Palestinians fight for their lives and their stolen lands

[Anthea]

EU to offer five options over
Israeli human rights breaches

The EU’s foreign policy chief will present member states with five options in response to Israel’s breach of the EU-Israel Association Agreement during a meeting next week, several EU sources familiar with the issue have told Euronews

The EU found recently that Israel is in breach of the human rights clause of its association agreement due to violations in Gaza and the West Bank.

The sources told Euronews that the EU's top diplomat would submit her options to member states on Wednesday ahead of a Foreign Affairs Council the following week.

The options will include the full or partial suspension of the Association Agreement, sanctions on individuals such as members of the Israeli government, military or extremist settlers, trade measures, an arms embargo, or a suspension of scientific cooperation such as Horizon Europe Research and Innovation programme.

However, the sources acknowledged that with member states at odds over the issue, it is unlikely that there will be agreement on any of the five options.

Depending on the course of action, EU rules oblige countries to agree unanimously or through qualified majority voting (QMV).

The EU agreed to review its association agreement with Israel in May after the country's military offensive in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as its blocking of food, fuel, water and basic medical supplies to the besieged population.

But since Tel Aviv launched strikes against Iran last month, and in the face of a potential ceasefire in Gaza, there is even less appetite in Europe to take any action against Israel.

Motion to prove 'impossible', sources say

Despite the eight-page review listing Israel’s human rights violations, the 27 European leaders agreedat their Council summit last week to only “continue discussions ... taking into account the evolution of the situation on the ground.”

A full suspension of the Association Agreement would be impossible as it would require unanimity, and many countries, including the Czech Republic, Germany and Hungary, oppose the idea.

Diplomats also doubt that the European Commission, which has complete competence over trade, would agree to a partial suspension of the trade elements of the agreement. Such a suspension would require a qualified majority vote, and if one or several large countries are against the decision, the vote fails.

Currently, Germany is the most significant EU country selling arms to Israel. Most countries have reduced or officially ended arms sales to Israel

However, a formal arms embargo is unlikely to pass as Germany, alongside Hungary, Austria and Czechia, and potentially others such as Italy, would not support it.

Sanctions against Israeli individuals require unanimous support, and several sources confirm this to be an "impossible" motion due to the member states' positions.

Suspending Israel’s membership of Horizon Europe’s research programme only requires a qualified majority, but sources from member states admit there is currently “no momentum” within the EU to act against Israel.

“To cause such suffering to the civilian population, as has increasingly been the case in recent days, can no longer be justified by the fight against Hamas terrorism,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said criticising the Israeli action.

According to several EU officials who spoke to Euronews on condition of anonymity, however, the German government is now fully supportive of Tel Aviv.

An EU official from a member state which opposes taking action said they would consider "measures that can improve the situation on the ground – we don't feel these [options] would help to make things better", the official said.

Commissioners say no to trade measures

Meanwhile, the European Commission – as opposed to the member states - has full competence over trade, so any trade sanctions would have to be decided by the Commission.

Euronews can also reveal that in a recent top-secret meeting of the college of 27 Commissioners, including President Von der Leyen, EU commissioners refused to support trade measures against Israel.

A source close to Kallas told Euronews her ambition is to "'stop the killing and get the food, medicine and aid into Gaza – she doesn't care how it's done."

Last week, she dispatched Christophe Bigot, the EU's special representative (EUSR) for the Middle East peace process, to Israel and the Palestinian Territories to examine the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the West Bank.

EU officials are also considering ongoing talks between the Trump administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to initiate a ceasefire, and whether this may influence decisions at the EU level.

The UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway last month sanctioned Israeli ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich for "incitements of violence against Palestinian communities".

https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025 ... wtab-en-gb

[Anthea]

New Gaza aid massacre:
MSF slams deliberate Israeli killing of staffer

MSF demands accountability after "Israel" killed former staff member Abdullah Hammad near an aid distribution site.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has condemned the killing of former colleague Abdullah Hammad, who was shot and killed by Israeli forces on July 3 while waiting for humanitarian aid in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. His death brings the number of MSF staff members killed in Gaza since October 2023 to twelve.

According to MSF, Hammad was among a group of civilians who were deliberately targeted without warning as they gathered near a flour distribution truck close to a desalination plant, a location near the site of a similar deadly attack just weeks earlier, on June 17. Medical personnel at Nasser Hospital confirmed that at least 16 Palestinians were killed in the incident, with fears that the true toll may be even higher.

Abdullah Hammad had worked as a hygienist at MSF’s clinic in al-Mawasi for a year and a half, concluding his service only three days before his death, on June 30. A photograph of Hammad being carried into Nasser Hospital in the aftermath of the attack was released at the request of his family.

“MSF is appalled and deeply saddened by this atrocious tragedy,” the organization said in an official statement. “We mourn his death and stand with all our colleagues during this extremely difficult time.”

The organization extended its condolences to Abdullah’s family, particularly his sister Zainab and his brothers Karam and Bahaa, both of whom continue to work for MSF in Gaza.

MSF: 'This carnage must stop'

Aitor Zabalgogeazkoa, MSF’s Emergency Coordinator in Gaza, denounced the attack in strong terms. “On 3 July, Israeli forces committed yet another massacre, targeting a group of people hopelessly trying to collect bags of flour off an aid truck in southern Gaza,” he said. “This appalling tragedy killed at least 16 people.”

He further accused “Israeli” forces of obstructing recovery efforts, claiming they “refused to allow dead bodies to be retrieved from the site.”

Zabalgogeazkoa also condemned the broader humanitarian crisis in Gaza, particularly the deliberate targeting of civilians in the context of severe food shortages. “The systemic and deliberate starvation of Palestinians for over 100 days is pushing people in Gaza to breaking point,” he stated. “This carnage must stop now.”

Twelve MSF workers killed since October

Hammad’s killing follows a pattern of deadly attacks on humanitarian workers in Gaza. Since the start of the Israeli genocide in October 2023, eleven other MSF staff members have been killed amid what the organization describes as “indiscriminate violence".

MSF reiterated its call for an immediate halt to attacks on civilians and humanitarian personnel and for full protection of aid operations under international law.

