Tag: Gaza

Will It Last?

Since today is the big day this question could be about the upcoming 4 years but it is not rather it is about the ceasefire deal in the Middle East which began yesterday.

The AP reports Majid al-Ansari said in a post on X that the ceasefire will start at 8:30am local time Sunday. He advised people to exercise caution when the agreement goes into effect and to wait for directions from officials.

Under the first phase of the ceasefire, 33 hostages are set to be released over the next six weeks, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. The exchange will begin Sunday at 4pm. During each exchange, prisoners will be released by Israel after the hostages have arrived safely. The remainder, including male soldiers, are to be released in a second phase that will be negotiated during the first. Hamas has said it will not release the remaining captives without a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal.

The plan says that during phase one, some 1,900 Palestinian prisoners will be released, in exchange for 33 Israeli hostages, both alive and dead. Among the prisoners, 1,167 are residents in Gaza who were held by Israel but were not involved in Oct. 7. All women and children under 19 from Gaza held by Israel will be freed during this phase. All Palestinian prisoners who were convicted of deadly attacks will be exiled, either to Gaza or abroad, and barred from returning to Israel or the West Bank. Some will be exiled for three years and others permanently, according to the plan.

Despite the ceasefire news, sirens sounded across central Israel on Saturday, with the army saying it intercepted projectiles launched from Yemen. The Iran-backed Houthis have stepped up their missile attacks in recent weeks. The group says the attacks are part of their campaign aimed at pressuring Israel and the West over the war in Gaza. There were also continued Israeli strikes into Gaza. The Palestinian Health Ministry said at least 23 people were killed in the previous day.

So will this ceasefire last?

Likely not…..

The ceasefire agreement regarding the Gaza Strip can be welcomed as a modest reprieve from the immense suffering that the residents of that territory have endured for the past 15 months.

The Israeli military assault on the Strip has inflicted deaths that according to the official count has passed more than 46,600. This tally likely undercounts actual deaths by more than 40 percent, with the majority of fatalities being women, children, and the elderly.

This is in addition to all the other suffering from continuing military operations. There have been more than 111,265 reported injuries, including life-changing disabilities in an environment in which Israel has largely destroyed the healthcare system.

The agreement also commits Israel to allowing an increased number of trucks bearing badly needed humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. Other benefits include the release of a number of Israeli hostages that Hamas took in its attack in October 2023. Also to be released are several hundred Palestinians whom Israel has imprisoned. The Palestinians can be considered hostages, too. Although some of those to be released have been given sentences of imprisonment, many of the Palestinians Israel incarcerates are held indefinitely without charge, incommunicado, and without legal representation.

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/gaza-ceasefire-2670860243/

I have not decided if the swearing in is worth my attentio9n.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Is There A Gaza Deal?

After many long months of death and destruction there is news that there is a ceasefire deal for Gaza….

Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire deal, mediators announced Wednesday, pausing a devastating 15-month war in the Gaza Strip and raising the possibility of winding down the deadliest and most destructive fighting between the bitter enemies. The deal, coming after weeks of painstaking negotiations in Qatar, promises the release of dozens of hostages held by Hamas in phases and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israel. It would allow hundreds of thousands of people displaced in Gaza to return to what remains of their homes, and would also flood badly needed humanitarian aid into a devastated territory.

With good news there is always a caveat when Israel is involved….

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday night addressed the ceasefire deal being worked out between Israel and Hamas, emphasizing that the agreement is not yet complete. He later went further, claiming Hamas backtracked on a previous understanding of the three-phase deal. The AP reports that claim “could indicate that obstacles remain” to actually implementing the deal, which would see dozens of Israeli hostages released by Hamas in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners being released by Israel and hundreds of displaced Palestinians being allowed to return to their homes in Gaza.

Then the news, if you were paying attention, it was a Trump envoy that moved the negotiations along to this point….

President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, did more to pressure Israel to agree to a hostage and ceasefire deal in one meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu than President Biden did in an entire year, two Arab officials have told The Times of Israel.

