clear whether they are Americans.

[...]

It’s also the second time the president has visited a nation at war this year, following February’s surprise trip to Kyiv. While Biden previously made visits to Iraq and Afghanistan during his time as vice president, the trips to Israel and Ukraine posed a unique security challenge without as much US military control of the area.

“In those meetings, Kirby said, “He’s going to get a sense from the Israelis about the situation on the ground, and, more critically, their objectives, their plans, their intentions in the days and weeks ahead.””


Exactly.

 

[Salah11]

it’s astounding how quickly this has escalated and a war seems to be looming. Israel are going to need a lot of proof to back up their claims as it simply doesn’t add up they are Not responsible for this Hospital Bombing.

Hamas clearly don’t have the capacity to do this or Israel would have been hit way harder if they had weapons that could cause such damage.


Moo

 

[MyBelle]

Zoom in on Hamas’ terrorist infrastructure

https://x.com/idf/status/1714483112023846926?s=46&t=1LeaTK_fug_ONwN11qOyUw

Perhaps it is time for Navy Seal Team 6 to make a neighborly visit?

JMO

 

[PommyMommy]

Meet the man tasked with keeping a lid on the Middle East

Antony Blinken, the low-key secretary of state and one of Biden's closest advisers, has engaged in "marathon diplomacy" to limit the scope of the war in the Middle East.

www.nbcnews.com

[...]

For nearly a week, Biden's top emissary and longtime confidant has lived at the brink of an unfolding war in the Middle East, shuttling among seven countries over the past 133 hours as he articulates why America is supporting Israel's counter-offensive while seeking to keep other nations on the sidelines and limit the loss of civilian life on both sides of the Gaza border. Along the way, Blinken spoke with Biden daily — "every airplane ride or when we got back to the hotel," according to top Blinken adviser Derek Chollet — to stay in close coordination.

“He’s making a Herculean effort to stay in touch with the Arab World and trying to convince them that this is a different time for Israel,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who spoke at length with Blinken by phone Sunday night. “The job of the secretary of state right now is to convince the region and the world writ large that this attack has changed the game — that the old way of doing business died with the babies killed by Hamas — and to prepare the Arab world for some tough times.”

Importantly, Graham added, “he’s also trying to get Israel to [do] all they can to minimize casualties.”

Blinken's charge is to make room for Israel to destroy Hamas without drawing Arab nations or their populations into the fight, which may require persuading Israel to exercise more restraint in its response than its leaders envision and convincing the Arab world that Israel is, in fact, doing that. As he spoke with Netanyahu, Israeli forces appeared to be on the verge of a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.

[...]

 

[JennieM]

6 min ago

Church that funds Gaza hospital condemns blast and says enclave deprived of safe havens​

From CNN’s Kareem Khadder

The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem condemned the deadly explosion that took place at the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza on Tuesday.

The diocese oversees the board and administration of the hospital, which is exclusively funded through the Anglican Church by international donations.

The diocese said it was observing a global day of fasting and prayers to end the conflict that “was marred by a brutal attack" on the hospital, it said in a statement.
The diocese announced a day of mourning in all of its churches and institutions.

“Gaza remains bereft of safe havens,” the diocese said and called the blast a crime against humanity.

“Hospitals, by the tenets of international humanitarian law, are sanctuaries, yet this assault has transgressed those sacred boundaries,” the statement read.

“The devastation witnessed, coupled with the sacrilegious targeting of the church, strikes at the very core of human decency," it said, adding that “we assert unequivocally that this is deserving international condemnation and retribution.”

Live updates: Israel-Hamas war rages as President Biden visits Tel Aviv

During a high-stakes trip to Israel, US President Joe Biden urged the region to seek peace and not to be "consumed" by rage as violence continues in the aftermath of Hamas' attacks and Israel's subsequent response. Follow here for live updates.

edition.cnn.com

 

[margarita25]

Treasury to launch new sanctions against Hamas this week:​

The big picture: Hamas has been a designated terrorist organization in the U.S., the EU and other Western countries for several decades.

• While Hamas leaders don't have assets in the U.S., the sanctions will increase pressure on some of the countries that host them, like Qatar.
• The Treasury Department is working closely with the private sector to enforce existing sanctions and execute new ones.
• This week's set of sanctions is likely the first batch in several rounds to come, according to a U.S. official.

https://www.axios.com/2023/10/17/hamas-sanctions-treasury-money-laundering

This reminds me.