“The killing of our colleague Abdullah is not an isolated event, it is part of a pattern of brutality that has repeatedly claimed the lives of aid workers and civilians alike,” the organization stated. “We demand an end to this bloodshed.”

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... li-killing

[Anthea]

Israeli forces arrest Al Mayadeen
bureau chief Nasser al-Lahham

Israeli occupation forces arrest the director of Al Mayadeen’s office in occupied Palestine, Nasser al-Lahham, in a continued crackdown on the network and infringement on press freedom

Israeli occupation forces arrested Nasser al-Lahham, director of Al Mayadeen’s bureau in occupied Palestine, on Monday, during a pre-dawn raid on his home in Beit Lahm, southern West Bank.

Local sources reported that the arrest was accompanied by deliberate acts of vandalism, as soldiers stormed al-Lahham’s residence, smashing furniture and seizing personal mobile phones belonging to him and his family.

Exclusive sources informed Al Mayadeen that the Israeli security service, Shin Bet, is directly responsible for the arrest of al-Lahham in the occupied West Bank.

According to the sources, Shin Bet officers specifically targeted al-Lahham’s broadcasting studio during the raid and actively searched for electronic equipment and media devices linked to his journalistic work.

In a related development, the Israeli occupation extended al-Lahham’s detention until Thursday and has referred his case to the Ofer military court, located west of Ramallah, for a detention hearing. The move signals a potentially prolonged legal process against one of Palestine’s most prominent media figures.

Wider context

The arrest sparked widespread condemnation from Palestinian political and media circles. Palestinian political activist Sinan Shaqdeh told Al Mayadeen that "the arrest of journalist Nasser al-Lahham carries several implications, most notably an effort to target Al Mayadeen Network for conveying a narrative that challenges the Israeli version of events surrounding the ongoing genocide (in Gaza)."

This latest move comes as part of a broader, systematic campaign targeting journalists and media operations in occupied Palestine. In late October 2023, Israeli forces raided al-Lahham’s home, assaulting his wife and children, conducting an intrusive search, and detaining his two sons, Basil and Basel.

Meanwhile, Al Mayadeen’s correspondent Hanaa Mahamid continues to face repeated threats by Israeli authorities in an attempt to suppress independent media coverage from the occupied territories.

The Israeli government has renewed its ban on Al Mayadeen’s operation in occupied Palestine, confiscated its broadcasting equipment, and blocked its websites, in a crackdown against the network, amid the continued genocide in the Gaza Strip and the broad assault on the West Bank

Al-Lahham's arrest is an attempt at suppressing the press: Fatah

Munther al-Hayek, spokesperson for the Fatah Movement, told Al Mayadeen that the Israeli occupation’s arrest of Nasser al-Lahham aims to suppress press freedom and intimidate journalists.

Al-Hayek added, “What Israel is doing in the Palestinian territories is happening with a green light from the United States.”

He also emphasized that the free press’s coverage of Israeli massacres in Gaza has unsettled Netanyahu’s government, prompting it to resort to repressive and terror tactics.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... -west-bank

[Anthea]

Condemn Israel or be complicit in genocide

Colombian President Gustavo Petro, in a Guardian op-ed, accuses Netanyahu of genocide in Gaza and urges global action

On Tuesday, The Guardian published an opinion piece by Colombian President Gustavo Petro, in which he accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of orchestrating a "campaign of devastation" in Gaza and called on the international community to move beyond symbolic outrage toward concrete action in defense of international law.

Petro has emerged as one of the most outspoken world leaders condemning "Israel’s" war on Gaza, and his latest opinion piece adds to a growing series of forceful critiques directed at the ongoing genocide.

Denouncing what he described as 600 days of systematic atrocities, Petro wrote that the world's inaction risks legitimizing a model of impunity where colonial violence, ethnic cleansing, and siege warfare are normalized against a captive population.

"If we fail to act now," he wrote, "we not only betray the Palestinian people, we become complicit in the atrocities committed by Netanyahu's government."

Moral break

The president highlighted a landmark United Nations General Assembly resolution adopted in September 2024, which called for "Israel" to end its illegal occupation within 12 months. He noted that Colombia was among the 124 countries that voted in favor, thereby assuming binding obligations that include sanctions, legal action, and trade measures.

"The clock is now ticking," he warned, reaffirming Colombia's commitment by recalling its concrete step: suspending coal exports to "Israel."

In his piece, Petro mentioned that he had declared earlier this year: "We cannot fuel the machinery that slaughters Palestinian children and then claim neutrality."

This is not the first bold move by the Colombian president. In May, his government formally cut diplomatic ties with "Israel," citing what Petro explicitly described as a "genocide." His administration also appointed Colombia’s first ambassador to Palestine, pledging medical treatment in Colombian hospitals for injured children from Gaza.

The newly appointed ambassador, Jorge Iván Ospina, later echoed Petro’s position, warning of a "macabre intention to erase the identity of a people."

In Tuesday's article, Petro praised similar actions taken by countries like Malaysia, which banned Israeli ships from its ports, and South Africa, which brought "Israel" before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on charges of genocide. It is worth noting that Colombia joined that case as an intervening party, further deepening its legal opposition to "Israel's" war.

Read more: US defends Israeli use of starvation as weapon of war before ICJ
Global reckoning

Looking ahead, Petro mentioned that Colombia and South Africa, co-chairs of the Hague Group, will host an emergency summit regarding Gaza on July 15.

The conference aims to develop a coordinated, multilateral strategy to isolate "Israel" diplomatically and economically while restoring credibility to the global legal order. With the UN's proposed international peace conference indefinitely postponed, Petro cast the July summit as a necessary corrective to global paralysis.

The Colombian president framed the Gaza crisis not just as a moral catastrophe but as an existential test for international law and nations of the Global South.

"We can either stand firm in defense of the legal principles that seek to prevent war and conflict," he wrote, "or watch helplessly as the international system collapses under the weight of unchecked power politics."

He concluded his piece by stressing that the choice is between complicity in colonial violence and collective resistance against it.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... ys-gustavo

[Anthea]

Israeli strike kills 10 children
queuing at Gaza medical clinic

Ten children are among the 16 Palestinians killed in an Israeli airstrike when they were waiting for care outside a medical clinic in Gaza, according to local authorities

The strike in Deir al-Balah on Thursday – which aid groups have called a “blatant violation of international humanitarian law” – comes as ceasefire talks continue to drag on with no immediate deal expected.

