Re: Israel vs Palestine/Lebanon/Iran/Yemen/Syria: a New Middle East War
https://www.rt.com/news/591401-un-se...elief-workers/
January 28, 2024
Don’t penalize humanitarian workers – UN secretary-general to West
The US and several other countries have cut funding for the UN Palestinian refugee agency amid terror-related claims by Israel
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on Western nations not to penalize relief workers after the US and several other major donors suspended funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). The official also promised to hold accountable any employee shown to be involved in terrorist activities.
Earlier this month, Israel provided its Western allies with what it described as evidence proving that at least 12 UNRWA staff had taken part in the deadly October 7 Hamas incursion into Israeli territory. The news site Axios quoted an anonymous senior Israeli official as saying that “this was strong and corroborated intelligence,” which included captured Palestinian militants’ confessions.
In a statement released on Sunday, Guterres wrote that despite the seriousness of the allegations, “the tens of thousands of men and women who work for UNRWA… should not be penalized.” He noted that 2 million civilians in Gaza depend on the aid provided by the agency to survive. He urged the donor nations “that have suspended their contributions to, at least, guarantee the continuity of UNRWA’s operations.”
Guterres pointed out that the UN’s Office of Internal Oversight Services had launched an investigation into the claims. He added that “any UN employee involved in acts of terror will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution.”
According to the statement, UNRWA’s commissioner-general, Philippe Lazzarini, had immediately terminated nine staff members suspected of terrorist activity, while another one had died. The UN secretary-general said that the identities of the two other staff members are still being clarified.
On Friday, the US Department of State announced that it had “temporarily paused additional funding for UNRWA while we review these allegations.”
Several other nations, including the UK, Canada, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Finland, and Australia, followed suit soon after.
According to UNRWA’s website, Washington was its biggest contributor in 2022.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant hailed the US decision to suspend funding to the UN agency. He called for “major changes” within the relief body “so that international efforts, funds, and humanitarian initiatives don’t fuel Hamas terrorism and the murder of Israelis.”
Israel has long accused the UN of aiding and abetting Hamas. In October, Israel demanded the resignation of Guterres, accusing him of “justifying terrorism.”
On October 7, Hamas carried out a surprise attack on southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking more than 200 people hostage. Israel responded by declaring war on Hamas and launching a massive military operation in Gaza. More than 26,000 Palestinians have since been killed, according to local health authorities.
Re: Israel vs Palestine/Lebanon/Iran/Yemen/Syria: a New Middle East War
- Global War Is Coming. Here's What You Should Know!
Re: Israel vs Palestine/Lebanon/Iran/Yemen/Syria: a New Middle East War
Israeli forces killed three Palestinian militants Tuesday inside a hospital in the occupied West Bank, including one that Israel’s military said was a Hamas member planning an imminent attack.
Palestinian health officials said Israeli forces shot the three men dead after storming Ibn Sina hospital in Jenin.
Video said to be from a surveillance camera at the hospital appeared to show about a dozen undercover troops wearing civilian clothes or dressed like medical personnel in scrubs and a white lab coat carrying guns and moving through a corridor of the hospital.
Israeli Forces Dressed as Women and Medics Storm West Bank Hospital | VOA News
Here on BBC
Re: Israel vs Palestine/Lebanon/Iran/Yemen/Syria: a New Middle East War
From The Moon of Alabama, published yesterday. The title is a reference to a well-known quote by Antonio Gramsci, cited at the very end of the article.
War on the Middle East - The Time of Monsters
Yesterday 3 U.S. troops were killed and 34 wounded due to an attack that allegedly hit on a place known as Tower 22. This is part of the Al Tanf area where U.S. troops illegally occupy parts of Syria to control the traffic on the main road between Iraq and Syria.
https://www.moonofalabama.org/17i/altanfmap-s.jpg
bigger
The reporting so far does not answer many arising questions.
Tower 22 is on the Jordanian side of the boarder but Jordan insists that no attack had happened on its grounds.
Another anomaly are the high rate of wounded from the alleged drone strike. Drones are used in mass in the Ukraine war but the casualties they cause are usually less than a handful per drone.
The highly automated short and medium range air-defenses (C-RAMs, the equivalent of naval Phalanx guns) at the base should be able to shoot down any drone. Why didn't they work?
The U.S. has also used Al Tanf base and the Rukban camp to house and train ISIS splinter groups so they are able to attack perceived U.S. enemies. Were any of those folks around?
