If Americans Knew – IsraelPalestineNews: Israel out of control in Khan Younis; Biden official trying to broker an “ambitious” deal; reminiscent of Al Ahli hospital debacle, Israel fumbles after allegedly striking UN building, Netanyahu talks smack against Qatar, blames hostages’ families for leaking; Israeli land grab along Gaza border; update on American killed in West Bank, Tawfiq Abdel Jabbar; and more
As the devastation of Khan Younis continues, the UN deputy humanitarian coordinator for Palestine issued this urgent statement:
Persistent attacks on civilian sites in Khan Younis are utterly unacceptable and must stop immediately. People are being killed and injured. As fighting intensifies around hospitals and shelters hosting the displaced, people are trapped inside and lifesaving operations are impeded.
As fighting intensified over the past days in the area of our training centre, hosting thousands of people, twelve people have now been confirmed dead with over 75 injuries, 15 of whom are in a critical condition. Yesterday, the centre was hit by two shells and caught fire.
A number of missions to assess the situation were denied. Yesterday evening, the UN finally managed to reach the affected areas to treat trauma patients, bring medical supplies and evacuate injured patients to Rafah.
Heavy fighting near the remaining hospitals in Khan Younis, including Nasser and Al Amal has effectively encircled these facilities, leaving terrified staff, patients and displaced people trapped inside. Al Khair hospital has shut down after patients, including women who had just undergone C-section surgeries, were evacuated in the middle of the night.
The situation in Khan Younis underscores a consistent failure to uphold the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law: distinction, proportionality and precautions in carrying out attacks. This is unacceptable and abhorrent and must stop.
Every measure must be taken to protect civilians. I remind all parties that protection of hospitals, clinics, medical personnel and UN premises is explicitly enshrined within international law.
"It's very clear the Israeli army are not respecting their obligations under International Humanitarian Law" when providing precaution where there are civilians.@TomWhiteGaza tells @CNN increasingly the situation in #KhanYounis southernš#Gaza has become more & more dangerous. pic.twitter.com/MSZIceDegm
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) January 25, 2024
Associated Press reports: Gazaās Health Ministry and witnesses said Israeli troops opened fire as a crowd of Palestinians gathered for humanitarian aid in Gaza City on Thursday, killing at least 20 and wounding dozens.
Witnesses and health officials said the shooting took place at a roundabout on Gaza Cityās southern edge, where a large crowd had gathered for distribution of food. Footage posted online and confirmed to have been taken on the main road near the roundabout showed hundreds of people fleeing, some carrying boxes of aid, as fire rang out in the background.
Men loaded wounded Palestinians onto horse and donkey carts that took off charging down the avenue.
RECOMMENDED READING: Report: 66% of Gazans suffer from waterborne diseases
Washington Post reports: President BidenĀ plans to dispatch CIA Director William J. Burns in the coming days to help brokerĀ an ambitious deal between Hamas and Israel, according to officials familiar with the matter.
Israelās latest proposal includes a 60-day pause in fighting in exchange for the phased release of the more than 100 captives. Such a pause would allow Israel to continue fighting after the two-month lull in line with Netanyahuās vow to achieve ātotal victoryā by destroying Hamas.
Hamas rebuffed Israelās 60-day pause proposal, saying the next hostage release should involve a permanent cease-fire, the official said ā but multiple officials said negotiations on those key points remain active.
Al Jazeera reports on what sounds like Israel contradicting itself, much like it did after the Al Ahli hospital was bombed in October. This incident involves an UNRWA building housing thousands of displaced Palestinians on Wednesday that was reportedly hit by two tank shells, causing the building to catch fire. Israel is the only party to the conflict that has tanks.
Israelās military initially released a statement describing the Khan Younis area as a base of Palestinian fighters and acknowledged fighting is taking place near large numbers of civilians.
In a second statement ā sent following Washingtonās criticism of the deadly attack ā the military said an examination of its operational systems ruled out its forces struck the UN centre. It added a thorough review is still under way to examine the possibility the strike was a result of Hamas fire.