Witkoff met with Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Saturday and got him to make concessions, which Israeli media said was the deciding factor that led to the ceasefire deal announced on Wednesday.

It’s unclear how Witkoff got Netanyahu to agree to the deal, but the Biden administration refused to use any of its leverage over Israel to force a deal and continued providing huge amounts of military aid to support the genocidal slaughter in Gaza.

Even though Witkoff played a crucial role in the deal, Biden took credit for the agreement. “My diplomacy never ceased in their efforts to get this done,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.

In brief remarks at the White House, Biden credited his foreign policy team, who he referred to as “peacemakers” despite their role in backing the slaughter in Gaza. When asked by a reporter if he or Trump should get credit for the deal, Biden said, “Is that a joke?”

Biden also credited his strong backing of Israel as a factor that led to the deal. But unconditional US support for Israel emboldened Netanyahu to sabotage previous negotiations and escalate elsewhere in the region.

The ceasefire deal is based on an outline Biden proposed back in May 2024, which Hamas accepted months ago. The agreement involves three phases and does not commit Israel to a permanent ceasefire.

(antiwar.com)

My hat goes off to the Trump admin if the report is true….Trump may have done what Biden was unwilling top do.

Now I ask what was said to get this process to this point?

We there threats or promises?

And not to worry this will not be the end for Israel will find an excuse to kill more and destroy more….usually the two most common excuses are ‘self-defense’ and ‘national security’

I hope I am wrong but I feel this is far from over.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Is Biden Miffed?

The conflict (if we can call it that) in Gaza has been going on damn year a year….there have been many proposals to try and get Israel to stop the onslaught but so far no success….

Now Biden after butt licking Israel for all these months has seemed to get frustrated and irritated with BiBi……

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again was dismissive on Monday of calls to do more to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas, though this time one of the voices came from the White House lawn. Netanyahu did not yield to demands for an immediate ceasefire despite pressure including work stoppages across Israel and a UK move limiting arms exports. At one point in a press conference, per the AP, Netanyahu said: “No one is more committed to freeing the hostages than me. But no one will preach to me.” Developments include:

  • Biden’s “No”: Asked by reporters after he landed at the White House in Marine One whether Netanyahu was doing enough to reach a deal for the hostages’ return, President Biden answered, “No.” He then went inside for a Situation Room meeting on the issue that included Vice President Kamala Harris and officials involved in the Gaza ceasefire talks, the New York Times reports.
  • Next US moves: Biden is considering presenting Israel and Hamas with a final proposal for an agreement this week, per NBC News. A White House readout shows Biden expressed anger in the meeting at the killing of six hostages and stressed the need to hold Hamas accountable. The group planned consultations with mediators Qatar and Egypt.
  • Netanyahu digs in: In his first press conference since the killings, the prime minister stuck to his plans for a continued Israeli presence on Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border, a stance that has been blamed for delaying an agreement, per the Washington Post. Yielding after the hostage killings, Netanyahu said, would send Hamas the message: “Slay hostages and you’ll get concessions.” Asked when he would consider the war over, per the Times, Netanyahu said, “When Hamas no longer rules Gaza.”
  • UK decision: Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced Monday that the UK is suspending the export of some arms to Israel because of the risk that the weapons would be used in “serious violation of international humanitarian law.” About 30 out of 350 arms export licenses are affected, per the Post, including the sales of components for military aircraft including fighter aircraft, helicopters, and drones.
  • Domestic pressure: In the biggest such action of the war against Hamas, schools, local governments, hospitals, and transport networks slowed or stopped operations Monday in protest of Netanyahu’s government. The labor strike stopped at 2:30pm after more than eight hours, when a court decreed the labor leaders had provided insufficient notice of the stoppage.

I would take Biden more seriously if in his supposed anger he mentioned the thousands of innocents killed by the IDF or the numerous aid convoys that have also been attacked or the refusal to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza…..but he is only outraged by something that he is paid to be outraged about…..

