UNICEF targeted; Israeli airstrike kills family of Ismail Haniyeh; 13,000 Gazans reportedly missing; Israel renegs on Erez; US + Israel prep for Iran attack
— Read on israelpalestinenews.org/unicef-vehicle-targeted-hamas-leaders-family-members-assassinated-day-187/
UNICEF vehicle targeted, Hamas leader’s family members assassinated – Day 187
Israel’s dubious plan to ‘flood Gaza with aid’
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced that, instead of the Erez crossing Israel promised to start using last week, a new crossing point would be created on the northern part of the Gaza border to shorten the time it would take for trucks to get from the Ashdod port to Gaza. He did not specify how long it would take to build this crossing.
He said that the new Northern Crossing is expected to handle at least 50 aid trucks per day.
The crossing would “have a direct impact on the flow of aid — we plan to flood Gaza with aid,” he said, saying that Israel has a goal of at least 500 trucks a day. “It will also streamline security checks and strengthen our work with international partners.”
Before Israel’s war on Gaza, an average of 500 aid trucks entered the strip each day – a supplement to Gaza’s own food production. Today much of Gaza’s agricultural land, livestock, and food production factories are in ruins.
Israeli Army Radio reported earlier that the establishment of the new crossing is aimed in part at making it more difficult for Israeli activists to stage protests aimed at blocking the entry of aid, which some have been doing for several months. Notably, Israeli forces have done little to stop the protests.
NOTE: Thousands of aid trucks are reportedly waiting at the southern border of Gaza, where Israel has made it extremely difficult to pass, employing complicated and arbitrary procedures; when aid has gotten into Gaza, the people have many times been shot at as they tried to obtain food. Israeli forces have targeted trucks themselves and humanitarian aid staff.
RELATED: Middle East Eye reports: Israel has not made any preparations for humanitarian aid deliveries to be received at Ashdod port, according to an Israeli media report.
US President Joe Biden claimed that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to allow aid to arrive at Ashdod after a tense phone call last week.
But the Israeli military, the coordinator of government activities in the territories, and the Ashdod Port authorities have not received any instructions to prepare the port, according to the Hebrew language Channel 12’s political correspondent, Yaron Avraham.
Israel allows Gaza authorities to restore water pipeline that Israel damaged
Ha’aretz reports: Israel has agreed to the request of the Gaza Water Authority to restore the water line to the south of the Gaza Strip. The pipeline, that carries water to the south of the Gaza Strip, to the cities of Khan Yunis and Bani Suheila, has been severely damaged by the bombs during the war, and about 1.3 kilometers (0.8 miles) of it were put out of use.
The Palestinian Water Authority began work on the pipeline’s restoration a few days before IDF forces left the southern Gaza Strip, and they are expected to be completed in the coming days. When they are, Israel will return to pumping water through the pipeline.
Senior officials in Israel’s security have said that the government approved the restoration of the pipeline, and that the issue’s coordination was moderated by the UN.
21 years ago today, Tom Hurndall was shot in the head by Israeli forces
Tom Hurndall, a British 21-year-old student photographer, and volunteer for the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), who wished “to make a difference,” went to Gaza in 2003.
On April 11, he watched as children playing nearby suddenly came under Israeli rifle fire. Most of the children fled, but three, aged four to seven, froze with fear. Tom rushed one to safety. When he returned for two little girls, an Israeli sniper shot him in the head.
Despite the seriousness of his injury, Israeli officials delayed his transport to specialized medical care for over two and a half hours. Tom remained in a vegetative state until his death 9 months later.
To learn about other foreign volunteers shot by Israel: Instead of Taylor Force Act, Congress should consider Rachel Corrie Act, Orwah Hammad Act
Ireland will move to recognize Palestinian statehood: Minister
Al Arabiya News reports: Ireland will move to recognize a Palestinian state in the coming weeks, Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said Tuesday in Dublin.
Martin said he will bring a formal proposal on recognition of a Palestinian state to the government “in the next couple of weeks,” when “wider international discussions” are complete.
“Be in no doubt, recognition of a Palestinian state will happen,” he told the Irish parliament during a speech. Delaying recognition “is not credible or tenable any longer,” he said.
He said that for the past six months he has been in discussions about recognition with other countries involved in peace initiatives.
Last month the leaders of Spain, Ireland, Slovakia and Malta said in a joint statement that they stand ready to recognize Palestinian statehood.
Senior U.S. general to visit Israel to coordinate on Iran attack threat
Axios reports: The senior U.S. military commander in charge of the Middle East is expected to go to Israel Thursday to coordinate around a possible attack on Israel by Iran and its proxies, two Israeli officials said. Gen. Erik Kurilla, commander of the U.S. Central Command, is expected to meet Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and senior Israel Defense Forces officials.
Iranian officials have publicly threatened to retaliate against Israel for an attack in Syria last week that killed a top Iranian general. An attack on Israel or its bases could lead to another regional escalation.
Israeli officials say they are preparing for a possible unprecedented direct attack from Iranian soil using ballistic missiles, drones and cruise missiles against Israeli targets.
In such a scenario, Israel will retaliate with a direct attack against Iran, the officials said.
A senior U.S. official has said that the U.S. is not ruling out the possibility of launching a joint attack on Iran with Israel – if the Islamic Republic responds to the assassination of a senior IRGC general earlier this month by attacking Israel. The official also said that, “if Israel comes under attack by missiles or drones, we will not rule out the possibility of helping the Israelis intercept them.”
Bipartisan bill would create dedicated White House antisemitism coordinator
Jewish Insider reports: With incidents of antisemitism [allegedly] running at historic levels in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, a bipartisan bill introduced on Wednesday would, for the first time, create an official administration position dedicated specifically to combating antisemitism at home, as well as new structures and procedures at various federal agencies.
“We need, at the highest levels of our government, to have people who are dedicated to monitoring and combating antisemitism,” Rep. Kathy Manning (D-NC), one of the sponsors of the Combat Antisemitism Act (CAA), told Jewish Insider on Wednesday. “If this responsibility doesn’t fall on top-level people in the administration, then it’s easy for the problems to move to the bottom of somebody’s to-do list and we do not want that to happen.”
NOTE: Actual antisemitism is not as prevalent as Israel partisans (including Kathy Manning) would like us to think. A large portion of what they call antisemitism is simply criticism of Israel, the self-proclaimed “Jewish State.” Most of the animosity Israel experiences is opposition to Zionism. Zionism is not a benign philosophy, but a racist ideology – the ideology under which Israel dispossessed 750,000 Palestinian people and exiled them to Gaza and other locations. The so-called “demonization” of Israel is in most cases a legitimate criticism of Israel’s policies ofoccupation, apartheid, and genocide, and other illegal practices.
Pro-Israel organizations consistently work to silence Palestine advocacy on campus – a free speech violation. One strategy they use is to pressure universities to officially adopt the IHRA “definition” of antisemitism, which defines legitimate criticism of Israel as antisemitic. Other strategies include blockingprestigious appointments of and events with supporters of Palestinian rights, threateningto withhold major donations, and more. But supporters of Palestine on campus are fighting back.
Further reading: A wave of new post-Oct 7th “antisemitism” bills completely miss the point
Electronic Intifada: EU signs huge number of science grants for Israel amid Gaza genocide
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