Regarding the Al Ahli hospital incident: Israel at first tacitly admitted responsibilityĀ for hitting the hospital in its ongoing airstrikes against Gaza, but then switched direction and claimed that Palestinian āfriendly fireā was responsible. Israeli officials have presented what they say isĀ evidenceĀ showing that the massive damage was caused by misfired Palestinian rocketry. Israel hasĀ changed its versionĀ a number ofĀ times. MuchĀ evidenceĀ points toĀ IsraelĀ as theĀ culprit;Ā Israel hadĀ previously bombed the hospitalĀ and has attackedĀ many others, and Israel is prohibiting outside experts from investigating the scene.
Reuters reports: Qatar on Wednesday said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was obstructing mediation efforts in the Gaza war after a leaked recording allegedly captured him calling the Gulf state “problematic”.
āYou havenāt seen me thank Qatar, have you noticed? I havenāt thanked Qatar. Why? Because Qatar, to me, is no different in essence from the U.N., from the Red Cross, and in a way itās even more problematic,ā said Netanyahu, according to audio obtained by Israelās Channel 12.
“We are appalled by the alleged remarks attributed to the Israeli Prime Minister,” Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson said on X. “If the reported remarks are found to be true, the Israeli PM would only be obstructing and undermining the mediation process, for reasons that appear to serve his political career instead of prioritizing saving innocent lives, including Israeli hostages.”
In the recording, Netanyahu also told the hostage families that he recently “got very angry with the Americans” for renewing a deal to extend U.S. military presence at a base in Qatar.
Al Jazeera picks up the story: Netanyahuās office initially blamed one of the family members of the captives still held in Gaza [for leaking the comment], whom the prime minister was meeting at the time the comments were made.
A representative from the families fired back, saying that all of their phones were taken, and that only Netayahuās associates would have been able to make recordings of the meeting and leak the audio.
Now, according to Israeli media outlet Walla, the prime ministerās office has again responded by blaming the families, saying that it has proof in the form of a text message from one of the other family members present at the meeting.
Wall Street Journal reports that the Israeli military has demolished hundreds of buildings in Gaza within 1km (0.6 miles) of the fence as it seeks to create a buffer zone, according to a new Hebrew University study.
The study, carried out using satellite-image analysis, shows 40 percent of the 2,824 buildings in Gaza located within 1km of the border have been razed since October 7. āEverything has been flattened. It was mostly agriculture. Now itās a military zone, a complete no manās land,ā one soldier isĀ quotedĀ as saying.
Near the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, a densely populated area that suffered intense bombardment by Israelās military for weeks, 67 percent of buildings within 1km of Israelās demarcation have been destroyed.
The move is likely to further strain relations with the US, which has repeatedly warned Israel against any moves resulting in the long-term reduction of Gazaās territory.
Jerusalem Post reports, regarding the ruling expected Friday from the International Court of Justice on genocide charges against Israel: Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy, said in a briefing, “We expect the ICJ to throw out these spurious and specious charges.”
Hamas said on Thursday that if the International Court of Justice issues a ruling calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian movement will abide by it as long as Israel reciprocates.
Al Jazeera reports: US Department of State spokesperson Vedant Patel was elusive when asked whether Israel should follow the ICJ verdict.
āThis is a legal process, and Iām not gonna hypothesize or speculate on any kind of outcome,ā Patel told reporters, reiterating the position of the administration of US President Joe Biden that the genocide allegations against Israel are unfounded.
āThat suggests youāre waiting to see what the verdict will be, and then youāll decide whether you agree with the verdict or not,ā one reporter said.
The Guardian reports: More than one in three Americans believe IsraelĀ is committing genocide against Palestinians, a poll published on Wednesday has found.
According to theĀ Economist/YouGov poll, roughly equal numbers of adults believe IsraelāsĀ military campaign against Palestinians, which is estimated to have killed more than 25,000 people since 7 October, amounts to genocide: 35% say it is, 36% say it isnāt, with 29% undecided.
Maarjat, Jericho |
Israeli settlers digged symbolic graves for children near Al-Ma'rajat primary school as a threat.