I believe this faux anger is a sham a way to try and quell the growing protests at our inaction to stopping a murderous machine.

Time for the US to start acting like the beacon of democracy that it claims to be.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Is This A Step Forward?

The carnage has been raging in Gaza since October and in that time there have been many calls for a ceasefire to get humanitarian aid to the civilians that are starving and in need of medical assistance.

Finally a glimmer of hope…..I did say a ‘glimmer’.

The US achieved a rare victory at the United Nations on Monday, when the Security Council endorsed the three-phase peace plan that begins with a ceasefire in Gaza. The vote was 14-0; Russia abstained but did not block the measure. The move adds to the international pressure on Israel and Hamas to end the fighting, the New York Times reports. The resolution states that Israel has accepted the US-backed plan’s terms and urges Hamas to do so, per the BBC. “Israel has already agreed to this deal,” US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said, per the Hill, “and the fighting could stop today if Hamas would do the same.”

Israel’s acceptance has been muddied, though, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying publicly that the attacks on Gaza shouldn’t stop before Hamas’ military capability is destroyed and all hostages are released. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Netanyahu on Monday to lobby for the ceasefire, and he was in Egypt earlier in the day to build support for it. “My message to governments throughout the region is: If you want a ceasefire, press Hamas to say yes,” Blinken said in Cairo.

Hamas released a statement after the vote welcoming such provisions as a prisoner exchange and reconstruction in Gaza. Russia’s ambassador complained that the Security Council doesn’t know exactly what the US has agreed to with Israel. The US asked the council to take its word that Netanyahu’s government accepts the terms, declining to spell that out in the wording. Despite that issue, Vasily Nebenzya said Russia abstained because the plan had broad support among Arab countries, per the Times

Keep in mind I did say a ‘glimmer of hope’.

But for those that keep a shut mind here is the full text of a plan announced by Biden.

This framework’s purpose is the release of all civilian and military Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip whether living or not whom have been detained during all periods in exchange for a number that will be agreed upon of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, and restoring a sustainable calm which would achieve a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, the reconstruction of Gaza, opening of the border crossings, and facilitating movement of people and transfer of goods.

The framework agreement is made of 3 stages which are interconnected, subject to the following:

The First stage (42 days):

1. Temporary cessation of military operations by both Parties and the withdrawal of Israeli forces eastwards away from densely populated areas along the borders in all areas of the Gaza strip including Gaza valley (Netzarim axis and Kuwait roundabout) as mentioned below.

2. Temporary cessation of aerial movement (military and surveillance) in the Gaza strip for 10 hours daily, and for 12 hours daily during days where exchange of hostages and prisoners will take place.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/gaza-war-text-ceasefire-proposal-approved-israel

The plan is pretty thorough and a bit convoluted….but at least there is a plan and now is the time for such cessations to begin.

MSM is reporting that HAMAS has not responded to the proposal….not so….

Al Jazeera has obtained a copy of the Gaza ceasefire proposal that Hamas said it accepted on Monday. The deal, which was put forward by Egypt and Qatar, would come in three stages that would see an initial halt in the fighting leading to lasting calm and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Palestinian territory.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/6/text-of-the-ceasefire-proposal-approved-by-hamas

Now we wait for the other shoe to drop and I am sure it will be doing so sooner than later…..what will be the stumbling block this time?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Is Rafah The Line?

Hell no but Biden thumped his chest when BiBi said he would attack Rafah…..did Biden a line in the sand (HAHAHAHA) not a goddamn chance.

But he talks tough….

A planned shipment from the US to Israel that was to include 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs was paused last week due to concerns that Israel was planning to defy US wishes and invade Rafah, launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city in a major expansion of Israel’s military operation there. That’s according to senior US administration officials who spoke to outlets including the Washington Post, the Guardian, and the AP. A key quote from one senior official specifically references the 2,000-pound bombs that are already, per the Post, “controversial.” The AP notes such bombs have been used “frequently” by Israel in its seven-month-old war against Hamas, while the US only used them “sparingly” while fighting the Islamic State.