Bodies of women and children lying in pools of blood amid dust and screaming are seen in video footage verified by Reuters, with one clip showing several motionless children lying on a donkey cart.

A distraught mother is pictured sitting by the body of her daughter, who was killed in the blast, with other bodies laid out around her at a nearby hospital.

The mother, Samah al-Nouri, said: “She didn’t do anything, she was innocent, I swear. Her dream was for the war to end and that they announce it today, to go back to school. She was only getting treatment in a medical facility. Why did they kill them?”

Israel’s military said it had struck a militant who took part in the Hamas-led 7 October attack. It said it was aware of reports regarding a number of injured bystanders and that the incident was under review.

US-based Project HOPE said the strike had hit right outside its Altayara health clinic. “Horrified and heartbroken cannot properly communicate how we feel anymore,” the aid group said in a statement.

The aid group’s president and CEO, Rabih Torbay, said: “Project HOPE’s health clinics are a place of refuge in Gaza where people bring their small children, women access pregnancy and postpartum care, people receive treatment for malnutrition, and more. Yet, this morning, innocent families were mercilessly attacked as they stood in line waiting for the doors to open.

“Horrified and heartbroken cannot properly communicate how we feel anymore. This is a blatant violation of international humanitarian law, and a stark reminder that no one and no place is safe in Gaza, even as ceasefire talks continue. This cannot continue. Project HOPE urgently calls for an immediate ceasefire, unimpeded humanitarian access, and a dramatic scale-up of aid to meet the urgent needs of Gaza’s civilian population.”

The Deir al-Balah missile strike came as Israeli and Hamas negotiators hold talks with mediators in Qatar over a proposed 60-day ceasefire and hostage release deal aimed at building agreement on a lasting truce.

A senior Israeli official said on Wednesday that an agreement was not likely to be secured for another week or two, however, US secretary of state Marco Rubio said on Thursday he was hopeful of a deal.

“I think we’re closer, and I think perhaps we’re closer than we’ve been in quite a while,” Mr Rubio told reporters at the ASEAN summit in Malaysia.

Several rounds of indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas have failed to produce a breakthrough since the Israeli military resumed its campaign in March following a previous ceasefire.

Repeated attacks by Israeli forces in recent weeks have killed hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza, many of them civilians, and injured thousands, according to local health authorities, putting an enormous strain on the enclave’s few remaining hospitals

Dwindling fuel supplies risk further disruption in the semi-functioning hospitals, including incubators at the neonatal unit of Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, doctors there said.

“We are forced to place four, five or sometimes three premature babies in one incubator,” said Dr Mohammed Abu Selmia, the hospital director, adding that premature babies are now in a critical condition.

An Israeli military official said that fuel destined for hospitals and other humanitarian facilities was let into the enclave on Wednesday and on Thursday.

However, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that far more fuel was needed to keep essential life-saving and life-sustaining services operating.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... wtab-en-gb

[Anthea]

UN urges press freedom amid arrest of
Al Mayadeen’s Nasser Al-Lahham

UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric urged clarity on the arrest of Al Mayadeen’s Nasser Al-Lahham and stressed the need to protect press freedom in Gaza and the West Bank

The spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, Stéphane Dujarric, called for clarity surrounding the arrest of Al Mayadeen’s bureau chief in occupied Palestine, Nasser Al-Lahham, emphasizing the necessity of allowing journalists to operate freely, without fear of imprisonment or any form of intimidation.

His remarks came during a press conference in response to Al Mayadeen’s inquiry about whether UN Secretary-General António Guterres has been urging the release of detained media personnel, including Al-Lahham.

Dujarric expressed serious concern regarding the situation of journalists in occupied Palestine, stating: “Not only is there a shortage of journalists in Gaza, but there has also been harassment against journalists in both Gaza and the West Bank throughout the conflict in general.”

The Israeli military court at Ofer has extended the detention of Al-Lahham until next Sunday to allow for "continued interrogation," according to a joint statement by the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS).

Al Mayadeen demands clear UN position

Al Mayadeen had previously submitted an official letter to the UN spokesperson on the day of Al-Lahham’s arrest, urging the United Nations to take a clear position on the arbitrary and unjustified detention. No formal response was received.

During the most recent press briefing, Al Mayadeen reiterated its demand for a concrete stance, especially in light of the ongoing targeting of Palestinian media professionals.

Hundreds of Palestinian journalists have been killed or detained by Israeli authorities during the ongoing war in Gaza and the West Bank. Despite this alarming toll, the UN response remained general, urging an end to the harassment of journalists and calling for their right to work freely to be respected.

More journalists and media workers have been murdered in the besieged Gaza Strip since October 2023, when Israel began its continuing genocidal assault there, than in both World Wars and other major conflicts combined, according to a recent report, titled "News Graveyards: How Dangers to War Reporters Endanger the World," published by Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... s-nasser-a

[Anthea]

Israeli settlers kill Palestinian youth
in brutal West Bank assault

Israeli settlers kill 23-year-old Seifeddine Musallat near Ramallah as attacks on Palestinians and ambulance crews escalate across the occupied West Bank

The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced on Friday the martyrdom of 23-year-old Sefideddine Kamel Abdel Karim Musallat, from the town of al-Mazra'a al-Sharqiya, after he was brutally assaulted by Israeli settlers in the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

According to reports from the Palestinian news agency WAFA, the assault was part of a broader settler attack that injured at least 10 other Palestinians. The victims suffered fractures and other injuries after being attacked in Khirbet al-Tal, located in Jabal al-Batin south of Sinjil, in the Ramallah and al-Bireh governorate.

WAFA quoted a local activist who said that dozens of armed settlers attacked residents and international solidarity activists who were attempting to reach Khirbet al-Tal to dismantle an illegal outpost. The injured Palestinians came from several nearby villages, including Sinjil, al-Mazra'a al-Sharqiya, Abwein, and Jiljilya.

Settler assaults continue across occupied West Bank

During the incident, a Palestinian civilian was run over by a settler, and two ambulances were attacked, resulting in shattered windows, further highlighting the extent of settler violence against both civilians and medical teams.

