Examples of continuous Israeli harassment/murder of Palestinians

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Sun Jun 03, 2018 - UN Agencies Deeply Concerned over Israeli Killing of Health Volunteer in Gaza
Farsnews

United Nations officials and agencies expressed their outrage over Israeli forces' killing of Razan Najjar, a 21-year-old Palestinian female, while carrying out her humanitarian duties with the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS).

"Healthcare workers must be allowed to perform their duties without fear of death or injury," Humanitarian Coordinator Jamie McGoldrick said, adding that "the killing of a clearly-identified medical staffer by security forces during a demonstration is particularly reprehensible. It is difficult to see how it squares with Israel's obligation as occupying power to ensure the welfare of the population of Gaza", WAFA reported.

Razan was hit by live ammunition fired by Israeli forces while trying to reach those injured during the 'Great March of Return' demonstrations close to Israel's perimeter fence. She was taken immediately to a trauma stabilization point, and then to the European Gaza Hospital, where she died. Three others in her team were also injured.

"Reports indicate that Razan was assisting injured demonstrators and wearing her first responder clothing, clearly distinguishing her as a healthcare worker even from a distance," James Heenan, Head of Office, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, said.

"Reports suggest that she was shot about 100 metres from the fence. Under international human rights law, which applies in this context along with international humanitarian law, lethal force may only be used as a last resort and when there is an imminent threat of death or serious injury. It is very difficult to see how Razan posed such a threat to heavily-armed, well-protected Israeli forces in defensive positions on the other side of the fence," he added.

Attacks on medical teams in Gaza not only risk the life and health of staff and patients, but also undermine the overall capacity of Gaza's health system, which is already suffering from chronic underfunding and massive pressure, compounded by the more than ten years of blockade, according to a statement issued by UN Humanitarian Coordinator, World Health Organization (WHO), Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and OCHA.

WHO called for the protection of health workers and patients at all times. Gerald Rockenschaub, Head of the WHO office in the oPt, stated that "today, our thoughts are with the family of Razan, and with our colleagues from the PMRS. Such attacks on health care must not happen and we need to enhance our efforts to ensure the protection of our frontline health workers. There are clear obligations to safeguard healthcare under international law and these must be respected".


06.03.2018 - The last interview with the Palestinian medic Razan al-Najjar (Video)
The last interview with the Palestinian medic Razan al-Najjar

Razan al-Najjar was trying to help an injured protester near the border fence when she was fatally shot by Israeli soldiers, witnesses say. Last month, she spoke to The New York Times about the challenges she faced as a female medical volunteer.

 

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12.06.2018 - Israeli Paratroopers Jump into NATO Exercises for First Time in Eastern Europe
Israeli Paratroopers Jump Into NATO Exercises for First Time in Eastern Europe

NATO kicked off a large military exercise in Europe Saturday, holding drills in Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Thousands of soldiers from seven different countries are participating, but this year will mark the first time Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) will have some of their paratroopers join in.

The military exercise, Swift Response, will include parachuting, raids, equipment drops, air assault operations, and simulated urban warfare and evacuation exercises. The countries will hold such drills jointly. The IDF paratroopers are training with the US EUCOM 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team.

According to the IDF, drills also took place in Germany and include 10 countries. However, the United States Army Europe website does not include Germany as a country in which the exercise will take place, and says only seven allied and partnered nations will participate.

This is the first time the IDF has participated in a international exercise of the European Command," the official IDF Twitter account tweeted. "The purpose of the exercise is to improve mutual cooperation among the participating armies."

One of the transport vehicles used in the drills caught fire caught during its descent Saturday, according to Latvian Defense Ministry spokeswoman Mairita Senkevicina, as reported by Xinhua. Nobody was hurt in the mishap. In a separate incident Sunday, a fire broke out during a drill, setting some of the forest ablaze, according to the Baltic Times.

Swift Response 2015, the first iteration of the exercise, marked the largest airborne drill in Europe since the Cold War. NATO drills in the region have increased in pace and scope since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 after the region voted to rejoin the Russian Federation.

Jerusalem Online reports that Israel's participation comes "74 years after Jewish paratrooper Hannah Szenes parachuted in Yugoslavia to fight Nazi Germany." Szenes fought with the British alongside 36 other Jewish parachutists.

There were a number of Jewish paratroopers also in the Soviet Union's Red Army, which liberated Germany from the Nazi regime. One such parachutist was Abraham Michael Grinzaid, who began fighting with the Soviets when he was just 17-and-a-half years old, some 75 years ago. He was awarded with five medals for his participation in combat across Europe and shook hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin when he visited Israel in 2012. Some 500,000 Jews fought with the Red Army during the Second World War.

The drills will wrap up on June 15.


11.06.2018 - Watch: Israeli Authorities Demolish Graves at Historic Palestinian Cemetery
WATCH: Israeli Authorities Demolish Graves at Historic Palestinian Cemetery

Published on Jun 5, 2018 (0:33 min.)

Israeli authorities were caught on video excavating portions of the historic Bab al-Rahma cemetery next to Al-Aqsa mosque in occupied East Jerusalem. The cemetery is believed to contain the final resting places of two companions of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.

Video from June 5 shows about a dozen men, presumably members of Israel's Nature and Parks Authority, at a work site in the Bab al-Rahma cemetery, through which Israel is planning to build a national park trail.

The cemetery sits adjacent to Al-Aqsa mosque, the third holiest site in Islam. It is believed to hold the graves of Ubada ibn as-Samit and Shadad ibn Aus, two of the Prophet Muhammad's companions. The cemetery has remained in use for more than 1,000 years.

Israel plans to seize about 40 percent of the cemetery for the national park under murky legal pretexts, Sputnik News recently reported. The plan has supposedly been in place since 2015, but Palestinian lawyers and conservation activists claim Israel is jumping the gun, as court cases over the fate of the cemetery remain pending.

Israeli authorities have recently resumed work on the park and have been seen digging up and marking graves, removing trees and fencing off areas to halt future burials. During the first weekend of June, several Palestinians were injured and arrested while protesting the desecration of the cemetery.

Outside of Jerusalem proper, in the West Bank, authorities are also clearing the way for a new settlement over the village of al-Khana Ahmar, a village mostly inhabited by Bedouin refugees who were expelled from southern Israel in 1952. In 2009, an Italian aid organization constructed a school there, but Israel ordered it to be demolished one month after it opened. After that, residents in neighboring Israeli settlements petitioned the courts to demolish the community, which has been slated for destruction since February 2010. In 2015, authorities confiscated solar panels that provided the only source of electricity to the village.

Israel plans to relocate them yet again, this time north to a village called An-Nuway'imah, allowing Jewish settlers to claim the strategically significant spot. Building an Israeli settlement there would allow the government to connect the urban Israeli settlement of Ma'ale Adumim to Jerusalem and to control the gateway between northern and southern parts of the West Bank.

Israel plans to relocate them yet again, this time north to a village called An-Nuway'imah, allowing Jewish settlers to claim the strategically significant spot. Building an Israeli settlement there would allow the government to connect the urban Israeli settlement of Ma'ale Adumim to Jerusalem and to control the gateway between northern and southern parts of the West Bank.

Abu Khamiss, a spokesman for the current Khan al-Ahmar villagers, told France 24 in 2014 that "the place where Israel wants us to ‘relocate' would be like a prison for us. We'd be surrounded by Israeli settlements, a checkpoint and military training camps."

The demolition is expected to begin any day now. Already, Israeli authorities have been accused of poisoning locals' dogs under cover of night, robbing the villagers of the "faithful shepherds."

For Palestinian children living in the West Bank, getting to school is an incredibly difficult task because of their scarcity and the difficulty of traveling due to the abundance of Israeli checkpoints that control movement around the territory and can take hours to pass through. Israel is slated to destroy the Palestinian school in al-Khana Ahmar as well, a move the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East said in 2011 "would effectively deny the children of the community their education and jeopardize their future."

According to a January report from the the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, at least 61 schools in the West Bank and East Jerusalem have pending demolition orders or stop work orders against them from the Israeli government.


*** On the other side of the Gaza Border Wall .......

June 10, 2018 - Over 250,000 revelers flood Tel Aviv for Israel’s biggest ever Gay Pride parade
https://www.timesofisrael.com/over-250000-revelers-flood-tel-aviv-for-gay-pride/

Ripped men in white underwear, pink bunny ears and black bow ties gyrated through the streets of Israel’s Tel Aviv on Friday along with drag queens and others to loud trance music for the annual Gay Pride Parade — the biggest event of its kind in the region.

The Tel Aviv Municipality said over 250,000 people celebrated at the city’s 20th Gay Pride Parade, an event that draws people from around the world to party at the Israeli beach city that has built an image of an oasis of tolerance for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community.

The turnout was the biggest ever in the parade’s history.