Get ready for oil prices to sky rocket?

How can all this NOT have a devastating effect.

(will go poke around for the predictions)

 

[PommyMommy]

IDF publishes drone footage showing before and after the failed Islamic Jihad rocket slammed into the parking lot of the Ahli hospital in Gaza.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1714505284410921118

 

[JennieM]

What a horrific day. Praying for a cessation and hostages to be released.

 

[PommyMommy]

IDF says it has killed two more senior Hamas commanders in Gaza, among dozens of other targets struck in the Strip over the past day. According to the IDF, Muhammad Awdallah, head of the anti-tank guided missile array of the Gaza City Brigade, and Akram Hijazi, a Hamas naval forces commander, were targeted and killed.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1714510806962835679

 

[margarita25]

Biden facing a difficult diplomatic mission as he travels to Israel | CNN Politics
[...]

The president has been attempting to walk a fine line between supporting Israel and keeping the violence from spiraling into a wider military conflict, a mission made more complicated by the hospital blast. He and other US administration officials have been warning other regional players, namely Iran and its proxy Hezbollah, from expanding the fighting further.

Biden will first meet with Netanyahu for a restricted bilateral meeting, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters aboard Air Force One in a preview of Wednesday’s trip. That meeting will broaden to include other US officials and the Israeli War Cabinet.

In those meetings, Kirby said, “He’s going to get a sense from the Israelis about the situation on the ground, and, more critically, their objectives, their plans, their intentions in the days and weeks ahead.”

[...]

American officials want humanitarian plans for Gaza fully signed off on and implemented before start of the invasion, multiple people familiar with the matter told CNN, describing that task as among Biden’s main objectives during his visit to Tel Aviv on Wednesday.

“We want to see humanitarian assistance flow in – and it’s not just a one and done – we want to see it be able to be sustained: food, water, obviously electrical power, medicine, all the things that the people of Gaza are going to continue to need as this conflict continues to go on. So he’ll make that case very, very clearly,” he said.

[...]

During his trip, Biden will meet with some families impacted by the violence of the past week, including some who have lost loved ones in Israel, and some who “still don’t know the fate of their loved ones,” Kirby said. Some of those family members have loved ones who are being held hostage, though it was not immediately clear whether they are Americans.

[...]

It’s also the second time the president has visited a nation at war this year, following February’s surprise trip to Kyiv. While Biden previously made visits to Iraq and Afghanistan during his time as vice president, the trips to Israel and Ukraine posed a unique security challenge without as much US military control of the area.

@otto

“It’s also the second time the president has visited a nation at war this year, following February’s surprise trip to Kyiv. While Biden previously made visits to Iraq and Afghanistan during his time as vice president, the trips to Israel and Ukraine posed a unique security challenge without as much US military control of the area.”


Nice.


(Eta: Phew, wasn’t looking forward to running around the block in a clown costume.)

 

[margarita25]

IDF says it has killed two more senior Hamas commanders in Gaza, among dozens of other targets struck in the Strip over the past day. According to the IDF, Muhammad Awdallah, head of the anti-tank guided missile array of the Gaza City Brigade, and Akram Hijazi, a Hamas naval forces commander, were targeted and killed.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1714510806962835679

They need to get “The Butcher.”

Who knows how long that’s going to take.


Eta/reference via @PommyMommy in last thread:

“Yahya Sinwar is a direct enemy of the State of Israel and his genocidal terrorist organization—Hamas—is a threat to the entire world.”

https://twitter.com/x/status/1713763024803160275

—-

When A Murderer Becomes A Leader: Who is Yahya Sinwar?
14.10.23
IDF

“In 2018, the Head of the Hamas terrorist organization, Yahya Sinwar, declared to the world: “We will take down the border [with Israel] and we will tear their hearts from their bodies."
Last Saturday, October 7th, Sinwar’s declaration became Israel’s reality”

*much more at link

https://www.idf.il/en/mini-sites/updates-articles-videos-and-more/general-articles/when-a-murderer-becomes-a-leader-who-is-yahya-sinwar/

——

3 days ago:

Who is Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, dubbed ‘a dead man walking’ by Israel?