This latest attack follows the killing of another Palestinian earlier this month near eastern Nablus by Israeli occupation forces. Settler violence, often carried out under the protection of the Israeli forces, has intensified in recent months across the occupied West Bank.

Local sources also reported new assaults by settlers near the village of al-Minya, southeast of Beit Lahm, where several Palestinians, including children, were injured under Israeli military protection.

Meanwhile, Israeli occupation forces continue to demolish homes in the Tulkarm refugee camp as part of an ongoing military campaign.

The assault on the camp and its surrounding city has entered its 166th consecutive day, reflecting the broader Israeli aggression against Palestinian communities across the occupied territories.

Ben-Gvir establishes settler-run police force

Israeli far-right Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has established a new police unit consisting of armed settlers who are operating illegally, according to the Anadolu agency, with analysts suggesting this step could further entrench Israel's de facto "annexation" of the occupied West Bank.

The far-right minister announced the decision during a ceremony on Wednesday at the Ibrahimi Mosque in al-Khalil, located in the southern part of the occupied West Bank.

According to a police statement released on Thursday, the newly formed "First Response Unit," composed of more than 100 illegal settlers from Israeli settlements, will operate under the West Bank police division with the alleged aim of delivering "rapid and effective emergency response," improving "personal security," and assisting in "fighting crime" in the area.

Ben-Gvir referred to the settlers in the unit as an "inseparable part of society," commending their ability to deliver "quick responses in the field," while framing the initiative as an expression of "real sovereignty and practical Zionism," a statement widely interpreted as advancing "Israel's" broader objective of annexing the West Bank.

Israeli settlement expansion surges by 40% under Netanyahu

Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are enduring a significant surge in settler attacks and an exponential expansion of illegal settlement outposts. According to Israeli media on Friday, there has been a 40% rise in the number of illegal settlements under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... -west-bank

[Anthea]

Children fetching water
killed in Israeli strike on Gaza

Ten people, including six children, have been killed in an Israeli air strike while waiting to fill water containers in central Gaza on Sunday, emergency service officials say

Their bodies were sent to Nuseirat's al-Awda Hospital, which also treated 16 injured people, seven of them children, according to a doctor there.

Eyewitnesses said a drone fired a missile at a crowd of people queuing with empty jerry cans next to a water tanker in the heart of the al-Nuseirat refugee camp.

The Israeli military has been asked to comment.

Footage shared online after the strike showed bloodied children and lifeless bodies, with screams of panic and desperation.

Residents rushed to the scene and transported the wounded using private vehicles and donkey carts.

The strike came as Israeli aerial attacks across the Gaza Strip have escalated.

A spokesperson for Gaza's Civil Defense Agency said 19 other Palestinians had been killed on Sunday, in three separate strikes on residential buildings in central Gaza and Gaza City.

At least 57,882 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Most of Gaza's population has been displaced multiple times.

More than 90% of homes are estimated to be damaged or destroyed. The healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed, and there are shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter.

This week, for the first time in 130 days, 75,000 litres of fuel was allowed into Gaza - "far from enough to meet the daily needs of the population and vital civilian aid operations", the United Nations said.

Nine UN agencies warned on Saturday that Gaza's fuel shortage had reached "critical levels", and if fuel ran out, it would affect hospitals, water systems, sanitation networks and bakeries.

"Hospitals are already going dark, maternity, neonatal and intensive care units are failing, and ambulances can no longer move," the UN said.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0rvxjnvv71o

[Anthea]

UN Palestine Inquiry members resigned

According to Al Mayadeen’s correspondent in Geneva, all members of the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory have resigned following Israeli pressure

Per Al Mayadeen’s correspondent in Geneva, all members of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territories have submitted their resignations. The decision reportedly comes after months of sustained pressure and obstruction by Israeli authorities, raising serious concerns over the integrity of international accountability mechanisms.

Our correspondent reported that the resignations followed a period of intensified Israeli campaigns aimed at undermining the commission's work, which ultimately rendered their continued role untenable. The UN is yet to confirm the resignations, though.

The commissioners had been appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021 to investigate human rights violations in occupied Palestine and Israel

Israeli officials repeatedly accused the commission of antisemitism, refused to cooperate, and mounted diplomatic efforts to delegitimize the body’s work. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously dismissed the inquiry as “anti-Israel.”

Commission documented war crimes in Gaza and West Bank

In its reports, the commission found “reasonable grounds” to conclude that Israeli forces committed war crimes in Gaza, including:

Direct attacks on civilians
Wilful killings
Starvation as a weapon of war
Sexual violence and forced displacement
Including acts amounting to genocidal intent

The findings also noted patterns of settler violence, demolition of infrastructure, and suppression of civil society in the West Bank.

UN admits failure to protect Palestinians

UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric had recently admitted that “the United Nations has failed to protect the Palestinian people.”

Speaking from New York, Dujarric added: “The Secretary-General and all remaining UN humanitarian staff in Gaza are doing everything they can to help civilians survive, at the very least, by providing them with what limited resources we have.”

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... ly-resigne

[Anthea]

US-backed Gaza genocide
aims to uproot Palestinians

Ansar Allah leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi accuses the US and Israel of executing a genocide in Gaza to eliminate Palestinian existence and identity

The leader of Ansar Allah, Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, condemned the systematic genocide in the Gaza Strip, stressing that the atrocities committed by the Israeli occupation are not isolated war crimes but part of a deliberate campaign to eradicate the Palestinian people under the auspices of the United States.

In a televised speech on Thursday, Sayyed al-Houthi emphasized that "the daily criminal behavior of the Israeli occupation in Gaza reveals an intent to eliminate Palestinian existence altogether, not merely to achieve military gains." He warned that entire families have been wiped from civil records in a pattern reminiscent of the worst crimes in modern history.

Sayyed al-Houthi cited a 41% drop in birth rates and a 10% population decline in Gaza this year alone as concrete evidence of the Zionist project’s attempt to depopulate the besieged territory. He also highlighted the Israeli regime’s use of contractors to finish demolishing buildings, supported by a steady flow of bulldozers from the US.

Al-Quds, al-Khalil facing accelerated Judaization

Sayyed al-Houthi warned of the increasingly aggressive Israeli Judaization policies in occupied al-Quds and al-Khalil, criticizing the normalization of once-outrageous violations against holy sites.