Tel Aviv’s annual parade stands in sharp contrast to most other cities in the region. Across the rest of the Middle East, gay and lesbian relationships are mostly taboo. Pervasiveness of religion in everyday life, along with strict cultural norms, plays a major factor.

Cafes, stores, and lamp posts were decked with rainbow flags across Tel Aviv, with tens of thousands of tourists visiting Israel specifically for the event.

“With all these flags, I already feel at home,” said Jimmy Chan, 39, who arrived from China two days ago. “Seeing this parade in such a religious country makes you feel more connected as a community.”

Perched on high heels and wearing a black skirt which is attached with a rainbow flag, a marcher calling himself Aldifrost, 30, sketched a few dance steps, shaking his long wavy and colored hair.

“Tel Aviv is the big city of gays!” he exclaimed, saying he was attending for the 10th year. “I come here to party and display my drag-queen show.”

Visiting from Germany, Cordelia Lange said that Tel Aviv was “a very vibrant city, it’s a city that embraces everything connected to gays, lesbians, and LGBT, and I think it’s a combination of city at the beach and good vibes.”

Arab Israeli participant Sahreef Awad said: “There’s no difference between anyone, it’s just like, you know, culture, color, nationality, it doesn’t matter, come one, it’s like, we are all people, that’s what matters, love is love, so love wins, yeah!”

The colorful march began at around noon at Ben Zion Boulevard in central Tel Aviv, before proceeding to the beachfront, along Bograshov, Hayarkon, Frishman, and Herbert Samuel Streets before concluding at Charles Clore Park, where the main party was held in the evening.

Kicking off the annual event was Mayor Ron Huldai, who told marchers he was proud to stand in front of them to issue a rallying cry for equal rights. “We will continue to break through the walls of hatred and reach a time when all people are equal in Israel,” he said. “This parade has an extraordinary meaning in the sense that we are here, and we are not leaving.”

Floats moved through the closed streets of downtown throughout the afternoon, including one sponsored by the British Embassy in Tel Aviv, and decorated under the theme of “Love is Great Britain.” The UK ambassador to Israel is David Quarrey, an openly gay man.

Police deployed hundreds of officers and volunteers along the parade’s route — and around the gathering areas — to secure the revelers, to direct traffic, and to maintain public order.

American television personality Andy Cohen is serving as international ambassador for the 2018 parade, and Netta Barzilai, the Israeli winner of the 2018 Eurovision song contest, performed at the event’s main stage.

‘Pinkwashing’
During Friday’s celebrations, a group of pro-Palestinian activists gathered on the sidelines of the parade to protest the “pinkwashing” of Israel’s LGBT community.

Israeli activists carrying black and pink signs accused the government of highlighting its relatively pro-gay stance compared to its neighbors in a bid to downplay its alleged rights abuses against Palestinians.

Israel’s foreign ministry highlights Tel Aviv’s status as one of the world’s most gay-friendly cities in its promotional material.

To the sound of percussion, they shouted “stop the occupation!” in reference to Israel’s continued military presence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

World’s ‘most gay-friendly city’
Friday’s parade caps off a week of pride celebrations, which featured a glut of rainbow-infused parties and cultural events, that will continue through the weekend.

Tel Aviv places a large emphasis on Pride Week, since it’s a huge draw for international tourists. Tens of thousands of tourists visit Israel for Tel Aviv’s pride week each year.

In a statement Friday, the municipality hailed its status as the world’s “most gay-friendly city” and said this year’s festivities drew record numbers of visitors.

Huldai praised his city for being “a beacon for liberty, pluralism, and tolerance,” and vowed Tel Aviv would continue to “support and celebrate our local LGBT culture and act as a welcoming destination for the international gay community.”

 

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Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri said the recent move by the US administration to relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to al-Quds (Jerusalem) would facilitate the collapse of the Zionist regime of Israel.

June, 08, 2018 - US Embassy Relocation to Speed UP Collapse of Israeli Regime: Iran’s Top General
US Embassy Relocation to Speed UP Collapse of Israeli Regime: Iran’s Top General - Tasnim News Agency

Speaking to reporters while attending a massive anti-Israeli rally in Tehran on Friday to mark the International Quds Day, Major General Baqeri pointed to the high turnout in the demonstrations and said the rallies have made the unity of Muslims “more visible”.

The unity proves that “the game” that the US has played by relocating its embassy to Quds has not been able to damage the cause of Muslims (the liberation of Palestine), he noted. “These are factors that will cause Israel to collapse sooner,” the Iranian top commander went on to say.

The remarks came as countrywide demonstrations marking the International Quds Day were held in more than 900 cities of Iran on Friday with thousands of reporters covering the event.

The International Quds Day is an annual event during which demonstrators express their solidarity with the Palestinian people and opposition to the occupation of the Palestinian territories by the Zionist regime of Israel.

The day is also seen as the legacy of the late founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Imam Khomeini, who officially declared the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan as International Quds Day back in 1979.


Thu Jun 14, 2018 - UN General Assembly Condemns Israel for Excessive Use of Force against Palestinians on Gaza Border
Farsnews

The UN General Assembly adopted a nonbinding resolution condemning Israel’s use of excessive force against Palestinian protesters in Gaza, while a US amendment to condemn Hamas did not get enough support.

The resolution condemns Israel for “excessive use of force” against Palestinian demonstrators on the Israeli-Gaza border and calls for the “protection of the Palestinian civilian population” in Gaza. It was adopted with 120 votes in favor and eight votes against, with 45 abstentions, RT reported.

The amendment offered by US envoy Nikki Haley sought to condemn Hamas for firing rockets at Israel. The amendment received 62 votes in favor, with 58 nations opposed and 42 abstaining. It needed a two-thirds majority to pass, however, so it was not included in the final resolution.

The nearly identical resolution proposed by Kuwait was vetoed by the US in the Security Council on Tuesday. Unlike the Security Council resolutions, those adopted in the General Assembly are non-binding.

Haley condemned the adopted resolution as “morally bankrupt”.

“The resolution is one-sided, makes not one mention of Hamas which routinely initiates violence,” the US envoy said during the debate preceding the vote, adding that “what makes Gaza different is that attacking Israel is their favorite political sport”.

Israeli ambassador Danny Danon slammed the resolution as “empowering Hamas” and the countries that support it as “colluding with a terrorist organization”.

“I have a simple message for those who support this resolution. You are the ammunition for Hamas’s guns, you are the warheads for its missiles,” he stated.

Over 130 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces during the rallies along the border with Gaza that began on March 30. The deadliest day so far has been May 14, when the US embassy officially moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

“We cannot remain silent in the face of the most violent crimes and human rights violations being systematically perpetrated against our people,” Riyad Mansour, Palestinian envoy to the UN, stressed.


Thu Jun 14, 2018 - UN Envoy: Next Gaza War Will Be ‘More Destructive’
Farsnews

UN Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov warned that ongoing tension along the Gaza border could escalate into a "destructive" military conflict.

"We all have a common interest to avoid another war in Gaza because another war in Gaza will be more destructive than the one in 2014 and it will have regional implications," Mladenov said in an interview with Israeli Walla news website on Wednesday.

"I do not think anyone in Israel, Palestinians, Arabs and the world is ready for another conflict in the Middle East," he added.

Tension has been running high along Gaza border amid Palestinians demanding an end to the decades-long Israeli occupation.

Since late March, at least 130 Palestinians have been killed and thousands injured by Israeli army fire during the rallies in the Gaza Strip.

The situation escalated when the United States relocated its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which was occupied by Israel in 1967 and represents the head of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

In 2014, Israel waged a devastating 51-day military onslaught on the Gaza Strip, in which more than 2,300 Palestinians were killed and tens of thousands injured.


Thu Jun 14, 2018 - Spokesperson: Deal without Jerusalem or Refugees Will Not Work
Farsnews

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, Spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas, stated on Wednesday that any deal that excludes Jerusalem and the refugees issue will not have any chance of success and will be still born.

“Talk about ideas and proposals that will soon be presented for discussion on the plan and the timing for publishing the so-called 'deal of the century’ will not lead to a successful political process as long as they exclude Jerusalem and the refugees,” he said in a statement, WAFA reported.

"If the United States continues to change the rules of the relationship with the Palestinian leadership and our Palestinian people, the political deadlock and paralysis will continue," Abu Rudeineh added.

He stressed that “any futile efforts or contacts with any party aiming to undermine the sacred national constants will lead to further destabilization of an already fragile situation and in the whole region”.

“The entire region is going through a sharp turn that will affect the national balance and take it into unknown directions. Any attempt to search for feeble peace projects or search for a mini-state in Gaza to end the dream of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital will only increase the resolve of the Palestinian people and their national leadership to hold on to the land, rights and holy places,” he stated.

The official Spokesman stressed that “the road to achieving a just and lasting peace passes through the Arab and international legitimacy and the Palestinian national decision, which adheres to Jerusalem and the national constants, and any attempts or ideas to circumvent these basics will be still born”.