The U.S. claims that an Iraqi resistance group, allegedly supported by Iran, is responsible for the strike. There are several such groups allied with Iran in Syria and Iraq. Which one of them did this? Does the U.S. know this at all?
Iran denies any involvement in the attack.
The attack is certainly an escalation over previous ones. President Biden has said that he will respond to it.
The question in then to where to respond (Syria, Iraq, Iran) and to what grade. Most likely the U.S. will escalate from its previous bombing of this or that Iraq resistance group. Should the U.S. attack any state related institutions or position, the situation will escalate further.
The resistance camp would then try even harder to damage more U.S. assets. Since the U.S. assassination of General Quassam Suleimani its overall aim is to remove the U.S. from the Middle East.
The U.S. immediate response to the hit was the activation of long range tanker planes:OSINTdefender @sentdefender - 0:21 UTC · Jan 29, 2024 At least 6 U.S. Air Force KC-135 Aerial-Refueling Tankers, most from March Air Reserve Base in Southern California, are heading Northeast across the United States and preparing to Transit the Atlantic towards the U.K. and Europe. I wonder what kind of Aircraft they are Refueling? 🤔
Aerial-refueling tankers are used to keep fighter jets in the air for several hours. The reasons to keep jets in the air may not necessarily be to attack someone, but to prevent them from being destroyed by an attack on ones own airports.
The U.S. has plenty of bases in the Middle East which house a lot of expensive jets.
https://www.moonofalabama.org/17i/USBasesME-s.jpg
bigger
If the U.S. suspects that those bases will come under attack it will need lots of air-tanker capability to save the jets currently stationed on them.
One could conclude from this that the U.S. will attack a target so important that it has to prepare for an all out response attack on its own Middle East bases.
There are several other possibilities but this seems to be the most likely conclusion.
Now let's take a step back to take a look at the larger picture.
The current escalation in the Middle East is happening because the Zionist attempt to ethnically cleanse Gaza, the West Bank and south Lebanon. The U.S active support for this aim has led to more U.S. wars in Yemen, Iraq and now in Syria. While the U.S. has claimed that it did not want an all out war in the Middle East it has done its best to further one.
The dystopian decision by the U.S. and its European vassals to deny all support for UNRWA as response for the International Court of Justice decision against Israel's genocide of Palestinians was a further escalation. That a dozen or less of the 30,000 UNRWA worker were probably involved in the October 7 events was known for weeks. To roll this out just after the ICJ dictum happened is a clear act of revenge against the whole UN system.
This is the rule based order, where the U.S. makes and discards all rules at will, fighting against long established international and humanitarian law.Sam Husseini @samhusseini - 18:58 UTC · Jan 27, 2024 Francis Boyle states that with States (including US and UK govs) cutting off funding to UNRWA, it is "no longer the case of these States aiding and abetting Israeli Genocide against the Palestinians in violation of Genocide Convention article 3(e) criminalizing 'complicity' in genocide. These States are now also directly violating Genocide Convention article 2(c) by themselves: 'Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part...'"
ICJ is the highest independent court humanity has. The U.S. and its proxies decided to fight against the standing law of the world.
It is the rules based order against anyone not following it. This is the unilateral past fighting the rising multilateral future. A dangerous time.
As Arnaud Bertrand quotes:"The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters."
Antonio Gramsci
Re: Israel vs Palestine/Lebanon/Iran/Yemen/Syria: a New Middle East War
Once again, Israel is manipulating the USA military to do what it has long tried to instigate, i.e. start a war against Iran.
"Former US Marine Corps Officer and UN Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter reacts to the US base attack on the Jordan/Syrian border and how Biden administration threats are increasing the risk of war with Iran, a war that he claims cannot be won. This video breaks it all down."
Scott Ritter: War with Iran is Coming and the U.S. will LOSE
https://youtube.com/watch?v=IDhMIVwy7V0
Re: Israel vs Palestine/Lebanon/Iran/Yemen/Syria: a New Middle East War
Quote:
Posted by
Bill Ryan
If the U.S. suspects that those bases will come under attack it will need lots of air-tanker capability to save the jets currently stationed on them.
One could conclude from this that the U.S. will attack a target so important that it has to prepare for an all out response attack on its own Middle East bases.
Like this?
Hasaka, SANA- The US occupation forces intensified operations to support their illegal bases in Hasaka countryside, and during the past hours, dozens of vehicles loaded with weapons, ammunition, and logistical materials were brought into those bases.
