On Friday, the Israeli military said it had expanded its operations to the central area of Rafah. Before the assault on the city, Rafah served as a refuge for over one million displaced Palestinians.
The Associated Press reported that the Israeli military confirmed its forces were now fighting throughout most of Rafah. President Joe Biden claimed that if Israel attacked the population centers in the city without a plan for the civilians living there, it would cross his “red line.”
However, as Israeli troops continue to push into the city, killing hundreds in the process and forcing over one million to flee, Biden administration officials have asserted that Tel Aviv has not crossed the red line. After Israel used a US bomb to kill 45 people living in a tent camp in Rafah, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, “As a result of this strike on Sunday, I have no policy changes to speak to.”
The assault on Rafah has pushed the overall death toll to over 36,000, including tens of thousands of women and children. The IDF has also sustained losses in Rafah, increasing the number of soldiers killed to 289 since October 7.
As Israeli forces are pushing deeper into Rafah, the IDF announced the end of weeks of operations in the Jabalia refugee camp, located in northern Gaza. Tel Aviv initially devastated the city in the early months of the war on Gaza, but its forces returned in May. During the operations, the IDF dropped over 200 bombs.
The attacks on Jabalia and Rafah have caused aid deliveries into Gaza to plummet. Trucks crossing into the Strip in May decreased by two-thirds. This week, two Biden administration officials resigned in part because of the Israeli imposed restrictions on aid deliveries into Gaza and the lack of a response from the White House.
A letter signed by 19 aid agencies released on Tuesday warned that the lack of aid was increasing the risk of death due to starvation and disease. “As Israeli attacks intensify on Rafah, the unpredictable trickle of aid into Gaza has created a mirage of improved access while the humanitarian response is in reality on the verge of collapse,” it says. “Aid agencies now fear an acceleration in deaths from starvation, disease and denied medical assistance.”
While many are on the brink of death, Tel Aviv says it will not sign on to an agreement that would bring the war to a close and Israeli hostages freed. On Thursday, Hamas officials said the group was willing to come to a “complete agreement” that ends the conflict and frees the hostages. On Friday, the Israeli government told the families of the hostages that Tel Aviv was unwilling to end the conflict in exchange for the release of their relatives.
Kyle Anzalone is the opinion editor of Antiwar.com, news editor of the Libertarian Institute, and co-host of Conflicts of Interest.
"… opinion editor …" was an "opinion" expressed?
".., news editor …" was any "news" presented?
Was "news" aggregated from "news" sources?
Was the "news" aggregated from "unnamed, anonymous and officials" of the White House, Pentagon, et al.?
"… co-host of …" a "talk show?" If not, of what?
Seriously, "news" from whom, by whom, for whom, …?
dennis hanna
Rafah is like maybe 6 x 6 kilometers – it’s taken the 3 brigades of IDF nearly a month to operate “ In Most Areas Of Rafah” ?
Would you prefer that the IDF flatten it first rather than take their time to try to reduce civilians losses?
The ICJ ruled a few days ago that the IDF is committing a plausible genocide in Rafah.
They aren't taking their time trying to reduce civilian casualties. They're trying not to have so many civilian casualties all at once. That way they can keep it under the threshold of being a "major operation" that the US has "demanded" in order to keep the toys flowing. And those civilians that are able to leave Rafah will then be subject to the famine Israel has deliberately created. But sure, it's just Israeli benevolence that makes them not want to flatten Rafah (/s).
Bombing people sleeping in tents, IS a major operation. Heinous in its scope. Cowardly in its execution. The IDF then had the audacity to declare that the fires were not caused entirely by the bombing. As if we were supposed to forget that if the bombs had not been dropped, there would be no fire in the first place.
I would have preferred that Israel just seal the borders again on 8Oct, not begin the genocidal bombing. The Zionists did not have to do it, however, going back to the writings of Jabotinsky, the purpose is clear. To exterminate any other religious, ethnic group in the areas known as Palestine in order for there to be a "greater Israel", from the "river to the sea". Nahkba + Occupation + Genocide = Greater Israel. Could not have been done without the U.S. of Atrocities as the benefactor. Ben-Gurion said as much when be became the first president of Israel. Einsten turned down that role, calling the Likud Party fascists. Hannah Arendt had similar views.
"I would have preferred that Israel just seal the borders again on 8Oct," The kidnapping of Israel citizens by Hamas took that off the table.