He concluded by saying that “Jerusalem and Palestinian agreement are the title of the current phase and the correct way to achieve the desired peace with an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem and its holy places as its capital”.


Thu Jun 14, 2018 - Israel to Limit Helium Supplies to Gaza, Restricting Hospitals
Farsnews

Israel plans to limit helium supplies to the besieged Gaza Strip, a move which would restrict vital supplies to hospitals.

The decision was taken by Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Major General Kamil Abu Rokon, while Israel’s Defence Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, approved the decision, Middle East Monitor reported.

COGAT did not specify how much helium would be allowed to enter Gaza under the new restrictions, but warned that Israel could cut off the supply of helium entirely.

Helium gas is used for a range of medical purposes and equipment, including MRI machines. Hospitals in Gaza regularly suffer adverse conditions, a lack of resources and power outages due to daily restrictions on electricity as a result of Israel’s siege.

In January 2018, generators at seven health centres in the Strip stopped working due to the shortage in fuel.
Hospitals in Gaza have come under additional strain in recent months, as thousands of victims of the Great March of Return flooded the wards. Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest of 13 medical facilities in the besieged Strip, ordered field tents to be put up in the hospital courtyard to tend to the casualties, according to Reuters.

Israel claims the move to limit helium supplies to Gaza was influenced by the use of the gas to fly incendiary balloons and kites into Southern Israel. Last week, Israel ordered $1.4 million worth of funds to be withheld from the Palestinian Authority (PA) as compensation for damage reportedly caused by these kites. The Israeli government declared anyone whose fields had been damaged “terrorism victims entitled to compensation”.

Following the order, Israel’s Public Security Minister, Gilad Erdan, said that Palestinians who launch kites from Gaza should be assassinated. Erdan told his audience in Sderot, an Israeli town close to the border with Gaza, that “we need to return to preventative assassinations. Those who send the kites and Hamas commanders must be a target for preventative killings”.

Over the course of the Great March of Return, medical staff have been targeted by Israeli live fire. On 2 June, 21-year-old volunteer medic Razan Al-Najar was shot dead while trying to help injured protesters. Al-Najar was wearing a white uniform at the time, with witnesses telling Reuters “she raised her hands high in a clear way, but Israeli soldiers fired and she was hit in the chest”. The Israeli army subsequently began a smear campaign against Al-Najar in an attempt to discredit her work.


Thu Jun 14, 2018 - Another Young Palestinian Dies of Wounds Sustained in Gaza Rallies
Farsnews

21-year-old Ahmad Ziad Assi died on Thursday at Gaza European Hospital of injuries sustained few days ago from Israeli army gunfire, according to the Ministry of Health.

Assi was shot in the head by an Israeli army snipper East of Khan Younis, in the South of the Gaza Strip, during Gaza border rallies. He was in critical condition at the hospital until he was pronounced dead, Middle East News reported.

At least 135 Palestinians were killed and over 14,000 wounded by the Israeli Army in the West Bank and Gaza Strip since the start of the March of Return rallies in late March, according to the latest statistics by the Ministry of Health.

 

[Ca.]

Israeli Jets Carry Out Airstrikes on 9 Targets in Northern Gaza Strip
(updated 07:04 18.06.2018)
Israeli defense forces reported making airstrikes on nine military targets in three sites in northern Gaza Strip.

Israeli jets targeted nine military targets in two military compounds and a munition manufacturing site, Israeli defense forces reported on Twitter. According to IDF, the targets were belonging to the Hamas militants.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1008550950842355713

The airstrikes were a response to "arson and explosive kites and balloons that've been launched into Israel," IDF stressed, adding that Israeli defense forces were "determined to continue to act with increasing intensity against these acts of terror as long as required".

Tensions on the Israeli border with Gaza flared up amid the Great March of Return rally, which began on March 30. The Israeli side has been using lethal arms to suppress the rallies citing security concerns and putting the blame for the escalation on the Hamas radical movement, governing the Gaza Strip.

Recently, the United Nations General Assembly held its 10th emergency meeting on Israel's response to protests along the border with Gaza, passing a resolution condemning excessive use of force by Israeli soldiers against Palestinians, while the US amendment criticizing Hamas for initiating violence failed to pass after getting only 62 votes.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1007026057676054528

https://twitter.com/x/status/1008386005622239234

10 Minutes: Washington from Nakba to Occupation
PressTV Documentaries Published on Jun 2, 2018 / 10:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjSfgsfhNmE
The Israel regime has long denied responsibility for the refugee problem and says the refugees will never be allowed to return. American policymakers now seem to accept the Israeli view. But this was not always the case.
Notice Age-restricted video (based on Community Guidelines)

 

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A United Nations report takes Israel to task for failing to abide by a 2016 Security Council resolution urging the regime to stop its settlement expansion on occupied Palestinian land, saying Tel Aviv has in fact taken “no steps” at all to that effect.

Wed Jun 20, 2018 - Israel Keeps Expanding Settlements Despite UN Resolution
Farsnews

UN Middle East coordinator, Nickolay Mladenov submitted a report to the Security Council on Tuesday, detailing Tel Aviv’s construction activities from March 26 to June 12. The report is published every four months to recount the implementation of Resolution 2334, presstv reported.

“As detailed in the report, no steps were taken during the reporting period to cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem [al-Quds] as demanded by the resolution,” he said.

Mladenov added that some 3,500 housing units in settlements in the so-called Area C of the occupied West Bank had even been either “advanced, approved or tendered”.

The Area C is the largest division in the occupied territory as it comprises 60 percent of the land. Israel has subjected it to full military control.

The report, meanwhile, said that during the period covered , Israeli authorities had demolished or seized 84 Palestinian-owned structures, resulting in the displacement of 67 people and potentially affecting the livelihoods of 4,500 others.

The need to reverse, or at the very least contain the impact of negative trends - especially illegal settlement activity, violence and incitement - is critical not only to preserve hope for a meaningful return to the negotiating table, but also to prevent the escalation of broader regional tensions,” the official noted.

Israel occupied the West Bank and East al-Quds during the Six Day War in 1967. It later annexed East al-Quds in a move not recognized by the international community.

Now, about 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built illegally since the occupation.

The council approved Resolution 2334 in December 2016 by a vote of 14-0 when former American President Barack Obama’s administration abstained, stopping short of vetoing the anti-Israel document in a rare move.

The resolution states that “it will not recognize any changes to the 4 June 1967 lines, including with regard to Jerusalem [al-Quds], other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations.”

Mladenov further stated that the reporting period was characterized by high levels of violence, the UN’s website reported on its news section.

Israeli violence has killed more than 140 people since March 30, when Palestinians began holding peaceful March of Return protests on a weekly basis in support of their right to go back to their homeland.

“I want to again reiterate the call of the Secretary-General on all to unequivocally condemn, in the strongest possible terms, all actions that have brought us to this dangerous place and led to the loss of so many lives in Gaza,” he stressed.

Two Israeli troops were also injured during the protests, with at least five others injured as a result of rockets and mortars launched from Gaza, the website reported.

Besides its crackdown on Gaza rallies, the Israeli military has also been targeting positions of Hamas, which runs the territory, prompting the Palestinian resistance to respond by firing rockets into Israel.


Wed Jun 20, 2018 - UN Chief: Gaza 'on Brink of War'
Farsnews

The UN chief said in a report obtained by news agencies that he is "shocked" by Israel's use of live fire since border rallies began in Gaza in late March, Al-Jazeera reported.

Guterres stated that its military has "a responsibility to exercise maximum restraint" except as a last resort.

The report was sent to the council last week in advance of a meeting on Tuesday on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"The killing of children, as well as of clearly identified journalists and medical staffers by security forces during a demonstration are particularly unacceptable," Guterres said, adding that "they must be allowed to perform their duties without fear of death or injury".

Israel has not yet responded to the accusations.

Guterres also told the Security Council that he "unequivocally condemns the steps by all parties that have brought us to this dangerous and fragile place" in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Since weekly mass protests began along the Israel-Gaza border on March 30, at least 130 Palestinians have been killed and 13,000 others wounded by Israeli army fire. The overwhelming majority of the dead and wounded have been unarmed, according to Gaza health officials. Two Palestinian journalists were killed while covering the protests in April and two medics including a 21-year-old were also shot dead in May and early June.

 

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TEL AVIV – The “Jewish race” is the “smartest in the world and has the highest human capital, so Israelis should be skeptical about current investigations into corruption by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,” a Likud MP said.

Jun 17, 2018 - The Ugly Face of Zionist Racism: Netanyahu ally invokes ‘chosen’ supremacy of ‘Jewish race’
The Ugly Face of Zionist Racism: Netanyahu ally invokes 'chosen' supremacy of 'Jewish race' - Fort Russ

“I can tell you something very basic,” Miki Zohar said during a debate on Radio 103FM on Wednesday, as quoted by the Times of Israel newspaper.