He noted that the occupation authorities had organized a film festival near the Old City of al-Quds as part of efforts to impose a Jewish identity on the city. In al-Khalil, he condemned the Israeli regime’s recent move to strip the local municipality of authority over the Ibrahimi Mosque, calling it another step in a long-term scheme of erasure and domination.

“The enemy no longer hides its real intentions,” al-Houthi said. “It has become openly hostile to any notion of a Palestinian state, whether in the West Bank or elsewhere.”

United States architect of genocide

The Ansar Allah leader placed direct blame on Washington for the war on Gaza, describing the aggression as “American before Israeli.”

“This is a fully coordinated project,” he said, “with the Zionist role being merely operational. The planning, intelligence, weapons, and political cover all come from the United States.”

Sayyed al-Houthi argued that this alignment reflects a broader American strategy to subjugate the region, not merely a temporary alliance or political stance. He linked the massacre in Gaza with other American-led projects in Lebanon and Syria, which he said form part of the same imperialist blueprint targeting the broader Arab and Islamic world.

He also lamented the complicity of certain Arab regimes that continue to fund the aggression through US arms deals. “It is deeply regrettable,” he said, “that Arab money is still financing the Israeli war effort via American intermediaries.”

Armed resistance in Gaza prevents Israeli expansion

Sayyed al-Houthi hailed the resilience and ingenuity of Palestinian resistance factions, especially in Gaza, for inflicting ongoing military and psychological defeats on the Israeli occupation. He praised the late Mohammad Deif, the martyred commander of al-Qassam Brigades, calling him a symbol of faith-driven resistance and tactical excellence.

Deif and his comrades, according to al-Houthi, launched their resistance from the ground up, yet managed to cripple the enemy's momentum, proving the effectiveness of armed resistance even under extreme conditions.

Sayyed al-Houthi asserted that the Palestinian resistance was crucial in preventing the conflict from expanding into a wider regional war, crediting it with halting the Israeli regime’s ambitions to escalate militarily across borders.

He also noted the Israeli occupation's ongoing manpower crisis, pointing to its struggles in recruiting ultra-Orthodox Jews (Haredim) into military service.

Warning against resistance defamation

Finally, Sayyed al-Houthi warned of intensive media campaigns aimed at demoralizing supporters of the Palestinian cause and portraying resistance as futile or “suicidal.”

He insisted that the path of resistance is not only legitimate but proven, and that surrender only deepens the region’s subjugation. “Freedom will never come from the colonizer,” he said. “Dignity is restored only through defiance and steadfastness.”

The Israeli economic media outlet The Marker reported that the port of Eilat will completely cease operations starting next Sunday after the city municipality froze its bank accounts due to millions of shekels in accumulated debts.

This development comes as the port has faced near-total paralysis since November 2023, when Yemen imposed a naval blockade on ships heading to "Israel", leading to a sharp decline in revenue and a collapse in commercial activity at the facility.

Yemen devastates Israeli economy

The Eilat Municipality announced that it had frozen the port's bank accounts due to massive accumulated debts, and according to the Israeli economic outlet The Marker, all operations will come to a complete halt starting Sunday, signaling a total economic shutdown of the port.

The crisis at Eilat Port began when Yemeni forces imposed a naval blockade on ships heading to Israel, prompting international shipping companies to avoid the Red Sea route, which brought the port's operations to a near standstill and caused a collapse in its revenue.

Earlier, Israeli business newspaper The Marker revealed that Eilat Port's revenues had plummeted by 80% in 2024 after ships stopped docking there due to Yemen's maritime blockade in the Red Sea, which was imposed in support of the Gaza Strip.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... ns--sayyed

[Anthea]

How Germany continues to
manufacture consent for genocide

Germany’s morally bankrupt political and media class, with their scandalous lack of historical self-awareness, continue to manufacture consent for a genocidal war that has German entanglement written all over it

June 21 saw the largest Palestine solidarity protest in German history. According to organisers Abed Hassan, who rose to social media prominence as the “German voice from Gaza," and Amin Rjoob, a food-blogger who the national propaganda rag Bild and Hamburg’s (Weaponisation of) Antisemitism Commissioner have repeatedly smeared as a “Jew-hater”, 70,000 people flooded the streets of the capital Berlin under the banner United4Gaza.

The presence of this long overdue critical mass of people of conscience, especially in a city where administrative violence and police brutality against anti-genocide rallies are particularly vicious and routinely invite condemnations from human rights watchdogs, is in stark contrast to Germany’s political and media class’ increasingly isolated position of unconditional support for Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

As starving Palestinians are lured into death traps masquerading as aid distribution sites just to be murdered there for sport in what has been compared to dystopian media franchises like Squid Game or The Hunger Games, the German government and its stenographers in the national media remain unfazed at Israel’s execution of “one of the cruelest genocides in modern history,” to quote UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese.

Instead, Germany is doubling down even harder on its politics of denial and distortion and its already brutal state violence against peace activism in a desperate attempt to stay in control of a losing narrative that misrepresents colonial barbarism as self-defense and serves the interests of its military-industrial complex, as Berlin remains the second-largest exporter of killing machinery to the Israeli regime after the US.

Sustaining moral panic

Manufacturing what political scientist Donatella della Porta describes as a “moral panic dynamic” of antisemitism has proven itself to be a very effective way for post-October 7 Germany to shift public attention away from the reality of German complicity in yet another genocide, while simultaneously refashioning the fight against Jew-hatred “into an instrument of racialisation and repression” against Palestine solidarity.

The designation of anti-Zionist Jewish organisation Jüdische Stimme, rights group Palästina Spricht and two local Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) groups as “assuredly extremist” by Germany’s notorious Verfassungsschutz security service last month is the latest step in sustaining a moral panic in which non-violent justice movements are constructed as top-level threats to Germany’s allegedly democratic constitutional order.

Just a week after the United4Gaza mass protest in Berlin, at the end of which police arrested co-organiser Rjoob, the co-governing Social Democrats (SPD) passed a motion to combat antisemitism at their federal party congress.