  • “Israel should not launch a major ground operation in Rafah, where more than a million people are sheltering with nowhere else to go,” said the senior administration official. “We are especially focused on the end-use of the 2,000-pound bombs and the impact they could have in dense urban settings as we have seen in other parts of Gaza.”

This is the first known time the US has paused an arms transfer to Israel since the Israel-Hamas war started in October, and a second official calls it a “shot across the bow” meant to illustrate to Israel how deeply the US is concerned about the situation in Rafah. The officials say the White House began reviewing future arms transfers in April, and that no decision has yet been made about whether to proceed with the paused delivery at a future date. However, one official also says the Israeli military already has enough weapons to conduct the Rafah operation regardless of the pause, should it choose to.

Seriously?

This was nothing but a political ploy….after all polls show that Americans are getting weary of Israel’s assault on Gaza….there is an election about 6 months away and he is trying to calm the peasants.

Then it was BiBi’s turn to thump his aged chest…..and responds to Biden’s idle threat.

Benjamin Netanyahu is responding with defiance to a warning from President Biden about an expected invasion of Rafah. After Biden said the US would halt the shipment of offensive weapons to Israel should it go ahead with the ground invasion, Netanyahu issued a video message:

  • “If we have to stand alone, we will stand alone,” said the Israeli prime minister, per the Washington Post. “If we need to, we will fight with our fingernails. But we have much more than fingernails.”
  • All set? Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Israeli military said Israel already has the necessary weaponry for the invasion, reports the AP. “The army has munitions for the missions it plans, and for the missions in Rafah too—we have what we need,” said Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari. However, it’s likely the US move would force Israel to shift strategy to some extent—”it’s possible we’ll have to economize the way we use our arms and hit more targets without precision bombs,” former national security adviser Jacob Nagel tells the New York Times.
  • Low point: Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli consul general in New York, tells CNN he thinks this is one of the lowest moments in history for US-Israel relations. “I do think this is a very low point—could the relationship survive this? Yes. Could it do so while Netanyahu is in power? No.”
  • Analysis: This is indeed a “moment of crisis” in US-Israel relations, writes Adam Rasgon in the New York Times. And it’s one that could result in domestic blowback against Netanyahu. “The United States provides Israel with a steel dome—it’s not only military support; it’s strategic and political; it’s at the United Nations, the international court, and so on,” Amos Gilead, a former senior Israeli defense official, tells the newspaper. “If we lose the United States with the unbelievable friendship of President Biden, it won’t be forgiven.”

Really?

Israel exist because the US stood by them for decades and I do not think this problem would be happening if there had been more diplomacy and less US ass kissing.

But Biden’s threat is a moot point…..why?

The Israeli military said Thursday that it has enough munitions for its planned operation in Rafah, comments that came a day after President Biden said he would withhold the shipment of heavy bombs to Israel if it proceeds with a major attack on the city’s “population centers.”

Israeli Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said, “The IDF has armaments for the missions it is planning, including missions in Rafah. We have what we need.” US officials have also said that Israel has enough bombs to attack Rafah.

Israel started its operation in Rafah on Monday by capturing the border crossing that connects to Egypt and launching strikes across the city. The US has said these steps are “limited” and that it’s only opposed to a major invasion of the city. But the situation continues to escalate, and satellite images show that the IDF is expanding ground operations in the city.

(antiwar.com)

The White House has said that a major Israeli operation would not defeat Hamas, reflecting the overall US position that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s goal to “eradicate” Hamas is unrealistic. “Smashing into Rafah, in his [Biden’s] view, will not advance that objective,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

So basically this was all theater for the idiots that blindly follow crap.  When it comes to Israel the US is a toothless tiger.

This game is becoming more and more disgusting and Biden keeps playing it.

Peace Out

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Even Jews Have Had Enough

I hear justification of the destruction of Gaza everyday and I see news stories that push that line of thinking…..but the rest of the world wants the insanity to stop….yes even Jewish people are tired of the death and destruction….