“You can not fool Jews, no matter what the media writes. The public in Israel is a public belonging to the Jewish race, and the whole Jewish race is the highest, most intelligent, most comprehensive human capital,” he said.

Citing opinion polls showing widespread support for Netanyahu, Zohar said the statistics clearly show that the “Jewish race” is too smart to be fooled by extensive media coverage of multiple corruption polls.

The rather overt racism and supremacism displayed in an attempt to defend the Israeli prime minister immediately put the party member in power in a delicate situation.

The high-profile statement on Jewish supremacy struck a nerve with Ahmad Tibi, an Israeli Arab-Muslim politician and leader of the Movement for Arab Change movement, who on Twitter accused his Israeli counterpart of presenting his own racial theory.

“An official elected ‘in the Jewish state’ presents: race theory,” he wrote on Twitter, along with a portrait of the Zohar.

The Arab politician then followed with a tweet from him reading Amos Elon’s book, “The Compassion of All: A Portrait of the German Jewish Age, 1743-1933,” which describes how a small minority came to be perceived as a mortal threat to integrity national level.

Zohar also used Twitter to bounce back.

“And on the back cover is a photo of Albert Einstein, another Jew who brought great news to the world.” Again, the Arab parliamentarian replied, “What is the connection between you and Einstein? It’s not even a relative relationship.”

In an attempt to stifle criticism and clarify what exactly he meant, Zohar gave an interview to Hadashot TV – but only worsened his case by denying that he mentioned the supremacy of the Jewish race until he was confronted with a recording of your statement.

“The Jewish people and the Jewish race are of the highest human capital there is,” he then reiterated. “What can you do? We have been blessed by God … I do not have to be ashamed of the Jewish people being the chosen people, the most intelligent and special people in the world.” ( Oh Vy!!! )


21.06.2018 - Israeli PM Netanyahu's Wife Charged With Fraud Over Misuse of Funds
Israeli PM Netanyahu’s Wife Charged With Fraud Over Misuse of Funds

According to a draft of the indictment, Sara Netanyahu told the staff at the PM's Residence to order meals eaten at the residence worth a total of 360,000 shekels ($99,000) from gourmet restaurants between 2010 and 2013.

Sara Netanyahu, along with Ezra Saidoff, a former deputy director general of the Prime Minister's Office, have been indicted on fraud and breach of trust according to an official statement.

Investigators in the case claim, she knew she was breaking rules prohibiting the residence from ordering meals from outside during periods when the residence had a cook on its staff and concealed these facts.

Ezra Saidoff allegedly conspired to avoid the regulations and create a false impression that there was no cook at the residence in Jerusalem.

 

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21.06.2018 - Sara Netanyahu Indicted For Falsely Charging State $100k For Meals
Sara Netanyahu indicted for falsely charging state $100k for meals

Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit charged the prime minister’s wife, Sara Netanyahu, for fraud with aggravated circumstances and breach of public trust in the “Prepared Food Affair,” in an explosive development which shook the country on Thursday.

When Leah Rabin was about to be indicted in 1977, then-prime minister Yitzhak Rabin resigned from office due to his wife’s scandal.

The expectation is that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not considering such a move, but the indictment damages him politically in an atmosphere in which The Jerusalem Post recently reported that he too is likely to face an indictment announcement in the coming months or in early 2019.

Though the Post had learned about two weeks ago that an indictment would likely be coming down soon, there were continuous efforts to reach a plea bargain right down to the end, which left things up in the air and created an ongoing drama.

Other media had also reported in recent months that the actual indictment could be filed shortly after the Passover holiday in May, but then Netanyahu’s defense lawyers approached Mandelblit with a dramatic offer.

They offered to return some of the funds Netanyahu is accused of obtaining fraudulently and to take public responsibility, as long as she would not be slapped with any kind of criminal record.

Ultimately, despite media reports that a deal might be near, the Post’s sources proved correct that no deal was reached, leading to an indictment.

The indictment was also delayed from May until now following Nir Hefetz, a former close adviser to the Netanyahu family, providing new evidence against Sara Netanyahu. Although Hefetz is primarily a state’s witness against the prime minister for Case 4000 the Bezeq-Walla! Affair, he also provided material against Sara.

A pre-indictment hearing in January, where Sara Netanyahu’s lawyers asked Mandelblit to reverse his preliminary decision in September 2017 to indict her, also had failed to sway him, though Mandelblit issued a statement at the time that he “had an open mind” to their arguments.

In the Prepared Food Affair, the prosecution alleges that from September 2010 until March 2013, Sara Netanyahu acted in coordination with then-Prime Minister’s Office deputy director-general Ezra Seidoff falsely claiming that the Prime Minister’s Residence did not employ a cook, even though it did during that time.

According to the allegations, the two made the false claim to circumvent and exploit regulations that stated, “in a case where a cook is not employed in the official residence, it is permitted to order prepared food as needed.” The two hoped to obtain state funding both for the cook at the residence and for prepared food orders. In this way, the two allegedly fraudulently obtained from the state NIS 359,000 in hundreds of prepared food orders.

Furthermore, in 15 instances, invoices to chefs who were brought in from outside were falsified in order to circumvent limits on how much could be paid toward outside-chefs. Seidoff directed the chefs, the house managers and Netanyahus’ secretaries to falsify the invoices in these 15 instances.

Charges against Netanyahu for these 15 instances were previously closed by Mandelblit as there was insufficient evidence to prove that she knew about Seidoff’s and the others’ actions.

The prosecution also indicted Seidoff on Thursday for the same offenses, while adding the offense of falsifying documents and with a total fraud amount of NIS 393,000.

Several other cases against Netanyahu were closed in September 2017, but one of them will also impact the indictment.

While Mandelbit closed the “Father Homecare Affair” case against Netanyahu due to the small amounts of money involved, evidentiary problems and the difficult emotional circumstances – it will impact the indictment.

In the affair, Netanyahu employed S and G for six days and five days respectively to care for her sick and now deceased father. While normally, her father had a different homecare arrangement, during those days that he was staying at the prime minister’s residence, his regular arrangement was unavailable.

Netanyahu paid S for taking care of her father. However, in addition, S was paid by the state for providing cleaning services. G functioned as a substitute for S when S was unavailable. G was paid by the state for cleaning services.

Mandelblit said that since Netanyahu had paid S, was unaware of extra payments to S and that all of the state payments to S and G were small, he would not indict her, but that Netanyahu’s pattern of problematic conduct in that case would serve as evidence in the Prepared Food Affair.

Responding to the charges, Netanyahu’s lawyer Yossi Cohen told the Post in January that Meni Naftali and other Prime Minister’s Residence managers like him, not Sara, are responsible for the food orders regarding which she is accused.

He said Netanyahu’s defenses regarding food orders made in 2010 and 2013, when Naftali was not at the Prime Minister’s Residence, were that those accusations related only to around NIS 134,000.

Naftali has already admitted to criminal wrongdoing in this area, so it is just a question of whether the court buys his story or Sara’s about her also being or not being involved. The 2011-2012 period in which he was house manager accounts for around NIS 225,000 of the charges.

Cohen further has said that number could be easily reduced to NIS 30,000-NIS 40,000, as many times when prepared food was ordered, the staff cook was sick, traveling or off for Shabbat.

Asked if he could prove this argument, Cohen said it is known that the cook was off work for these reasons, and that all he needs to do is raise doubt and force the state to prove that the cook was in fact working at the time. Since he said the state has no way to prove, for example, that the cook was working when around NIS 15,000 was charged for prepared food in January 2011, it cannot prove Netanyahu or anyone else improperly ordered prepared food.

Cohen said that if the charges only related to NIS 30,000-NIS 40,000 at most, they could be dropped as relating to an oversight or to a violation too small to be worth prosecuting.

Sources close to the case told the Post in September that though there was unanimity within the prosecution about indicting Mrs. Netanyahu in the Prepared Food Affair, there were differences of opinion within the prosecution about closing some of the other cases against her.

The Sara Netanyahu cases jumped into the headlines in February 2015 as part of a State Comptroller report and “Bottlegate” and other now closed cases becoming household names. It became a full criminal investigation starting in July 2015.

 

[angelburst29]

June 22, 2018 - Netanyahu Meets Kushner, “Peace Plan” on Agenda
Netanyahu Meets Kushner, “Peace Plan” on Agenda

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Senior Advisor to President Donald Trump Jared Kushner and Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt in his office in Al-Quds (Jerusalem) on Friday.

Kushner and Greenblatt are expected to discuss the so-called peace plan and humanitarian crises in the Gaza Strip with Netanyahu during the meeting, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Kushner and Greenblatt are not expected to meet with Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas during their visit.


June 22, 2018 - Russian Envoy: “Deal of Century” a Matter of Surrender to ‘Israel’, Not Peace
Russian Envoy: “Deal of Century” a Matter of Surrender to ‘Israel’, Not Peace

Russian Envoy to Lebanon, Alexander Zasypkin, stressed that the so-called “deal of century” with the Zionist entity is a matter of surrender, not peace with the occupation regime.