Entitled “Never again is now! Protect Jewish life!” in a nod to last year’s much criticised Bundestag resolution of near-identical name-giving, Motion I06 is yet another red herring designed to distract the public from the real problem: "Israel’s" genocide in Gaza and the corresponding anti-Palestinian authoritarianism of the colluding German state in the service of a foreign entity.

Using suggestive wording and flawed anti-Jewish hate crime statistics, which wrongly equate opposition to Israel’s genocidal settler colonialism with hatred of Jews, the motion paints Palestine solidarity as inherently antisemitic. In a five-line paragraph on the anti-genocide student protest movement, you will find the word “antisemitic” four times.

Gaza/Ukraine double standard

German news organisations have gained notoriety for purposely downplaying Israel’s commission of a colonial genocide to the point of stone-cold denial, while awarding Russian attacks on Ukraine knee-jerk, front-page outrage.

“A propaganda system will constantly portray people abused in enemy states as worthy victims, whereas those treated with equal or greater severity by its own government or clients will be unworthy,” write Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky in their seminal 1988 book Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media.

For the past 21 months, this double standard has been at the heart of German media’s coverage of Israel’s campaign of annihilation in Gaza

Despite an estimated 75,200 violent deaths in Gaza between October 7, 2003 and January 5, 2025, Palestinians are still forced to “audition” for empathy, as Palestinian-American writer and clinical psychologist Hala Alyan lamented in the early days of the genocide, while Ukrainians are seemingly entitled to it by default of their victimisation by an “enemy state” and their white privilege.

Access a mainstream news website like tagesschau.de, and the landing page’s top news items will routinely feature stories that amplify the plight of Ukrainians affected by the war with Russia.

The ever-worsening human suffering in Gaza, on the other hand, where "Israel" killed 150 Palestinians in a single day on July 1, is treated as a mere afterthought and “has all but disappeared from the headlines,” according to German media critic Fabian Goldmann.

Even though 80% of Germans reject "Israel’s" actions in Gaza, according to a May poll conducted by public broadcaster ZDF, Germany’s morally bankrupt political and media class with their scandalous lack of historical self-awareness (despite incessant protestations to the contrary) continue to manufacture consent for a genocidal war that has German entanglement written all over it.

“Never again is now,” they say? Not if you’re Palestinian

https://english.almayadeen.net/articles ... r-genocide

[Anthea]

Israel leveling thousands
of Gaza civilian buildings

Israel has demolished thousands of buildings across Gaza in controlled demolitions since it withdrew from a ceasefire with Hamas in March, with entire towns and suburbs - once home to tens of thousands of people - levelled in the past few weeks

Satellite images show massive amounts of destruction in several areas which Israel's military command claims to have under "operational control".

Large swathes of it have been caused by planned demolitions, both to already damaged buildings and ones that appeared largely intact.

Verified footage shows large explosions unleashing plumes of dust and debris, as Israeli forces carry out controlled demolitions on tower blocks, schools and other infrastructure

Multiple legal experts told BBC Verify that Israel may have committed war crimes under the Geneva Convention, which largely prohibits the destruction of infrastructure by an occupying power.

An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson said it operated in accordance with international law; that Hamas concealed "military assets" in civilian areas, and that the "destruction of property is only performed when an imperative military necessity is demanded".

In July, Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz outlined plans to establish what he called a "humanitarian city" over the ruins of Rafah, with an initial 600,000 Palestinians being confined there.

The plan has been widely condemned. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the BBC that the proposal would be "interpreted as being akin to a concentration camp".

Tel al-Sultan was one of Rafah city's most vibrant neighbourhoods. Its densely packed streets were home to Rafah's only specialised maternity hospital and a centre caring for orphaned and abandoned children.

Satellite images showed that much of the area had already been heavily damaged by Israeli bombing and artillery fire, but dozens of buildings had withstood the barrage.

But by 13 July the destruction had escalated, with even the shells of damaged buildings swept away and entire blocks torn to the ground. The hospital is one of a handful of buildings left standing.

Similarly, demolitions are now under way in the adjacent Saudi neighbourhood - once home to the city's largest mosque and several schools.

One verified clip showed a tank moving along a street in Rafah while a digger works by the side of the road.

Israeli demolitions are also visible in other parts of the strip which appear to have avoided heavy damage during earlier bombardments.

The farming town of Khuza'a is located about 1.5km (0.9 miles) from the Israeli border.

Before the war the town had a population of 11,000 people and was known for its fertile farmlands and crops such as tomatoes, wheat and olives.

The IDF says it demolished 1,200 buildings in Khuza'a, which it alleged were part of "terror infrastructures" run by Hamas.

A similar story emerges in the nearby town of Abasan al-Kabira, where about 27,000 people lived before the war. Photos taken on 31 May and 8 July indicate that an extensive area was swept away in just 38 days.

Israel has created extensive "security zones" and corridors separating parts of Gaza, and has destroyed large numbers of buildings along and near these routes. Its latest corridor separates western from eastern Khan Younis, including Khuza'a and Abasan al-Kabira.

Also since early in the war analysts have suggested that Israel has been attempting to create deep "buffer zones" by destroying buildings near to the border, but some of the areas flattened recently are deep into Gaza.

In Qizan Abu Rashwan - an agricultural settlement about 7km from the Israeli border - virtually every structure left standing has been demolished since 17 May. One video we verified showed a controlled explosion levelling a cluster of tower blocks.

BBC Verify presented the IDF with a list of places in which we documented demolitions and asked it to provide specific military justifications. It did not do so.

"As has been widely documented, Hamas and other terrorist organizations conceal military assets in densely populated civilian areas," an IDF spokesperson said. "The IDF identifies and destroys terrorist infrastructure located, among other places, within buildings in these areas."

Several human rights lawyers who spoke to BBC Verify suggested the campaign could amount to war crimes.

Eitan Diamond - a senior legal expert at the Diakonia International Humanitarian Law Centre in Jerusalem - said there was little justification under the Fourth Geneva Convention, the document which generally covers the protection of civilians in wartime.

"International humanitarian law prohibits such controlled destruction of civilian property during armed conflict, except under narrow conditions of absolute military operational necessity," Mr Diamond said.

"Destruction of property because of concerns or speculations about its possible future use (for example, that it will be used to launch attacks in the future) falls well outside this exception."