That was never on the table. Israel's response would have been the same. Just like every conflict they have with Hamas. Each and every one of them Israel has responded with a disproportionate use of force. This time they allowed the number of killed to reach the level to give them the excuse to commit genocide.
Their goal IS civilian casualties, … which btw Ralph Nader says is most likely in the area of 200K killed, … buried beneath the rubble.
Ralph Nader? LOL. That makes it official. From auto expert to military expert, he knows it all.
From Wikipedia:
Ralph Nader is an American political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney noted for his involvement in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes
God, you're a moron.
"On Friday, the Israeli government told the families of the hostages that Tel Aviv was unwilling to end the conflict in exchange for the release of their relatives." In other words, "f*ck you and your relatives who are hostages, they are being sacrificed for the "final solution", for the greater good". Very moral, they are. It is no wonder Albert Einstein turned down being the first President of the new (illegal) state of Israel, calling the new party, which became Likud, "NAZIs". That President, David Ben-Gurion, admitted that the Zionists had stolen the lands that the Palestinians had lived on for a thousand years.
How was the state of Israel illegal?
it did not have the requisites at the time to become a "state". You need to hit the library, gain some information vital to your understanding. Further, if you seek justification from the Bible, written by who knows, when, and for what purpose, you need help.
"it did not have the requisites at the time to become a "state" What does that mean? Did USA have the requisites in 1776? You need to hit the library. May I suggest you read "1948" by Morris. A well balance book.
And when did I ever use the Bible to justify my position?
It’s rather illuminating that Einstein and Hannah Arendt both were quite public with their warnings about the founding of Israel and what eventually become the Likud.
… and the RepubliCrat Party, the banality of evil.
The UNIPARTY, as Professor Jeffrey Sachs describes them. The veneer peeled back, Israel is exposed as a horrible, horrible, society.
Our governance is right behind with the inquistion of educators. Of course, we know that the donor class is behind it, especially AIPAC.
What is bad is that the genocide will disappear, just like the other Israeli "operations", Cast Lead and Protective Edge, both forgotten. The United States of Amnesia will likewise forget, and, we taxpayers will pay for the demolition and rebuilding of Gaza and the West Bank. Jered will make bank developing beach properties.
Yes, history is a bummer. The survival of the scummiest.
FYI, Hamas does not represent the west bank, so how are they using shops as shields this time? There are no hostages in the west bank. This is ongoing pogroms and collective punishment. Crimes.
Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine
Israeli soliders DESTROYED over 100 shops & stalls at a Ramallah vegetable market in the West Bank. They set merchant stalls on fire, used tear gas, & destroyed millions of shekels worth of merchandise. Palestinian merchants are devastated. MiddleEastEye
middleeasteye.net/news/israe
Israeli forces spark devastating fire at Ramallah
https://www.middleeasteye.n…
So it goes.
And the Philadelphia Corridor. What is Egypt doing about it and the soldiers killed by the IDF? Zilch. And according to MSN: https://www.msn.com/en-us/n… Now, how much did we give them as a down payment for keeping quiet?
We offered to forgive all their IMF loans for opening the Sinai to refugees, you can use that as a benchmark in your calculation.
Why would Egypt doing anything? It is not clear who fired the first shot and in any case one does not start a war over a minor boarder incident.
It does not matter! Under the Abraham Accords, Egypt has control of the Philadelphia Corridor. Israel is forcing the issue to control the Corridor, to keep aid from getting in.
The excuse is that it is to prevent munitions from getting to Hamas. Under international law, the occupied has the right to defend itself from an occupier. Israel has occupied Gaza and the West Bank since 1948.
"Israel has occupied Gaza and the West Bank since 1948." Gaza was occupied by Egypt from 1948 to 1967. The West Bank was part of Jordon from 1950 to 1967.
8 months into the Zionist Genocide, clearly well planned and executed from it's beginning on 10/8 – if not before, I can now translate Zionism.
When War Criminal Yoav Gallant says it will take 7 more months to accomplish their goals, it means they will continue returning to all places they have previously "cleared" again and again and again until there is nothing alive in Gaza – not a human, not an animal, not a tree, not a blade of grass.
All that will remain will be the mass murdering monsters of the Zionist State of Israel and the criminal enterprise they have made of it.