In an interview with Lebanese daily, Al-Akhbar, the Russian diplomat said that Tel Aviv bets on the Arabic obedience.

“The deal of century is a matter of surrender. It’s not peace. Israel’s calculations which suit with some Arab states don’t match with the condition of Syria, Lebanon and Palestine,” Zasypkin told Al-Akhbar’s Firas Al-Shoufi.

He said that stressed that the Syrian army will retake control of the war-torn country’s south, ruling out a possible confrontation between the Zionist entity from one side and Iranian and Hezbollah from the other side.

“When discussions started on de-escalation zones, there were talks with all sides on importance of confronting terrorism. Israel fears the presence of Iran and Hezbollah in Syria. We say that the Syrian army is now engaged with the Russian forces in liberating the country’s south, and there is no justification for any Israeli action that could derail confronting terrorism,” the Russian diplomat said.

But he acknowledged that the Zionist entity exploits the presence of terrorist in Syria’s south, but assured that the terrorists will be crushed at last.

“A confrontation is not of favor of any side. There exists a balance of deterrence,” Zasypkin said.

On the other hand, the Russian ambassador dismissed reports of alleged disagreements between Russia and Syria, stressing that such reports are just “out of place propaganda” aimed at suing discords between the two states whose alliance is “deep”.

“Russia and Iran are bound by very big geopolitical and even economic interests and their alliance is deep, not only in Syria but in entire Eurasia,” Zasypkin added.

Meanwhile, the Russian envoy revealed that the US has been renewing its support to the terrorist groups in Syria, ISIL and Nusra Front.

“It’s right that ISIL and Nusra were dealt blows. However, they still exit and being supported by US, and they pose a threat to stability and are capable of launching attacks. Now, we have information that the US has renewed its support to some terrorist groups, including to White Helmets which belongs to Nusra,” Zaspakin told the Lebanese daily.


June 22, 2018 - LA Dismantles Israeli Spy Device near Palestinian Border
LA Dismantles Israeli Spy Device near Palestinian Border

The Lebanese army forces managed on Friday to dismantle an Israeli spy device in the hill of the southern town of Kfar Shuba near the Palestinian border.

The engineering unit dismantled the device, which was composed of two electronic pieces dedicated to telecommunication, and moved it to one of the Lebanese Army’s posts, according to Al-Jadeed TV.


Friday 22 June 2018 - Gaza protesters mark 'Friday of the Wounded'
Gaza protesters mark 'Friday of the Wounded'

More than 14,600 Palestinians have been wounded by Israeli forces since the beginning of the Great March of Return.

Palestinians once again showed up to demonstrations in the Gaza Strip for what had been officially designated as “Friday of the Wounded”, marking 85 days since the beginning of the Great March of Return.

The Gaza health ministry reported that 206 demonstrators, including at least eight minors, had been injured as of 8pm local time on Friday. Crowds only began forming in the late afternoon, with one Middle East Eye correspondent estimating that at least 7,000 people were attending protests all along the fence separating Gaza from Israel.

MEE's reporter said Israeli forces fired large quantities of tear gas and live bullets east of Gaza City, where demonstrators were burning tyres to obstruct the view of Israeli snipers, as well as holding balloons with the names and faces of Palestinians killed during the nearly three months of protests.

While the marches have denounced the abysmal living conditions in Gaza, 11 years into a stringent Israel-imposed and Egypt-supported blockade, they have more broadly focused on calling for the right of return of Palestinian refugees - which make up 1.3 million of Gaza’s two million inhabitants - whose families were forcibly expelled from their homes during the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.

“This is the Friday of the wounded, the Friday of loyalty, the Friday of return, the Friday of steadfastness, the Friday of confrontation and resistance,” Mohammed, one of the many demonstrators who attended the protest on crutches, told Middle East Eye.

“We will persevere until we obtain our rights to our land - the land of life, of freedom and of return.”

At least 133 Palestinians have been killed and 14,600 wounded by Israeli forces since the protests began on 30 March, according to the Gaza health ministry.

Of those wounded, at least 3,900 have been injured by live bullets and another 500 by rubber-coated steel bullets, while more than 6,500 suffered from excessive tear gas inhalation, according to ministry data dating from 12 June.

Health organisations and Gaza’s health ministry have repeatedly warned about the difficult conditions in the besieged enclave’s hospitals because of poor access to electricity and material shortages. The Israeli army’s violent repression of the Great March of Return has only further strained health resources in Gaza.

NGOs such as Physicians for Human Rights - Israel (PHRI) have also slammed the Israeli government for denying numerous Palestinians’ requests for exit permits in order to receive adequate treatment in the occupied West Bank for their wounds. Israel’s denial of exit permits has been blamed for at least 43 Palestinians having limbs amputated because of lack of access to proper care.

Like at least 5,000 others, 24-year-old Mustafa was injured in the leg while demonstrating, marking the third time he has been shot by Israeli forces since 2015.

“Every injury is worse than the previous one,” said Mustafa, adding that his most recent injury occurred while he was tying Palestinian flags to barbed wire installed by Israeli forces inside Gaza. “My knee is gone beyond repair, my arteries have been severed... But even until my last breath, if I have a chance to defend my land and dignity, I will do it."

The sentiment was echoed by fellow protester Mahmoud.

"As an injured person, I come to let the Israelis know that we aren’t giving up on our land. I come every Friday, and even if they shot me in both legs, I would keep coming," he told MEE.

"They throw death at us, but we cultivate life."

 

[Ca.]

AOR PODCAST: Where Is Gaza Heading?
June 26, 2018 By Robert Inlakesh
https://21stcenturywire.com/2018/06/26/aor-podcast-where-is-gaza-heading/
June 26, 2018 By Robert Inlakesh 2 Comments
The Axis Of Resistance (AOR) Podcast, hosted by Robert Inlakesh, discusses developing issues in the Middle-East with a primary focus on Palestine.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad have began to respond to Israeli airstrikes carried out against them, leading to a very intense feeling in Gaza amongst residents of the strip. Many fear another Israeli onslaught may be close, but why and what will this mean?

Why May A War Upon Gaza Happen? | AOR Podcast

Robert Inlakesh Published on Jun 22, 2018 / 25:30
Hosted By: Robert Inlakesh Axis Of Resistance Podcast

https://twitter.com/x/status/1012282842263547906

Meanwhile:

@AmichaiStein1
Tech & Foreign affairs correspondent | Israeli public broadcasting corporation | כתב הטכנולוגיה של @kann | amichais@kan.org.il
#BREAKING: At least 5 killed in Maryland newsroom shooting, official says 1:34 PM - 28 Jun 2018
https://twitter.com/AmichaiStein1/status/1012433459707633665

 

[Ca.]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1018150887955591169

Gaza Escalation: 40 Israeli Airstrikes Overnight, Hamas Mortars, Fires In Southern Israel
07/14/2018 - 11:10

Israeli Warplanes Hit Dozens Of Positions In Gaza As Hamas Continues Launching Rockets (Video, Photos)
14.07.2018
On July 14, warplanes of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) targeted dozens of military targets of the Hamas movement throughout the Gaza Strip, according to the Israeli military.

The targets included a main headquarters of the Hamas movement in the city of Beit Lahia, a rocket launch squad, a mortar shell launcher, a weapons manufacturing site and storage facilities housing various types of weapons.

According to the Israeli military, Hamas fighters have launched more than 60 rockets at the Israeli settlements around the Gaza Strip so far. The Israeli Iron Dome anti-rocket system was able to intercept only 10 of these rockets.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Channel 2 reported that Hamas fighters targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers south of the Gaza Strip with an anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), possibly a Russian-made Kornet. The attack didn’t result in any casualties, according to the news channel.

Observers believe that Israeli and Palestinian officials may announce a ceasefire soon, as many international sides are currently meddling to put an end for the ongoing escalation. According to Palestinian sources, Egypt is currently leading these international efforts and pressuring the Hamas movement into accepting a ceasefire.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1017489770421915649

https://twitter.com/x/status/1018145604248199168

 

[Ca.]

110 Hawaii-based soldiers to be deployed to Egypt
July 21st 2018, 5:27 am CEDT
HILO, HAWAII (HawaiiNewsNow) -
A Hawaii Army National Guard unit with soldiers based on the Big Island and Kauai will be deployed for a year to support a multinational group in Egypt.

A total of 110 soldiers from Charlie Troop in Kauai, and Headquarters and Headquarters Troop from Hilo will be assisting the Multinational Force & Observers Group, an independent organization charged with implementing the security provisions of the Egyptian-Israeli Treaty of Peace.

All soldiers are part of the 1st Squadron, 299th Cavalry Regiment.