Professor Janina Dill, co-director of Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law & Armed Conflict, said an occupying power must administer a region for the benefit of the population - which she said was "incompatible with a military approach that simply makes the territory uninhabitable and leaves nothing standing".

But some analysts have sought to defend the IDF’s campaign.

Many of the buildings the IDF has demolished had already been left in ruins by shelling and air strikes, said Prof Eitan Shamir, director of the BESA Center For Strategic Studies in Israel and an ex-official with the Ministry of Strategic Affairs. He told BBC Verify they posed a safety risk for returning civilians, especially "during winter rains when they are more likely to collapse".

Prof Shamir also alluded to tactical concerns

"The area is a combat zone," he said. "Even when a building has been entered and cleared by the IDF, once the Israelis exit it, the terrorists often return to plant bombs or hide inside to shoot at them."

There is no sign of a let-up in the pace of the demolitions. Israeli media reported last week that the IDF had received dozens of D9 bulldozers from the US, which had been suspended under the Biden administration.

And BBC Verify identified dozens of adverts posted to Israeli Facebook groups which were offering work in Gaza to demolition contractors. The majority of the posts have been shared by recruiters since May.

Many of the ads specify areas of Gaza where the work will occur, such as "the Philadelphi Corridor" and "the Morag Axis" - both areas controlled by the IDF.

When approached for comment by BBC Verify, one contractor replied: "Go [expletive] yourself, you and Gaza."

One analyst - Adil Haque of Rutgers Law School - suggested that the IDF’s demolitions could be seeking to create a "security zone" that it could "permanently control".

Other analysts say the demolitions could be clearing the ground to develop the proposed "humanitarian city" in Rafah. Efraim Inbar - President of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security - suggested they could be seeking to encourage Palestinians to leave the strip entirely by increasing "the strong desire to emigrate".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously told a group of MPs in a closed-door meeting widely reported in Israeli media that the IDF was "destroying more and more homes" leaving Palestinians with "nowhere to return to".

For Gazans, the devastation has been intense

Moataz Yousef Ahmed Al-Absi from Tel al-Sultan said his home had been swept away.

"I had just moved into my home a year before the war started, and I was incredibly happy with it, holding high hopes for my future. Now, it's been completely destroyed," he said.

"After losing everything, I no longer have a home or a shelter."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/id ... 2b2787cf59

[Anthea]

Gaza: Dozens killed by Israeli gunfire
near aid distribution sites

At least 32 Palestinians seeking food have been killed by Israeli gunfire near two aid distribution points close to Khan Younis and Rafah in southern Gaza, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry

Dozens were also injured near the two sites run by the controversial US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), it said.

One eyewitness told the Reuters news agency that the Israeli gunfire seemed "targeted to kill".

The Palestinian ministry of health said a number of bodies were taken to nearby Nasser hospital on Saturday morning.

There are almost daily reports of Palestinians being killed while seeking aid since the GHF began operations in late May. Witnesses say most have been shot by Israeli forces.

The IDF told the BBC that in the latest incident, troops fired warning shots to prevent "suspects" approaching them, saying the incident happened before the aid sites opened.

Mohammed Al-Khalidi, speaking to Reuters, pointed the finger at the Israeli army for the attack.

He said he was part of a group of Palestinians who had been told the GHF aid distribution centre was open, but when they arrived tanks began moving towards them and opened fire.

"It wasn't shots that were to scare us or to organize us, it was shots that were targeted to kill us, if they wanted to organize us they would have, but they meant to kill us."

The GHF uses private security contractors to distribute aid from sites in Israeli military zones. Israel and the US say the system is necessary to stop Hamas from stealing aid. The UN refuses to co-operate with it, describing it as unethical and saying no evidence has been offered of Hamas systematically diverting aid.

On 15 July, the UN human rights office said it had so far recorded 674 killings in the vicinity of the GHF's four sites in southern and central Gaza over the past six weeks.

Another 201 killings had been recorded along routes of UN and other aid convoys, it added.

The GHF denies that there have been any deadly incidents in close proximity to its sites and accused the UN of using "false and misleading" figures from Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry. The ministry's figures are widely seen as a reliable count of bodies seen by Gazan hospitals.

Israel does not allow international news organisations, including the BBC, to send journalists into the territory.

A map showing Gaza. Circles reading : North Gaza 93,00 : Gaza City 185,00 : Deir al-Balah 60,00 : Kahn Younis 124,000 and : Rafa 7,500 - show the number of people in each area facing the risk of starvation.

The UN also said this week that the number of acutely malnourished children has doubled since Israel began restricting food entering the territory in March. Despite the creation of the GHF significant amounts of aid, including baby formula, is still being blocked at the border.

On Friday, the director of one field hospital said in a statement that they had an unprecedented influx of patients suffering from severe exhaustion, emaciation and acute malnutrition.

So far, 69 children have died from malnutrition during the increasing humanitarian crisis, according to the Hamas government media office.

On Friday, US President Donald Trump once again suggested a ceasefire deal was very near – but a Palestinian official told the BBC that talks remain blocked, with a latest troop withdrawal map proposed by Israel still unacceptable to Hamas.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce3n04w19qlo

[Anthea]

Ninety-six arrests at Palestine Action
protests across UK

Police made more than 50 arrests in Parliament Square in central London

Nearly 100 people have been arrested at protests across the UK against the decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terror group.

Demonstrations in support of the pro-Palestine activist group took place in London, Edinburgh, Manchester, Bristol and Truro on Saturday.

The Met Police said 55 people were arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences for displaying placards in support of Palestine Action, at the largest of the demonstrations in Westminster.

The government proscribed the group earlier this month under the Terrorism Act of 2000, making membership of or support for the group a criminal offence, following a break-in at an RAF base.

Across the country, protesters held placards with the words: "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action."

In London, arrests were made near the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament Square, where as many as 20 police vans attended.

Officers moved in swiftly to arrest those holding the placards, many of whom appeared to be over the age of 60.

One woman claimed to be in her 80s and was walking with a stick. Some were led away while others had to be carried.

Avon and Somerset Police said 17 people were arrested under the Terrorism Act after a demonstration on College Green in Bristol.

It said a further three people would be invited to attend a voluntary interview at a future date.