Local sources in al-Yarubiyah countryside on the Syrian border told SANA reporter that an US occupation convoy consisting of 75 vehicles, most of which were closed refrigerators and huge carriers for transporting large loads, entered Syrian territory via the illegal al-Waleed crossing border, coming from the occupation bases in Iraqi territory.
The sources pointed out that the convoy headed to the occupation base at Kharab al-Jir airport in al-Yarubiyah countryside to collect and distribute it to the occupation bases in Hasaka countryside.
Re: Israel vs Palestine/Lebanon/Iran/Yemen/Syria: a New Middle East War
Quote:
Posted by
bojancan
Israeli forces killed three Palestinian militants Tuesday inside a hospital in the occupied West Bank, including one that Israel’s military said was a Hamas member planning an imminent attack.
Palestinian health officials said Israeli forces shot the three men dead after storming Ibn Sina hospital in Jenin.
Video said to be from a surveillance camera at the hospital appeared to show about a dozen undercover troops wearing civilian clothes or dressed like medical personnel in scrubs and a white lab coat carrying guns and moving through a corridor of the hospital.
Israeli Forces Dressed as Women and Medics Storm West Bank Hospital | VOA News
Here on BBC
~~~
This psychopathic incident needs more. It's a little hard to believe that his happened — but this is Israel, whose moral compass was lost without trace quite some time ago.
Here's a report on Zero Hedge. Despite their support for Israel, they're doing the right thing here.
(Nothing about this on Infowars, btw. But that's not what this post is about.)
Watch: Israeli Commandos Disguised as Medics Raid West Bank Hospital, Kill 3 Palestinian Militants
Israeli commandos disguised as medics, patients and other Palestinian civilians raided a hospital in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday morning, in footage widely shared online.
The soldiers killed three people inside Jenin's Ibn Sina Hospital. Footage shared online and in Israeli media showed around a dozen Israeli soldiers in the hospital, armed with assault rifles.
Hamas responded to the attack saying that “Israel’s crimes will not go unanswered”, and said that the killings were a “continuation of the occupation’s ongoing crimes against our people from Gaza to Jenin”.
The men killed (reportedly Palestinian militants) have been identified as Mohammed Jalamneh, and two brothers, Basil and Mohammed al-Ghazawi.
According to Israeli media, the raid took around 10 minutes and took place at 5.30am. One of the Israeli commandos was speaking Arabic at the time of the raid, Israel Hayom reported.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said that one of the Palestinians was a Hamas member who was planning an attack inspired by Oct 7th. The brothers allegedly belonged to the Jenin Brigade and the armed wing of Islamic Jihad.
The raid left parts of the hospital destroyed, with beds upturned and blood stains covering the floor and equipment.
Tawfiq Al-Shoubaki, the medical director of the hospital told Middle East Eye that some of the Israeli commandos were also dressed as nurses, and drew their weapons as soon as they entered the hospital.
He added that some of the Israeli forces entered Basil al-Ghazawi's room, despite the fact that he was receiving treatment for wounds he sustained on October 25, following a missile explosion in the Jenin cemetery.
“No gunshots were heard during their storming of the wounded man’s room. They immediately withdrew after a few minutes, and the hospital staff found the three young men covered in their blood, without any indication that they were alive, and the bullets were concentrated in the head,” he said.
Al-Shoubaki says that the assassinations mark new ways Israel is targeting hospitals and medical staff in Jenin.
The hospital director Naji Nazzal told AFP that the attack took place in the hospital's rehabilitation ward where Basil Ghazawi had been undergoing treatment. “They [Israeli forces] used weapons fitted with silencers,” he told the news agency.
An AFP photographer said that he saw a bullet hole in a pillow covered with blood following the raid, the news agency reported. The Palestinian Ministry of Health denounced the attack, saying that healthcare facilities are granted special protection under international law:"The minister of health calls urgently on the United Nations General Assembly, international institutions and human rights organisations to end the daily string of crimes committed by the occupation [Israel] against our people and health centers," a ministry statement said.
https://twitter.com/MiddleEastEye/status/1752272428086997138
This is not the first time Israeli forces have raided and targeted the Ibn Sina hospital since the start of the Gaza War on October 7.
In November, Israeli forces and tanks surrounded the hospital during a raid on the city. At least four hospitals in the city were besieged, including the Ibn Sina Hospital. “Israeli forces turned up at Ibn Sina Hospital, one of the biggest in the occupied West Bank.
They turned up in a raid where they asked medical staff to put their hands up and evacuate the hospital,” an Al Jazeera correspondent reported.
At least two paramedics were arrested in the raid, while drone strikes killed three in the Jenin refugee camp.