This is the fourth time the unit will be deployed. The other deployments were to: Vietnam in 1968, Iraq in 2004, Kuwait in 2008.

According to the news release, there are both first-time deployers and multi-deployers among those based in Hilo.
The 1-299th soldiers will be training in Fort Bliss, Texas, for about a month before heading to Egypt.

Soldiers based in Hilo had a deployment ceremony for friends and family to bid aloha. The ceremony for those in Kauai will be held Sunday morning.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1020919232782094336

https://twitter.com/x/status/1020443066937864192

[B]Mai Ragab #غزة[/B]‏ @[B]Mai_Gazan[/B]
Witness the fear of children and women as a result of the #Israeli shelling in Khan Younis this evening. #GazaUnderAttack #غزة_تحت_القصف #View #Video (Graphic)
https://twitter.com/Mai_Gazan/status/1020418735927160833

Israel Prepared List Of 'Iranian Targets' To Strike In Iraq: Media
22.07.2018
“Israel has drawn up a list of targets within Iraqi territory, in preparation for a strike, claiming that they are Iranian military sites used to transport weapons and equipment to Syria”, the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida reported citing anonymous sources aware of the situation.
According to al-Jarida, the targets that Israel intends to hit include even some Iraq-Iran border crossings.

Over the past few months, Israel has been deeply concerned over the setbacks of its strategy aimed at deterring the government of Syria and its Iranian allies. Despite Tel Aviv’s opposition and some strikes by the Israeli military, the Syrian-Russian-Iranian alliance has retaken most of southern Syria from militants and has entered a final phase of its operation there. This military operation de-facto destroyed the militant-held buffer zone, which Israel has been supporting east of the Golan Heights since the start of the war.

Heights, it’s clear that the elimination of militnats opens additional opportunities for Teheran and its allies like Hezbollah to buid up its infrastructure and forces in this part of Syria.

This situation is a major setback for Israel. In this light, new “leaks” about possible Israeli actions to detter Iran are just a common part of the ongoing propaganda campaign designed to show the strengh and resolution of Israel to defend what it describes as own national security interests. The only issue is that strategically this does not improve the situation in which Israel has recently found itself.

According to some experts, Tel Aviv’s willigness to continue active actions against Iranian forces and their allies on the Syrian-Iraqi battleground will easily lead to a further regional escalation and may even trigger the start of an open war.


Side note:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1020413040838266881

Translated from Spanish by Microsoft
#PorSiTeLoPerdiste after five days missing, the young Israeli Tal Karin Zamira, 22 years old, was located alive in Encuentran viva a mujer israelí desaparecida en Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca #ttps://t.co/dNwuQPEjXl

 

[Ca.]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1022032387545419776

https://twitter.com/x/status/1022034984155197440

'We will not accept any violations of airspace' - Netanyahu on downing of Syrian jet (video)
2018-07-25
BEIRUT, LEBANON (10:00 A.M.) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended Israel’s downing of Syrian jet shot down over the Golan Heights in a televised address from Jerusalem on Tuesday.

The Israeli Prime Minister called the 2km (1.25 miles) incursion into Israeli aerial space a “gross violation of the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement with Syria.”

“We will not accept any such penetration or spill-over into our territory, either on the ground or in the air,” Netanyahu added.

In shooting down the Syrian Air Force’s Sukhoi jet, Israeli forces had acted “appropriately”, he concluded.

Netanyahu has repeatedly referred to the ‘1974 Separation of Forces Agreement with Syria’ in recent public pronouncements, as tensions run high between Israeli and war-torn Syria.

The agreement signed in 1974 established a non-militarized buffer region between the two countries after the Yom Kippur War.

Full Transcript:

SOT, Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel (Hebrew): “Our air defence systems identified a Syrian Air Force jet that took off from the T-4 Syrian Air Force base and penetrated Israeli airspace. This is a gross violation of the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement with Syria. I have reiterated and made it clear that we will not accept any such violations. We will not accept any such penetration or spill-over into our territory, either on the ground or in the air. Our forces acted appropriately. We insist that the Syrians strictly abide by the Separation of Forces Agreement between us and them.”

https://twitter.com/x/status/1021803446318448641

 

[angelburst29]

Israeli military confirmed on Sunday that they had seized a ship with pro-Palestinian activists sailing from Europe to break the Gaza Strip blockade in the Mediterranean Sea.

29.07.2018 - Israel Confirms Seizure of European Vessel Attempting to Break Gaza Blockade
Israel Confirms Seizure of European Vessel Attempting to Break Gaza Blockade

Earlier in the day, the Freedom Flotilla activist group said that the al-Awda ("Return") boat under the Norwegian flag carrying medical supplies had been seized, adding that the ship received a warning from the navy prior to the interception.

"The Israeli Navy intercepted a ship that followed from Europe with the intention of violating a legal naval blockade of the Gaza Strip…. The ship is being transferred to the port of Ashdod," the Israeli army said in a press release.

The navy explained to the passengers that they were violating the legal naval blockade, and that any humanitarian cargo can be transported to Gaza via the port of Ashdod.

According to the activist group, there are 22 persons on board the al-Awda, including the crew, human rights activists and journalists from 16 countries, as well as a medical supplies worth 13,000 euros ($15,200).

Another vessel participating in the action of solidarity with the Palestinians, called the Freedom yacht, is expected to try to break into the Gaza Strip under the flag of Sweden within the next two days.

The Israeli blockade of the enclave is explained by the need to prevent the supply of weapons to militants from radical Palestinian groups. Human rights organizations repeatedly send ships with humanitarian aid and solidarity delegations to the shores of the Gaza Strip.

In most cases, interceptions were conducted without the use of force. An exception was the detention in 2010 of a caravan of six vessels that carried several hundred activists and thousands of tons of various cargoes to Gaza. In that incident nine members of the sail, Turkish nationals, who fiercely resisted the boarding group were killed.


28.07.2018 - Israeli Intel Analyst Fears Full-Scale War in Gaza May Be Just Around the Corner
Israeli Intel Analyst Fears Full-Scale War in Gaza May Be Just Around the Corner

The Israeli Defense Forces suffered their first casualty since the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict last week, with observers fearing that recent skirmishes are a powder keg waiting explode into a full-scale war, as the underlying forces behind the Gaza border protests, attacks and counterattacks, which started in March, persist. Two Palestinians, including a 14-year-old teen, were killed and 90 others injured as a result of shots fired by Israeli forces at the Gaza Strip border area with Israel on Friday. The Israeli military maintains that its fire has been directed against protesters throwing Molotov cocktails, rocks and other projectiles at the security fence and IDF troops. The new casualties come following news last week that 21-year-old Aviv Levi, an IDF soldier, had been killed by a Hamas sniper at the Gaza border, becoming the first Israeli casualty over the last four months of violence in the region.

According to Jerusalem Post observer and former Israeli special forces soldier Yossi Melman, there's plenty of evidence to suggest that the protests on the Palestinian side have been inspired or even financed by Hamas, the de facto governing authority of the Gaza Strip since 2007. Two times this month, he wrote, the prospects of a full-scale war in the border area became a real possibility and were only narrowly avoided.

While the Palestinians and the United Nations General Assembly have accused Israel of using excessive force in responding to the protests, which began as protests promoting the right of Palestinians to return to their homelands in what is now Israeli territory, Tel Aviv has pointed to Hamas's own use of force, including the deployment of arson kites, balloons and condoms filled with helium gas, rockets and mortar shells to cause damage to Israeli crops, nature reserves, and to damage the security fence, Israeli military outposts and other areas.

According to Yossi Melman, Fridays, a Muslim holy day, when Gazans are often exposed to sermons inciting violence, are a particularly dangerous period, where "each minor incident" has "had the potential to get out of hand and turn into a major escalation, a lead-up to a war."

Such a situation has already been narrowly avoided twice in the month of July, the observer noted, including on July 13, when the Israeli Air Force attacked an arson balloon launch pad and killed Hamas militants, prompting Hamas to retaliate by shelling Israeli settlements, and a counter-retaliation by the Israelis against 40 Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad targets. A week later, on July 20, an Israeli soldier was killed while patrolling on the border, prompting Israel to launch a massive air attack against 30 more Gaza targets, including two battalion bases.

Each time, the skirmishes could have escalated, notwithstanding the fact that both sides did not want a full-blown war, according to Melman. However, the analyst recalled that neither side seemed to want the July 2014 war either, but it happened anyway, with the seven-week conflict claiming the lives of 67 Israeli soldiers and 6 Israeli civilians, and between 2,125 and 2,310 Gazans, 70 percent of which were civilians, according to Gaza's Ministry of Health. That conflict left thousands of buildings in Gaza in ruins, further weakening the territory's already decrepit infrastructure.

Unfortunately, the latest ceasefire, including a Hamas pledge not to fly its arson kites, not to launch rockets, and not to send activists across the border, in exchange for a halt in Israeli military operations, will not hold for more than a few weeks, security analysts say.