Devon and Cornwall Police said two men and six women were arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences after protesters gathered near Truro Cathedral.

The force said around 30 people were involved in the peaceful demonstration, organised by campaign group Defend Our Juries.

Earlier, the campaign group said that one of those arrested near the cathedral was an 81-year-old former magistrate.

Police officers carry a person in handcuffs away from Parliament SquareImage source, EPA
Image caption,

Some demonstrators in London were led away while others had to be carried by officers

Greater Manchester Police said it arrested 16 people on suspicion of supporting a proscribed organisation, and that they remained in custody for questioning.

Police Scotland said officers in Edinburgh attended after the force was made aware of images online showing people holding placards in support of Palestine Action in Edinburgh's Parliament Square area.

However, a spokesperson said no arrests were made as the protesters had gone by the time officers arrived. Enquiries are ongoing.

There were also no arrests at a separate pro-Palestinian protest in the city, the force added.

Separately, a march organised by the Palestine Coalition took place in London on Saturday.

The Met said 10 people had been arrested so far at that demonstration, including eight suspected of supporting Palestine Action.

Saturday's protests came ahead of a High Court hearing on Monday at which the co-founder of Palestine Action, Huda Ammori, will ask for permission to challenge the decision to ban the group.

Last Saturday, 71 arrests were made across the UK at similar protests against the decision.

Palestine Action has engaged in activities that have predominantly targeted arms companies since the start of the current war in Gaza.

MPs voted to proscribe the group after activists broke into RAF Brize Norton in June, spraying two Voyager aircraft with red paint and causing £7m worth of damage. Palestine Action took responsibility for the incident at the time.

Four people have since been remanded in custody, charged with conspiracy to commit criminal damage and conspiracy to enter a prohibited place knowingly for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the UK.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20rvdexj8jo

[Anthea]

Killed for water: Siblings in Gaza
torn apart by Israeli strike

In Gaza, even the most basic human acts, such as fetching water and helping a sibling, can cost a child their life

In an emotional and heart-piercing piece, The Guardian highlights the tragic story of Palestinian nine-year-old Karam al-Ghussain, who was trying to bring water home to his forcibly displaced family when an Israeli missile struck the distribution point. His 10-year-old sister, Lulu, ran to help him carry the heavy jugs. Both were killed instantly. The brutal Israeli strike also took the lives of six other children and four adults, injuring 19 more, most of them minors.

The explosion was so violent that their small bodies were torn apart. Their mother, Heba, was not allowed to see them. “They didn’t let me say goodbye or even look at them one last time,” she told The Guardian, recalling how her brother tried to shield her from the horrific sight. “After that, I don’t remember anything. I lost touch with reality.”

Lulu’s real name was Lana. Her nickname, meaning “pearl", captured her gentleness. “She had such a joyful personality, and a heart full of kindness,” Heba said. Karam, mature beyond his years, was affectionately called “Abu Sharik”, “my partner”, by his father, Ashraf. He once asked for a remote-controlled car, but Heba told him they couldn’t afford luxuries. “I wish I had spent everything I had to buy it for him so he could have played with it before he died.”

Both children were dreaming of food. Lulu craved musakhan, the Palestinian dish of roasted chicken with onions and sumac. Karam had been hoping for shawarma. “They had all kinds of food plans for me to prepare,” Heba told The Guardian.

After nearly two years of relentless Israeli strikes and a total siege imposed since March, even water in Gaza has become a scarce and deadly pursuit. Heba had believed sending the children to fetch water was safer than looking for food. The station was just a few streets away from the school where they were sheltering, their home already destroyed by earlier airstrikes.

“Karam would wait patiently for hours,” Heba said. “Sometimes he’d come back empty-handed. When he did bring water—20 liters—it was a burden too heavy for a boy his age. But he never complained. Karam was only nine, and braver than dozens of grown men.”

That day, the line at the water station was short. Karam reached the front. When Lulu joined him to help, the missile hit.

“It was as if the missile was waiting for her to arrive,” Heba said. 'Their faces were disfigured'

Witness Ali Abu Zaid, who rushed to the site, described a scene of horror. “Each child was holding a water bucket, lying dead in place, covered in their own blood. The shrapnel had torn through their small bodies. Their faces were disfigured. The smell of gunpowder filled the air.”

Donkey carts transported the dead and wounded as ambulances struggled to reach the site. Even when they arrived, it was too late. “There was no saving anyone,” said Abu Zaid. “These were lifeless bodies, completely shattered.”

Ashraf had sprinted toward the water station after the explosion. He found their containers, dented, bloodied, and then found their bodies at the hospital. “When I saw them like that, it felt like my heart was being stabbed with knives,” he said. “I’m still in shock. I’m afraid every day that I’ll lose the rest of my family. I feel like I’m going insane.”

Heba, too, searched in panic, hoping they had returned to the shelter. The siblings had survived two previous airstrikes, one that leveled their home, another nearby. “They survived twice,” she said, “but not the third time.”

No one at the school had the courage to tell her. “The news was already spreading, but no one told me. No one dared.”

She was eventually sent to Al-Awda Hospital, where she saw her husband, standing next to the bodies of their children.

The Israeli military later claimed the strike was a “malfunction” during an "operation targeting a militant." But Ashraf rejected the explanation. “They have the most advanced technology. They know exactly where their missiles fall. How could this be a mistake? A ‘mistake’ that killed both of my children?”

'We sleep hungry and wake up hungry and thirsty too'

With no money for cemetery plots, the family buried Karam and Lulu beside Heba’s father. Their youngest daughter, 18-month-old Ghina, now suffers from malnutrition, skin infections, and dehydration, like thousands of children in Gaza, where water, food, and medicine have all but disappeared.

“We sleep hungry and wake up hungry. And thirsty too,” Heba said. “The desalination stations barely operate. The entire world sees this, yet they shut their eyes.”

The deaths of Karam and Lulu mark a grim turning point. More than 800 Palestinians have been killed near food distribution points since late May, mostly by tank and naval fire.

UNICEF warned last month that children in Gaza risk dying from thirst, as water systems collapse after months of bombardment. Water, like bread, has become a front line.

In Gaza, survival itself is an act of resistance, and often, a fatal one.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... sraeli-str