This is a story that was not covered in the corporate media (I wonder why)…..

Thousands of Jewish-led protesters descended on the New York offices of the American Israel Public Affairs Council on Thursday, taking aim at both AIPAC and Democratic lawmakers who take millions of combined dollars from the lobby group while opposing a Gaza cease-fire.

Led by Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), the demonstrators marched from Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza outside the United Nations—where earlier this week the U.S. for the third time vetoed a Security Council cease-fire resolution—to AIPAC’s nearby New York headquarters on Third Street.

During the march, protesters carried large letters spelling “DUMP AIPAC” and a banner reading “AIPAC Funds Genocide,” as well as signs listing the names of New York Democrats who take campaign cash from the group while opposing a Gaza cease-fire. Members of Congress named and shamed at the rally include House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries ($829,835 in lifetime AIPAC contributions), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand ($348,818), and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer ($101,570).

Other activists occupied the offices of Schumer and Gillibrand. JVP said 18 people were arrested for refusing to obey police orders to leave.

“If you want to know one reason why more electeds aren’t calling for a cease-fire—even though a cease-fire is the overwhelming demand from the people—look no further than AIPAC,” said JVP. “AIPAC uses money and racist bullying to ensure congressional complicity in the genocide of Gaza.”

“Last cycle, AIPAC endorsed over 100 lawmakers who voted to decertify the results of the 2020 election, allying themselves with the far-right,” the group added. “AIPAC is threatening our safety here in the U.S. in order to ensure unconditional U.S. support for Israeli violence.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/aipac-2667345553

I have been saying that AIPAC has too much influence over Congress and it is both parties….I am glad to see that someone else is pointing this out to the public.

Then on Monday night Biden goes on national TV and makes a bold statement….

President Biden said Monday that he hopes a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that would pause hostilities and allow for remaining hostages to be released can take effect by early next week. Asked when he thought a ceasefire could begin, Biden said: “I hope by the beginning of the weekend. The end of the weekend. My national security adviser tells me that we’re close. We’re close. We’re not done yet. My hope is by next Monday we’ll have a ceasefire.” Biden made the remarks in New York City after taping an appearance on NBC’s Late Night With Seth Meyers, the AP reports.

This would be great news if it comes about….but I also have this nagging thought….is Biden doing this to give Israel some cover from protests?

Why do Americans think Israel can do no wrong?

Is it some religious thing?

Or is it the Little Man Syndrome?

Just what is it?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

“A Principled Libertarian Stance”

I have been critical of Israel in the past and I will continue to do so until they start acting like a civilized nation…..this Gaza thing has me being labeled all sorts of things like un-American or antisemitic or naive or a whole wealth of other small minds can come up with….but I soldier on.

I read an article from the Libertarian Institute that I wanted to share….I am no Libertarian….I do share some points with them especially on war but that is about as far as it goes for any support from me…..however I do read and I do share with my readers what I find.

Recently online Antiwar.com and some voices in the antiwar movement have come under criticism, accused of being “left” leaning or pushing an anti-Western agenda. It is nothing new for those who are consistent in their criticism of war to receive backlash from supposed philosophical allies or the usual pro-war beings. Collectivists however are seldom consistent when it comes to principles. They tend to lack an ability to discriminate nuance or to absorb criticism of their ‘side’ when it comes to injustices inflicted upon the innocent. Certain social media ‘celebrities’ in the American liberty movement have zeroed in on Dave DeCamp, Scott Horton and those at Antiwar.com.

To condemn those who would murder innocent children should be an obvious position for most people. The fact that such condemnation needs to occur at all and that so many children are often murdered reveals the cold hard fact that it is not that common a position to be held. For collectivists even the innocent must suffer and die. There is a savagery in the ideology of those who view a baby as fair game simply because it has been relegated into a specific demographic. A child from a familiar camp is viewed as sacred, precious and innocent. Those born inside the borders of a pariah or “insignificant” region are forfeit, they must suffer to satisfy the gods of foreign policy or ideology. The consistently antiwar, understand this. Tourists to the cause seldom do.