This is because the basic problems of Gaza and its two million residents, who have been taken … hostage by Hamas – and to a lesser degree Israel – have remained," Melman wrote. "As long as the two sides do not resolve the basic issues and … stumbling blocks, as long as Gaza will continue to be poor and on the verge of a humanitarian disaster, it will remain a source for war," he warned.

 

[angelburst29]

Palestinian teen activist Ahed Tamimi has been released from prison after serving nearly eight months in detention, according to Israeli authorities.

Sun Jul 29, 2018 - Palestinian Teen Activist Ahed Tamimi Freed from Jail
Farsnews

Israeli Prison Service spokesman Assaf Librati stated that Tamimi and her mother Nariman, who was also jailed, were released early on Sunday morning and taken back to the occupied West Bank, Al-Jazeera reported.

The 17-year-old is due to speak at a press conference in her West Bank village, Nabi Saleh on Sunday.

Tamimi was arrested in December 2017 after a video of her slapping and hitting two Israeli soldiers outside of her house in the village of Nabi Saleh went viral. She was 16 years old at the time.

Her mother was arrested soon after for allegedly live streaming the incident on Facebook.

Tamimi's case drew international condemnation and again put the spotlight on Israel's treatment of Palestinians, especially Palestinian youth.

Prior to her sentencing, 38 prominent legal experts from various countries, including South Africa, Canada, the Netherlands and the United States, submitted a letter to Nadav Padan, Israel's army commander, urging she be released.

The lawyers noted that her case exemplifies Israel's routine violations of the rights of Palestinian children and Israel's "separate and unequal system of military detention".

At the end of May, there were more than 290 minors in Israeli custody, according to the Israeli human rights organisation B'Tselem.


Sun Jul 29, 2018 - Italian Artist Who Painted Mural of Palestinian Heroine Ahed Tamimi Arrested in Israel
Farsnews

Israeli police arrested the Italian graffiti artist who depicted Ahed Tamimi on a West Bank separation wall mural in Bethlehem, to coincide with the Palestinian teenage heroine’s release from prison.

Agostino Chirwin, also known as 'Jorit Agoch', wrote on his Instagram account “We are in prison from Israeli army. Who can help us please do it” on Saturday, as he was detained with another Italian artist and a Palestinian, whose identities were not released, according to Reuters.

Earlier this week Chirwin, known for hyperrealistic murals of activists, painted a portrait of 17-year-old Tamimi on the wall that separates the West Bank and is regarded as a segregation barrier by Palestinians. The artist usually hides his identity with the help of a black cloth wrapped around his head but posts his murals on an Instagram account.

Confirming the arrest, Border police say that painting on the wall is illegal, while their spokesman stated that the suspects tried to get away in their vehicle.

The mural had been created in time for Tamimi’s release on Sunday. She was arrested last December for slapping an Israeli soldier in the West Bank village of Nebi Saleh. Footage of the confrontation went viral and the teenager’s subsequent arrest and detention garnered international attention, with many seeing her as the poster-child for Palestinian resistance against Israeli occupation. She was sentenced to eight months in prison.

Since Tamimi’s arrest, a number of her family members, including her recently-shot cousin, her mother and her father have been arrested. Her mother is also expected to be released on Sunday.


Sat Jul 28, 2018 - PayPal Censors Journalists Who Criticize Israel
Farsnews

An operative of Israel’s global censorship campaign admitted to exaggerating claims of anti-Semitism in order to engineer crackdowns on supporters of Palestinian rights.

In the latest instance, Benjamin Weinthal has apparently succeeded in persuading PayPal to close down the account of the French online publication Agence Media Palestine, Electronic Intifada reported.

This constitutes censorship as it denies journalists the means to raise money for their work and retaliates against them for ideas they express.

Agence Media Palestine says it is considering legal action.

Weinthal presents his efforts as reportage for The Jerusalem Post on the actions of companies like PayPal, but what he really does is instigate crackdowns by feeding information – by his own admission distorted – about those he is targeting.

Weinthal is a “research fellow” at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, an American neoconservative group that works closely with the Israeli government, and which has attempted to smear the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement for Palestinian rights as linked to Hamas and Iran.

In a 2016 conversation about Israel lobby activities taking place in Europe, revealed here for the first time, Weinthal described how he persuades politicians to crack down on those he claims are anti-Semitic because of their criticisms of Israel.

“You have to exaggerate to get these ideas across, because they don’t understand what contemporary anti-Semitism is, many of them,” Weinthal explained.

While admitting that such smear tactics are a necessary part of his work, Weinthal took credit for getting journalists Max Blumenthal and David Sheen banned from the Bundestag, the German parliament, in 2014.

Weinthal described how he sent “material” to German Green Party politician Volker Beck smearing Blumenthal – who is Jewish – as being like Horst Mahler, a former left-wing activist who became a Nazi.

Weinthal also described how he has contacted PayPal and banks that provide services to civil society and human rights groups in order to pressure them to close accounts.

He said that his work targets civic groups across France, Germany and Austria.

The Electronic Intifada independently verified Weinthal’s statements gathered during an undercover Al Jazeera investigation into the activities of the Israel lobby in the United States.

Al Jazeera’s film of that investigation has yet to be aired due to censorship ordered by the leaders of Qatar, which funds and hosts the network, under intense pressure from the Israel lobby.

In March, The Electronic Intifada exclusively reported details of the content of the unaired film.

The documentary reveals that the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where Weinthal is a research fellow, has been functioning as an agent of the Israeli government, even though it is not registered to do so as required by US law.

Sima Vaknin-Gil, the director-general of Israel’s strategic affairs ministry, is said to state that the foundation is “working on” projects for Israel including “data gathering, information analysis, working on activist organizations, money trail”.

“We have FDD,” Vaknin-Gil stated, using the group’s initials, adding that “we have others working on this”.

Agence Media Palestine is a website that publishes articles on Palestine in French, many translated from sources in other languages, including The Electronic Intifada.

The supporters it lists include prominent figures in France, such as the late author and concentration camp survivor Stéphane Hessel, Israeli filmmaker Eyal Sivan and human rights activist Mireille Fanon-Mendès France.

On 12 July, Agence Media Palestine received an email from PayPal’s Brand Risk Management department stating:

“We have recently reviewed your usage of PayPal’s services, as reflected in our records and on your website Agence Media Palestine. Due to the nature of your activities, we have chosen to discontinue service to you in accordance with PayPal’s User Agreement.”

The email gives no details of any alleged violations of PayPal’s terms of use for its service that allows people around the world to conveniently and inexpensively send money to one another.

Due to its market dominance, there are few alternatives to PayPal. That makes life especially difficult for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, who, unlike Israeli settlers, are given no access to the company’s services.

It also makes life difficult for journalists or activists in other countries who find themselves targets of the company’s arbitrary actions.

On 16 July, Agence Media Palestine replied to PayPal asserting that “We are a French NGO [nongovernmental organization], duly registered in France, based in Paris, acting within French society in strict accordance with French laws and regulations”.

The publication asked PayPal to “explain clearly which activity you object to, and on which legal basis.”

PayPal has not replied.

In a further response to PayPal seen by The Electronic Intifada, Agence Media Palestine accuses the company of an “arbitrary act”, adding it could “not ignore the links between PayPal and the extreme right-wing propagandist Benjamin Weinthal”.

Agence Media Palestine said that unless PayPal justifies its action, the publication “reserves the right to take legal action”.

The publication added that it may mount an “information campaign about this discriminatory act for the benefit of a state that has just passed an apartheid law”, referring to Israel’s recent constitutional law elevating the rights of Jews above those of other citizens.

“We do not provide information on account status per company policy,” in response to an inquiry from The Electronic Intifada, a PayPal spokesperson stated in an email on Tuesday.

“PayPal regularly assesses activity against our Acceptable Use Policy and carefully review accounts, closing those that violate our policies,” the spokesperson added.

The company provided no details of the alleged violations leading to the shutdown of Agence Media Palestine’saccount.

PayPal’s action is reminiscent of crackdowns on political speech and independent journalism, especially left-wing and Palestine-focused publications, by other Silicon Valley giants such as Facebook and Google.

About an hour after it received the 12 July email from PayPal saying that its account had been shut down, Agence Media Palestine was emailed by Benjamin Weinthal, using his Jerusalem Post reporter persona.

“Your organization lists PayPal as a donation method, but the payment is blocked,” Weinthal stated.

“Did PayPal close your account? If so, what was the reason for the closure?” Weinthal asked, feigning ignorance about a matter he had evidently played a key role in instigating, adding that “Is your account in violation of France’s anti-discrimination law?”

Weinthal did not respond to a request for comment from The Electronic Intifada.

In an article published the following day, Weinthal cites unnamed “legal experts” to claim that organizations that support the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement are “in violation of the Lellouche Law, which makes it illegal to target Israelis based on their national origin”.