Long before Hamas militants burst through the Gaza border fence on Oct. 7, Sinwar was seen by Israeli security officials as one of their most ruthless enemies.

www.nbcnews.com

Hamas' Gaza chief, Yahya Sinwar, in Gaza City in April 2022. Ali Jadallah / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images​

 

[PommyMommy]

Israel-Hamas war live: Biden flies to Israel as Jordan summit cancelled; deadly Gaza hospital blast sparks Middle East protests (theguardian.com)
6m ago06.25 BST

The Economist’s Middle East correspondent, Gregg Carlstrom, reports that Biden is due to touch down in Tel Aviv in 90 minutes’ time.

 

[LaborDayRN]

Scary. Geez.

VERY!

 

[MyBelle]

it’s astounding how quickly this has escalated and a war seems to be looming. Israel are going to need a lot of proof to back up their claims as it simply doesn’t add up they are Not responsible for this Hospital Bombing.

Hamas clearly don’t have the capacity to do this or Israel would have been hit way harder if they had weapons that could cause such damage.


Moo

Hamas certainly had the "capacity" to break into homes to torture and slaughter innocent families, children, elderly for many hours. Israel has plenty of proof they did just that and plenty of proof Hamas targeted the hospital in order to slaughter and torture more innocent people.

JMO

 

[MyBelle]

Meet the man tasked with keeping a lid on the Middle East

Antony Blinken, the low-key secretary of state and one of Biden's closest advisers, has engaged in "marathon diplomacy" to limit the scope of the war in the Middle East.

www.nbcnews.com

[...]

For nearly a week, Biden's top emissary and longtime confidant has lived at the brink of an unfolding war in the Middle East, shuttling among seven countries over the past 133 hours as he articulates why America is supporting Israel's counter-offensive while seeking to keep other nations on the sidelines and limit the loss of civilian life on both sides of the Gaza border. Along the way, Blinken spoke with Biden daily — "every airplane ride or when we got back to the hotel," according to top Blinken adviser Derek Chollet — to stay in close coordination.

“He’s making a Herculean effort to stay in touch with the Arab World and trying to convince them that this is a different time for Israel,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who spoke at length with Blinken by phone Sunday night. “The job of the secretary of state right now is to convince the region and the world writ large that this attack has changed the game — that the old way of doing business died with the babies killed by Hamas — and to prepare the Arab world for some tough times.”

Importantly, Graham added, “he’s also trying to get Israel to [do] all they can to minimize casualties.”

Blinken's charge is to make room for Israel to destroy Hamas without drawing Arab nations or their populations into the fight, which may require persuading Israel to exercise more restraint in its response than its leaders envision and convincing the Arab world that Israel is, in fact, doing that. As he spoke with Netanyahu, Israeli forces appeared to be on the verge of a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.

[...]

Thanks! I am very impressed with SoS Blinken!

JMO

 

[PommyMommy]

13min ago

IDF says lack of crater at hospital blast site proves it wasn’t behind strike​

Screen capture from an IDF video claiming to prove that its ordnance did not cause a blast at Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza, where hundreds were killed, released on October 18, 2023. (screen capture)

The Israel Defense Forces publishes drone footage that it says proves a deadly blast at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in the Gaza Strip was not caused by its ordnance, which it says would have left a crater and not a burning parking lot and shrapnel-pocked roofs.

The video shows images of the hospital’s parking lot, where the blast struck, causing hundreds of casualties according to Hamas health officials.

The images show that a large fire was caused in the area as a result of the blast, but there is no crater. Israeli strikes generally leave large holes in the ground, the army says.

The drone footage also points to shrapnel that landed on the roof of the nearby buildings, which remain largely intact.

Israel has denied accusations that one of its airstrikes caused the blast and has instead blamed it on a failed rocket launched by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Other footage, including an Al Jazeera livestream, have appeared to further back Israel’s claim that a failed rocket caused the blast.

 

[margarita25]

Israel-Hamas war live: Biden flies to Israel as Jordan summit cancelled; deadly Gaza hospital blast sparks Middle East protests (theguardian.com)
6m ago06.25 BST

The Economist’s Middle East correspondent, Gregg Carlstrom, reports that Biden is due to touch down in Tel Aviv in 90 minutes’ time.

I’m fired up.