Israel has taken on a precious position inside the realms of Western, especially American ideology. To criticize specific Israeli government policies risks one becoming tarred with the brush of anti-Semite or even to be accused of inflicting hatred upon Jews. It is a tiresome slur that seems to have stood the test of time with the horrors of the holocaust and terrible spectre of Nazi Germany an ever present reminder to be used as a sword to justify violent foreign policy. Rarely do the defenders of collective punishment policies ever provide dignified nuance, instead the victims are either ignored, minimized or dehumanized. The crimes and injustices committed by the enemy are emphasized and at times exaggerated. Even if no exaggeration is required.  Take the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th , it was a vile act of terror, yet extra claims have meandered into fanciful horror stories that will only devalue the suffering already felt.

(Read On)

https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/a-principled-libertarian-stance-amidst-israels-mass-slaughter-in-gaza/

Well said!

I do not expect to change any minds but at least this feeling is out there….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Who Will Do The Absorbing?

We all know of the carnage in the Middle East these days….and that the IDF is pushing and pushing people into a position where they can be eliminated.

Good Old reliable BiBi has floated an idea for Palestinians……

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a meeting of his Likud party on Monday that he’s working to bring about the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza and looking for countries willing to “absorb” them, Israel Hayom reported.

“Our problem is countries that are ready to absorb them, and we are working on it,” Netanyahu said. His comments are the latest sign that Israel’s ultimate goal is to cleanse Gaza of its 2.3 million Palestinian residents.

Netanyahu said the world is “already discussing the possibilities of voluntary immigration” and pointed to comments from former US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, who is currently running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Haley said last week that Palestinians in Gaza should migrate to “pro-Hamas” countries.

Netanyahu said that a team must be set up to “ensure that those who want to leave Gaza to a third country can do so. It needs to be settled. It has strategic importance for the day after the war.”

Last month, Israeli Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel penned an op-ed for The Jerusalem Postcalling for the “voluntary resettlement” of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to other countries around the world. Two members of the Israeli Knesset wrote a similar op-ed for The Wall Street Journal that said Western nations should accept Palestinian refugees.

While Netanyahu and other Israeli officials have framed the plan as “voluntary resettlement,” Israel’s brutal campaign in Gaza is making much of the enclave uninhabitable. About 90% of Gaza’s population has already been internally displaced.

 A leaked document drafted by Gamliel’s Intelligence Ministry said pushing all 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza into Egypt was the ideal scenario for the Israeli government. But Egypt has refused to take in any Palestinian refugees, forcing Israeli officials to look elsewhere to facilitate their planned ethnic cleansing.

(antiwar.com)

I am sure that AIPAC has enough clout in Congress that the US could absorb these people….after all according to idiots we do have an open border.

Personally, I would give BiBi the finger and tell him he created the problem then he needs to deal with it….but that would take balls and those are sadly lacking here in the Congress and the country.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

A Hospital Too Far?

By now all the armchair generals and analysts have read or heard about the Israeli raid on the Gazan hospital….I know they have for the report validates their hatred of a people.

But in case you have not bothered to form an opinion (like that is ever going to happen) here is the original report.

Israel says its forces have entered Gaza’s Shifa hospital, the site of a lengthy standoff. The Israeli army had surrounded the facility as part of its ground offensive against Hamas, claiming the militant group conceals military operations in the hospital complex. But with hundreds of patients and medical personnel inside, it had refrained from entering. It said on Wednesday its forces were conducting a “precise” operation against Hamas in a specific area of the complex while taking steps to avoid harm to civilians. In a statement, the Israeli military said it had warned “the relevant authorities in Gaza once again that all military activities within the hospital must cease within 12 hours. Unfortunately, it did not.”

Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals as cover for its fighters, alleging that Hamas has set up its main command center in and beneath Shifa hospital, the largest in the besieged territory, the AP reports. Both Hamas and Shifa hospital staff deny the Israeli allegations. The US said Tuesday that it has unspecified intelligence that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad use some hospitals in the Gaza Strip—including Shifa hospital—and tunnels underneath them to hide and to support their military operations and to hold hostages. The White House’s national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, said the US does not support “striking a hospital from the air.”

Kirby added that the US also does not want to see “a firefight in a hospital where innocent people, helpless people, sick people are simply trying to get the medical care that they deserve.” Conditions at Shifa hospital deteriorated so badly in the days before Israeli forces entered that a World Health Organization spokesman described it as “nearly a cemetery.” Thousands of people have been sheltering at the hospital, where authorities say patients, including premature babies, have been dying because of a lack of fuel for generators. The BBC reports that Hamas issued a statement blaming President Biden for the storming of the hospital, saying that the US had given Israel a “green light” by saying intelligence suggested it was used by the group.

I watched the report and I have a problem….one, we are in a room that could be anywhere….two, there are too many reports from too many people saying almost the same words…..I know I am a cynic but I would have wanted a lot more information before I am convinced.

The ‘evidence’ is not compelling for me…..I found some other info as I tried to get more information and here is the reports….

Israeli troops who raided Gaza’s biggest hospital on Wednesday continued to pore over the grounds on Thursday looking for evidence that Hamas used the area as a secret military base. So far, the Israel Defense Forces have displayed photos of a relatively modest cache of guns, bulletproof vests, and other equipment found in the hospital’s MRI wing, but no proof yet that the hospital complex played a substantial role in Hamas’ strategy, reports the New York Times. Israeli officials insist it will take time to do a thorough search and point out that Hamas knew for days the hospital would be raided and thus had time to hide evidence. Coverage:

  • ‘Underwhelming:’ The evidence presented by the military “so far is underwhelming,” Michael Horowitz, head of intelligence for the consulting firm Le Beck, tells the Wall Street Journal. But he, too, said the search would take a while. “This is a very delicate operation, given how quickly it could turn into a bloodbath.”
  • What they found: The BBC was allowed into the hospital and describes being shown “three small stashes of Kalashnikovs (about 15 in all), ammunition and bulletproof vests.” A lieutenant colonel says they also found military pamphlets, maps, and “a lot of computers and other equipment.” The BBC was not allowed to see the content of the laptops, but Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus says they contain recent images and video of hostages. “At the end of the day, this is just the tip of the iceberg,” he says. “Hamas aren’t here because they saw we were coming. This is probably what they were forced to leave behind. Our assessment is that there’s much more.”
  • Pressure: Israel justified its controversial raid on the hospital by asserting that the hospital complex was built atop a maze of tunnels that allowed Hamas members to come and go easily, and to use the hospital as a “command center,” per the Messenger. Failing to find evidence of that will ratchet up international pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu, notes the Journal. The Times agrees: “Israel’s ability to prove its claim could be key to whether its foreign allies continue to support its military response to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel.”
  • No US greenlight: The US had agreed earlier this week with Israel’s assessment that Hamas used the hospital complex as a “command-and-control” site, which would be a war crime, notes the Washington Post. But, said national security spokesman John Kirby, “we did not give an okay to their military operations around the hospital—in similar fashion to the fact that we don’t give an okay to their other tactical operations.” UN’s humanitarian relief coordinator tweeted that he was “appalled” by the raid. “The protection of newborns, patients, medical staff and all civilians must override all other concerns,” wrote Martin Griffiths. “Hospitals are not battlegrounds.”
  • Patients: The hospital once had thousands of people, but most have evacuated. Still, the AP estimates that “hundreds of people” remain there, a mix of medical workers and the most vulnerable patients, including infants. With no electricity and scarce medical supplies, the situation is dire by all accounts. The hospital has resorted to using foil to keep premature babies warm.

My problem is that the collection presented could have been from a previous stash…nothing compelling for me.