According to locals in the area, Israeli settlers threatened earlier locals from reaching this area and stated āif you approach the area, you may get killedā pic.twitter.com/FOFuTEbBzH
— Younis Tirawi | ŁŁŁŲ³ (@ytirawi) January 23, 2024
WEST BANK: A State Department spokesman provided the following update on 17-year-old Tawfiq Abdel Jabbar, the American citizen who was killed last Friday by an Israeli soldier and/or a settler:
We continue to remain in close touch with the Government of Israel to understand the circumstances of his death. Itās been communicated to us that the investigation will be led by the Israeli National Police, and we expect a thorough and expeditious investigation and we are eager to see the result of what this investigation will find.
Beyond that, we continue to remain in close touch with the family to offer all appropriate consular assistance both through the embassy in Jerusalem as well as the Office of Palestinian Affairs.
In an initial statement, Israeli police said Fridayās shooting targeted people āpurportedly engaged in rock-throwing activities.”
16-year-old Mohammed Salameh, was in the truck with Abdel Jabbar when it was struck by at least ten bullets, striking Abdel Jabbar and causing a rollover crash.
Salameh denied suggestions that he and Abdel Jabbar had been throwing stones, and said there had been no attempt to arrest him. (Read the full article here.) His name is also reported as Tawfiq Ajaq, and is sometimes spelled Tawfic.
Over 370 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed ā by Israeli soldiers and illegal settlers ā since October 7th (over 500 total in 2023, making it easily theĀ deadliestĀ year on record) in what the United Nations hasĀ describedĀ as a rapidly deteriorating human rights situation.
Israeli violence has continued with impunity for years, but since October 7th, it has spiked sharply.
Tawfiq deserved to grow old. The collective punishment of an entire people must end. @SecBlinken must launch an investigation into the murder of another American by the Israeli government.https://t.co/sNQdypPeSl
— Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) January 25, 2024
WEST BANK: WAFA reports: A Palestinian man Thursday was shot and killed by Israeli occupation forces liveā bullets, in the village of Bir Al-Basha, south of Jenin, according to The Ministry of Health.Ā Ā
Undercover Israeli forces stormed the said village, where they broke into Wissam Khashan’s family house and besiegedĀ it for hours, during which the undercover soldiers opened heavy gunfire and fatally shotĀ KhashanĀ from point-blank.
Israeli forces further detained his brother Ahmed, an ex-detainee in Israeli jails, during the raid.
Ų“Ų§ŁŲÆ | Ł ŲÆŲ®Ł Ł Ų®ŁŁ Ų¬ŁŁŁ ŲµŲØŲ§Ų Ų§ŁŁŁŁ ŲØŲ¹ŲÆ Ų£Ł ŲÆŁ Ų±ŲŖŁ Ų¬Ų±Ų§ŁŲ§ŲŖ Ų§ŁŲ§ŲŲŖŁŲ§Ł Ų®ŁŲ§Ł Ų§ŁŲŖŲŲ§Ł ŁŲ§ Ų§ŁŁ Ų®ŁŁ . pic.twitter.com/bT5XDGeYxL
— ŁŁŲ§ŁŲ© Ų“ŁŲ§ŲØ ŁŁŲ£ŁŲØŲ§Ų” (@ShehabAgency) January 25, 2024
Al Jazeera reports: The leader of Yemenās Houthi group, Abdulmalik al-Houthi, has said that his fighters will continue with their operations on ships in the Red Sea heading to Israeli ports until āthe Zionist crimes stopā and food and medicine reach the entire Gaza Strip.
āOur battle aims to support the Palestinian people, and has no other goals,ā he said, adding, āAmerica is fighting for ships carrying goods to reach Israel, but it is preventing aid from reaching Gaza,ā he added.
RECOMMENDED READING (Al Jazeera): Israel-Gaza war spillover risk: Mapping recent strikes in Middle East
Al Jazeera reports this response to Israel’s plan to create a buffer zone on Gazan land: Geoffrey Nice, a former United Nations war crimes prosecutor, said Israel has no grounds legally to create a ābuffer zoneā in Gaza by destroying Palestinian homes and confiscating agricultural land. He noted the fertile farmland Israel is eyeing to take over is ācrucial to Gazaās economyā.