"8 months into the Zionist Genocide, clearly well planned " If this is genocide it is the worst planned genocide in history.
Because it isn't happening fast enough? How fucking sick are you?
Back to using the f word. The word of choice of the uneducated. What you don't understand is that the data shows that this is not a genocide. The population of Gaza has increased since the start of the war. So if it is a genocide, which it is not, it certainly is a poor planned one.
What you don't understand is the unsubstantiated data upon which you're basing your fallacious argument is irrelevant.
Genocide Convention, Article II: "…, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group…"
It doesn't take a great deal of education, in fact it only takes common sense, not to assume the definition of a legal term. The operative word in the above clause is intent, except for this case which is rich with evidence of intent, intent is usually the most difficult element to prove.
Jill stein already replied so I won't repeat what she said. But what you don't understand is that you are a fucking idiot. There, that makes my uneducated ass feel better.
What people say is when, or perhaps if, the Palestinians are driven out, they’ll intermarry with new people and lose their identity as a group within a few generations.
So, they will vanish.
https://scheerpost.com/2024/06/02/congress-trains-academia-to-deny-genocide/
In my Opinion ….
Rep Good Q: “Do you think Israel’s government is genocidal?”
JillStein2024 A: “Sir, the word Genocide did not exist until 1944 when the Polish Lawyer Raphael Lemkin, as a result of his research of Nazi occupation policies in Europe and case study of it’s Poland occupation, coined the term combining the Greek word γένος (genos, "race, people") with the Latin suffix -caedo ("act of killing”.) Lawyer Lemkin …. “
Rep Good Q: “Ms JillStein, I asked you a simple yes or no question, it does not require a lecture, Do you think Israel’s government is genocidal!?!”
JillStein2024 A: “Understood sir, with respect, genocide is a crime under international law, it is considered the “crime of crimes” sir, no greater crime exists and what you’re asking of me is to pass judgement on a matter than can only be determined in a court of law. In good conscience, sir, I can not do so with a simple yes or no, it’s disrespectful to this hallowed body, an injustice to the nation state of Israel, it’s people, and the global community at large to so diminish the importance of the question you are asking of me. I can answer the question sir, but only fully, with the appropriate context.”
. . .
and then he’d either let me answer my way or we’d spar until his time was up, either way it would it would X mins of a history lecture with a few "it's up to a court to decide"s where required 🙂
No one should go in there repeating “the narrative,” it’s a fail out of the box.
It would seem that genocide has been met. I wonder whether she’s the best candidate. I guess West isn’t serious.
Maybe hers is the right answer. It’s rabid ethnic cleansing. It’s just so extreme. It’s like we need a new term for it, “Ethnic eradication.”
Who's West?
Whether genocide has been met is not the issue, the issue is the question being asked. I think Israel is genocidal and has been an apartheid state since it’s founding. In 1973 Apartheid was declared a crime under international law; in May 2021 HRW released a report alleging Israel was operating an apartheid system in the oPt. So maybe the question we should be asking in 2024 is does Israel have the right to exist as an apartheid state.
But then I'm not a lawyer and neither is Holloway with a BA in American Studies & a PhD in History and congress’s needless theater act will continue until U prezs take a stand. Genocide is a term of law, it’s existence is determined after the fact in a court of law. Lol, I’d have loved to see Holloway ask Rep Good if he’d like Holloway to have a law prof answer the question for him!
This all about the Lobby's power. Citizen’s United is destroying America 🙂
And what was her answer. I clearly missed something in this thread.
Cornel West
I want Citizens United overturned, but I doubt it would make a huge difference. Money would find a way to influence elections.
Separately, we currently have ballot harvesting and mail-in ballots that both are easily abused. There’s a lot of abuse in the system.
Regarding genocide and Stein’s answer, I was just referring to your post. I guess I don’t understand the topic.
I’m wary of international law and orgs. I just tend to want the US out.
Something like genocide seems to me like something anyone could determine independent of a court. It might be good to have a court ruling. I’m just accustomed to deciding for myself.
President Joe Biden claimed that if Israel attacked the population centers in the city without a plan for the civilians living there, it would cross his “red line.”
Not to worry. Israel DOES have a plan for the civilians living there. Kill them or have them "voluntarily emigrate".
Congrats to “Finish Them” by Nikki = definition of “Genocide” in 2 words!