Let me say right here for all those that have made up their minds….I do not support HAMAS and I do not support Israel (there is more they have done that flies in the face of civility)…no I am not anti-Jew personally I do not care what someone believes ….there is a responsibility to act like civilized beings and neither side is accomplishing that.

Just like all wars the truth is the first causality.

This will be an on-going story for at least the foreseeable future and I am sure that more reports will be forthcoming.

Just my thoughts.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

When I Doubt–Resign

Since the newest conflict exploded in Gaza my post have been about there needs to be ma more thought out response by Israel and too many armchair analyst too those comments as my support for HAMAS….that is BS I have never supported an attack of terrorism whether disguised as self-defense or as an outright attack.

My opposition to an all out push to destroy a foe is from years of watching such actions create more problems than they eliminate.

I recently read a report about employee of the US State Department….

An official with the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM) announced his resignation on Wednesday due to President Biden’s full-throated support for Israel’s onslaught in Gaza that came after the October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel.

Josh Paul said in a statement on his LinkedIn account that he had worked for the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs for 11 years. He strongly condemned the Hamas’ attack on Israel, describing it as a “monstrosity of monstrosities,” but said Israel’s response will only make things worse.

“I believe to the core of my soul that the response Israel is taking, and with it the American support both for that response and for the status quo of the occupation, will only lead to more and deeper suffering for both the Israeli and the Palestinian people – and is not in the long term American interest. This Administration’s response – and much of Congress’ as well – is an impulsive reaction built on confirmation bias, political convenience, intellectual bankruptcy, and bureaucratic inertia. That is to say, it is immensely disappointing, and entirely unsurprising,” Paul wrote.

Paul continued to criticize the history of the US’s “blind support” for Israel. “Decades of the same approach have shown that security for peace leads to neither security, nor to peace. The fact is, blind support for one side is destructive in the long term to the interests of the people on both sides. I fear we are repeating the same mistakes we have made these past decades, and I decline to be a part of it for longer,” he said.

Discussing his time at the PM, Paul said he had made moral compromises but that he had reached his limit. “In my 11 years I have made more moral compromises than I can recall, each heavily, but each with my promise to myself in mind, and intact. I am leaving today because I believe that in our current course with regards to the continued – indeed, expanded and expedited – provision of lethal arms to Israel – I have reached the end of that bargain,” he said.

According to the State Department’s website, the PM is the department’s “principal link” to the Defense Department and “provides policy direction in the areas of international security, security assistance, military operations, defense strategy and plans, and defense trade.” Paul said he was proud of some work he had done at the PM, including “on pending Administration decisions to transfer lethal weapons to countries that abuse human rights” and involvement in the policy of fueling the Ukraine war.

I agree since for decades HAMAS has been a thorn in Israel’s side and after several ‘wars’ the problem remains.

Then there is what the SecState has to say…..

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday rejected the idea of the US calling for a ceasefire in Gaza when confronted with the massive number of child casualties in Israel’s onslaught.

Blinken claimed that the death of children on both sides hits him “right in the heart” but did not criticize Israel’s vicious bombing campaign. He pointed to US efforts to get Israel to allow aid trucks to enter Gaza through Egypt, and Brennan then asked why the US isn’t pushing for at least a temporary ceasefire.

“Israel has to do everything it can to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” Blinken said, referring to the October 7 Hamas attack. “Freezing things in place where they are now would allow Hamas to remain where it is and to repeat what it’s done some time in the future. No country could accept that,” Blinken said.

Blinken made a similar argument earlier this year when rejecting the idea of a ceasefire in Ukraine ahead of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, saying a pause in fighting would only benefit Russia. Now, it’s clear Ukraine’s counteroffensive has failed after months of brutal fighting and heavy Ukrainian casualties.

(antiwar.com)

Blinken sounds more like the SecDef than the US top diplomat…..his words are unacceptable.

Ask yourself….just who makes the State Department policy?

Should not be that hard of a question to answer.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”