He made the same claim in January after PayPal shut down the account of the campaign group Association France Palestine Solidarité.

Yet efforts by Israel and anonymous “legal experts” to interpret French law to ban speech or activism supporting Palestinian rights and BDS have no basis. These efforts amount to bullying and censorship, as even European Union leaders recognize.

In 2016, the European Commission, the executive branch of the EU, affirmed that “BDS actions” in its member states are protected as “freedom of expression and freedom of association in line with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union”.

Federica Mogherini, the EU’s foreign policy chief, recently reaffirmed that position in what the newspaper Haaretz described as a “personal, sharply worded letter” to Israel’s strategic affairs minister Gilad Erdan.

Erdan’s ministry leads Israel’s global effort to thwart activism in support of Palestinian rights.

Mogherini’s letter pushed back at Israel’s “vague and unsubstantiated” allegations in a report published by Erdan’s ministry accusing the EU of financing terrorism and boycott activities against Israel through nonprofit organizations.

“Allegations of the EU supporting incitement or terror are unfounded and unacceptable,” Mogherini stated, adding that “the title of the report itself is also inopportune and misleading; it mixes terrorism with the boycott issue and it creates unacceptable confusion in the public eye regarding these two distinct phenomena”.

Attempting to smear BDS activists as associated with “terrorism” has been a key tactic of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, the group that works with the Israeli government and with which Weinthal is affiliated.

While the EU itself opposes boycotts against Israel, Mogherini affirmed that “simply because an organization or individual is related to the BDS movement does not mean that this entity is involved in incitement to commit illegal acts, nor that it renders itself ineligible for EU funding”.

The EU official confirmed once again that such advocacy is protected speech.

 

[angelburst29]

July 31, 2018 - Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Violently Board and Attack the Freedom Flotilla Al Awda and Participants
https://www.globalresearch.ca/israe...dom-flotilla-al-awda-and-participants/5649245

The statement made by the Israeli authorities that the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s Al Awda boat was intercepted, boarded and redirected from Gaza, Palestine to Ashdod, Israel on 29 July without incident is false.

According to first hand evidence that we have been given, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) violently attacked our Norwegian flagged boat ‘Al Awda’ (The Return) as she was in international waters.

Prior to all of our electronic communications being cut to and from our boat, at least four warships had appeared. Following some unlawful radio directives to our captain and our insistence that we had a right of innocent passage in international waters, armed, masked soldiers boarded ‘Al Awda’ without permission. They assaulted several unarmed participants by hitting them and using tasers as some of our participants lawfully endeavoured to resist this attempted hijacking, drawing upon two days of non-violence training in Palermo. Other participants were also hit by soldiers in this anything but peaceful exercise by the IOF, for what may have been a range of ‘reasons’.

Three of the many people that Israeli soldiers assaulted were: Captain Herman Reksten, Mike Treen and Dr Swee Ang. All of these assaults, including the hitting of an unarmed slightly built, 69 year old female surgeon crosses a line which must be investigated and the criminals must be held accountable. We continue to try and gain evidence and will seek to ensure that justice prevails.

Two Israeli citizens (Yonatan Shapira and Zohar Chamberlain Regev) and two international Al Jazeera journalists have been released, but 18 of the participants have now spent their second night unlawfully detained in Givon Prison, Israel. To protest Israel’s illegal actions and their ongoing treatment, two participants have commenced a hunger strike.

We urge the Norwegian Government, along with the national governments of all of those who were subjected to these multiple breaches of international law to intervene and to demand the immediate, unconditional release of Al Awda and everything that was on board, including all of the participants and the medical aid that we were carrying to MyCare in Gaza for distribution.

We demand that the IOF does not engage in any similarly unlawful and violent acts towards the yacht ‘Freedom’, the next of the Flotilla boats as she commences her approach to Gaza, Palestine via international waters. #SOSjustfuture4Palestine


29 July, 2018 - #FreedomFlotilla boat carrying medical supplies for #Gaza hijacked by Israeli forces
#FreedomFlotilla boat carrying medical supplies for #Gaza hijacked by Israeli forces

The motor vessel Al Awda (The Return), traveling in international waters towards Palestinian waters, 49 nautical miles from the port in Gaza City, has been contacted by the Israeli Occupation Forces navy and warned. The Israeli navy claims our ship is breaking international law and threatens that they will use “any measures necessary” to stop us. In fact, the only “necessary measures” would be to end the blockade of Gaza and restore freedom of movement for all Palestinians. At last news from on board, Al Awda maintains her course towards Gaza, where the crew and participants hope to arrive this evening around 21:00 local time.

A number of warships have appeared, so an attack, boarding and capture appear to be imminent, and we anticipate that all communications with the vessel will be lost shortly. Al Awda is sailing under a Norwegian flag, carrying 22 people and a cargo of medical supplies, including #Gauze4Gaza. There are people from 16 nations on board, including human rights supporters, journalists and crew, along with €13,000 worth of medical supplies. The boat itself, a former fishing vessel from Norway, is a gift to Palestinian fishers in Gaza.

Four boats left Scandinavia in mid-May and have since stopped in 28 ports building support for a ‘Just Future for Palestine’, that demands Israel end its ongoing breaches of international law and the twelve-year blockade of Gaza, thereby enabling the only closed port in the Mediterranean to open and for people to have their right to freedom of movement. Al Awda is being followed by the Swedish-flagged yacht Freedom, which is also carrying medical supplies along with people from a number of nations. We anticipate that it will reach a similar area where the IOF attacked Al Awda within the next two days. Two smaller sailing boats that travelled from Scandinavia and sailed through the canal system in Netherlands, Belgium and France visiting inland ports, participated in the mission until Palermo.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition calls on the Norwegian Government, the national governments of those aboard Al Awda and the Freedom, other national governments, and relevant international organizations to act immediately.” said Torstein Dahle of Ship to Gaza Norway, part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. “The international community must assume its responsibilities and demand that Israeli authorities ensure the safety of those on board, the speedy delivery of our gifts to the Palestinian people in Gaza, an end to the illegal blockade of Gaza, and to stop impeding our legal right of innocent passage to Gaza to deliver our gift of much-needed medical supplies”.


30 July, 2018 - 2 Released but most Participants still in Prison: Grave concern for safety and cargo
2 Released but most Participants still in Prison: Grave concern for safety and cargo

Two people from Al Awda (The Return) have been released, but most of the crew and participants are still in unlawful detention at Givon prison in Israel. We are still gravely concerned for their safety and well-being as we had no contact with most of them as of 14:00 CEST today. We continue to demand that our boat and the medical supplies on board reach their rightful recipients, Palestinian civil society in Gaza.

Although the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) claim that the capture of our vessel happened ‘without exceptional incident’, eye-witness Zohar Chamberlain Regev reports that at the time of boarding: “People on board were tasered and hit by masked IOF soldiers. We did not get our passports or belongings before we got off the boat. Do not believe reports of peaceful interception.” We urgently need to know the details of who was injured and how seriously, and what treatment they are receiving, if any. A military attack on a civilian vessel is a violent act and a violation of international law. Taking 22 people from international waters to a country which is not their destination constitutes an act of kidnapping, which is also unlawful under the international Convention of the Law of Sea.

From the time we lost contact around 13:15 local time on Sunday, we know that the IOF blocked all communication signals, including satellite phones. We are very concerned about this violation of journalists’ right to report freely and we remain gravely concerned about their ability to keep their professional equipment and their storage media. As Australian journalist Chris Graham recently observed “Bad things happen when good people stay silent, as history well records. But horrendous things happen when media are prevented from scrutinizing the actions of a state.”

Two of our participants who are Israeli citizens have been charged with attempting to enter Gaza and conspiracy to commit a crime, and were released on bail this morning. One of them, boat leader Zohar Chamberlain Regev, reports seeing blood on the deck of the Al Awda as the last participants were being dragged off the ship.

In comparison with the violence routinely directed at Palestinian civilians, including at fishers from Gaza, and the violent capture of Palestinian fishing boats, yesterday’s seizure and kidnapping may not be the most serious of Israeli crimes. What these violents acts have in common is that there is no accountability demanded by other governments and Israel continues to enjoy total impunity.

We call on national governments, civil society and international organizations to demand that Israeli authorities immediately release our boat so that we can deliver our much-needed medical supplies on Al Awda and the fishing boat itself to the rightful recipients in Gaza. Detailed specification of our exact cargo on board are available on request.

Israel’s capture of the lead boat in this Gaza-bound flotilla may seem like a predictable outcome to some, but that doesn’t make it any less violent nor any less illegal. Our second boat Freedom will follow Al Awda within a day or two, and the Freedom Flotilla will continue until the blockade ends and Palestinians of Gaza regain their full freedom of movement.

Details about detainees still in prison, including their last videos and personal statements, can be found on our website and Facebook pages: www.facebook.com/FreedomFlotillaCoalition/