āIf you want to a demilitarized zone that youāre going to fill with landmines, why not have it on the Israeli side and stop people crossing it?ā he asked. āWhat theyāre proposing, effectively and in anyoneās interpretation, is occupation.ā
āBut the process has already started. A large number of buildings have already been flattened. It is unjustified, by any view, under international law,ā said Nice, proposing sanctions by powerful nations against Israel to stop the landgrab.
Associated Press reports: Israel faces a growing risk of damaging its peace withĀ neighboring EgyptĀ as its military pushes the offensive against Hamas further south in theĀ Gaza Strip. Already, the two sides are in a dispute over a narrow strip of land between Egypt and Gaza.
Israeli leaders say that to complete their destructionĀ of Hamas, they must eventually widen their offensive to Gazaās southernmost town, Rafah, and take control of the Philadelphi Corridor, a tiny buffer zone on the border with Egypt that is demilitarized under the two countriesā 1979 peace accord.
Associated Press reports: The Georgia Senate passed a bill on Thursday to define antisemitism ā specifically using the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition ā in state law, putting the measure on track for final passage.
A House vote to agree with changes to the bill could come later Thursday, sending it to Gov. Brian Kemp for his signature or veto.
RECOMMENDED READING: International campaign is criminalizing criticism of Israel as āantisemitismā
Al Jazeera reports: The Iran-linked coalition of Iraqi groups has said it targeted a base near the Erbil airport with drones as part of its fight against the āoccupying US forces in Iraq and the regionā and as a response to the Israeli massacres in Gaza.
Iraqi groups allied with Tehran have stepped up their attacks against US forces since the outbreak of the conflict in Gaza. But the Biden administration has been trying to dismiss the link between regional unrest and the Israeli offensive.
"Persistent attacks on civilian sites in #KhanYounis are utterly unacceptable and must stop immediately.
Every measure must be taken to protect civilians."
š#Gaza Full Statement @TomWhiteGaza: civilians trapped amid intensified attacks in Khan Younis ā¬ļøhttps://t.co/f4X8XdNrXQ pic.twitter.com/hriYVfDmRb
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) January 25, 2024
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7 ā JANUARY 24:
Palestinian death toll from October 7 ā January 24: at least 26,261* (~25,900Ā in Gaza*Ā (overĀ 11,000Ā children,Ā 7,500 women), and at least 361 in the West BankĀ (98 children). This does not include an estimatedĀ 7,000 moreĀ still buried under rubble (70%Ā women and children).Ā Euro-Med Monitor reportsĀ 32,246 Palestinian deaths.
About 1.7 million peopleĀ have been displaced (about 85% of the population).Ā
Palestinian injuries from October 7 ā January 24: at least 68,464** (including at least 64,110 in Gaza and 4,354 in the West Bank).Ā Ā
It remains unknown how manyĀ AmericansĀ are among the casualtiesĀ in Gaza.
Reported Israeli death toll from October 7 ā January 24: ~1,139Ā Ā (9 killed inĀ West Bank, 219 inĀ Gaza), includingĀ 32Ā Americans, and approximatelyĀ 36Ā children, andĀ 8,730 injured).
NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of theĀ deaths and injuriesĀ in Israel may have been caused byĀ Israeli soldiers; additionally, since Israel has a policy ofĀ universal conscription, it is unknown how many of thoseĀ attending the outdoor raveĀ a few miles from Gaza onĀ stolen Palestinian landĀ were Israeli soldiers.
*Previously,Ā IAK did not include 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital blast since the source of the projectile was beingĀ disputed.Ā However, given that muchĀ evidenceĀ points toĀ IsraelĀ as theĀ culprit, Israel hadĀ previously bombed the hospitalĀ and has attackedĀ many others, Israel is prohibiting outside experts from investigating the scene, and since the UN and other agencies are including the deaths from the attack in their cumulative totals, if Americans knew is now also doing so.
Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updatesĀ here.
For more news, goĀ hereĀ andĀ here.Ā Broadcast news from the region isĀ here.
Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org
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