Tag: palestine

Israeli soldiers shot a Palestinian boy and stood around as he bled to death, video shows

Last November, a 14-year-old Palestinian boy named Jad Jadallah was shot at close range by Israeli soldiers in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.

As Jad lay collapsed in an alley, the soldiers created a cordon around him and blocked two Palestinian ambulances from reaching him.

According to video footage and eyewitness testimony, the soldiers – 14 in total – then stood around Jad casually for at least 45 minutes while he bled from one or more gunshot wounds.

All Israeli soldiers receive training in trauma treatment, and any Israeli combat unit should contain a specifically trained medic, but none of the soldiers appeared to give Jad life-saving medical aid. At points, they appeared to ignore repeated attempts from Jad to get their attention.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) told the BBC that soldiers had provided “initial medical treatment”, but a spokesperson refused to give any details about the nature or timing of the treatment.

The IDF has also accused Jad of throwing a rock, which, under their rules of engagement, can permit soldiers to use lethal force.

But the footage of the incident shows an IDF soldier dropping an object next to Jad after he was shot, then taking a photograph of it – an action Jad’s family and a leading human rights group say appears to be an attempt to frame him.

The soldiers eventually loaded Jad into the back of an Israeli military vehicle, but at some point, either before or after they did, he died. It is still unclear where on his body or how many times he was shot, because the Israeli military has refused to return his body to the family and declined to answer any questions about his injuries.

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Trump officials plan to build 5,000-person military base in Gaza, files show

The Trump administration is planning to build a 5,000-person military base in Gaza, sprawling more than 350 acres, according to Board of Peace contracting records reviewed by the Guardian.

The site is envisioned as a military operating base for a future International Stabilization Force (ISF), planned as a multinational military force composed of pledged troops. The ISF is part of the newly created Board of Peace which is meant to govern Gaza. The Board of Peace is chaired by Donald Trump and led in part by his son-in-law Jared Kushner.

The plans reviewed by the Guardian call for the phased construction of a military outpost that will eventually have a footprint of 1,400 metres by 1,100 metres, ringed by 26 trailer-mounted armored watch towers, a small arms range, bunkers, and a warehouse for military equipment for operations. The entire base will be encircled with barbed wire.

The fortification is planned for an arid stretch of flatlands in southern Gaza strewn with saltbush and white broom shrubs, and littered with twisted metal from years of Israeli bombardment. The Guardian has reviewed video of the area. A source close to the planning tells the Guardian that a small group of bidders – international construction companies with experience in war zones – have already been shown the area in a site visit.

The Indonesian government has reportedly offered to send up to 8,000 troops. Indonesia’s president was one of four south-east Asian leaders scheduled to attend an inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace in Washington DC on Thursday.

The UN security council authorized the Board of Peace to establish a temporary International Stabilization Force in Gaza. The ISF, according to the UN, will be tasked with securing Gaza’s border and maintaining peace within the area. It is also supposed to protect civilians, and train and support “vetted Palestinian police forces”.

It is unclear what the ISF’s rules of engagement would be if there is combat, renewed bombing by Israel, or attacks by Hamas. Nor is it clear what role the ISF is meant to play in disarming Hamas, an Israeli condition to proceed with Gaza’s reconstruction.

While more than 20 countries have signed up as members of the Board of Peace, much of the world has stayed away. Although it was set up with the UN’s approval, the organization’s charter appears to grant Trump permanent leadership and control.

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Indonesia To Send First 1,000 Troops To Gaza By April For ‘Stabilization Force’

Indonesia is readying 1,000 troops to be deployed in Gaza as early as April as part of the UN-mandated International Stabilization Force, an army spokesperson said on Monday.

A total of 8,000 Indonesian soldiers will be ready for deployment by June, while the final decision will be made by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto. “The departure schedule remains entirely subject to the political decisions of the state and applicable international mechanisms,” the spokesman said in a text message to news agency Reuters.

Indonesian Army Chief of Staff Maruli Simanjuntak previously estimated that between 5,000 and 8,000 military personnel could be deployed, with final numbers “still being negotiated”. 

On Saturday, Indonesia’s foreign ministry said that its military’s participation in Gaza as part of the peace plan devised by US President Donald Trump should not be interpreted as a normalization of political relations with Israel. 

“Indonesia consistently rejects all attempts at demographic change or the forced displacement or relocation of the Palestinian people in any form,” the ministry said.

The deployment, which has a non-combatant, humanitarian mandate, could only be carried out with the consent of the Palestinian Authority, the ministry said.

“Indonesian troops will not be involved in combat operations or any action leading to direct confrontation with any armed group,“ the statement said. Indonesian troops would also have no mandate to demilitarize any party, it added.

However the mandate of the stabilization force includes ensuring “the process of demilitarizing the Gaza Strip” and “the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups”. The resolution authorizes the force to “use all necessary measures to carry out its mandate”.

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Israeli soldier confesses to murder, sexual assault in Gaza during live stream

A video shared on social media platforms has ignited widespread anger online after an Israeli soldier openly confessed to committing atrocities, including murder and rape, in the Gaza Strip during two years of genocidal war against Palestinians in the besieged coastal territory.

In a live TikTok broadcast featuring American YouTuber Jeff Davidson, the soldier said, “We don’t just kill, we also rape,” alluding to acts committed by Israeli forces against women and children in Gaza.

In the live stream conversation, held during the Gaza onslaught but only made public recently, Davidson first inquired about the soldier’s identity and military connection. The individual claimed to be part of the Israeli military and broadcasting from inside Gaza.

When confronted by Davidson with the reality that the Israeli army caused the devastation in Gaza, the soldier acknowledged it without hesitation or any sign of regret.

The soldier directed the camera outward and detailed widespread devastation in the area, as the American interviewer requested him to display his surroundings.

“You wanna see Gaza? Don’t be surprised, there’s no house here. Flat, all flat,” the soldier said.

Davidson responded, “You guys flattened it?” The soldier replied: “Oh yeah.”

The discussion heated up when the soldier tried to rationalize attacking children by presenting a picture of a child with a gun, asserting he discovered it in a destroyed house.

Davidson rejected his assertion, emphasizing that children protecting themselves from an invading military can never warrant killing or attacking them. He also held the Israeli regime accountable for the dire situation in Gaza.

In a surprising turn, the soldier continued, stating, “We have killed women and children,” and coldly added: “And by the way, don’t worry…we rape them too.”

Human rights organizations have highlighted the video as strong proof of grave war crimes perpetrated by the Israeli military against Gaza civilians, asserting that backing from successive US administrations and Western allies fosters a perceived culture of impunity for such offenses.

Gaza’s Health Ministry announced on Sunday that 726 bodies have been retrieved since the ceasefire agreement with Israel came into effect on October 10 last year.

The ceasefire concluded Israel’s two-year genocide that started on October 7, 2023.

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Trump’s Board of Peace rallies ‘thousands’ of troops for Gaza deployment

US President Donald Trump has said members of his newly formed Board of Peace have pledged “thousands of personnel” and billions of dollars to a potential international stabilization force that will be tasked with administering Gaza.

In a post on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump said countries taking part in the initiative will formalize their commitments at a meeting on February 19 in Washington, describing the deployment as part of efforts to maintain “security and peace” in the Palestinian enclave.

“Member States have pledged more than $5 BILLION DOLLARS toward the Gaza Humanitarian and Reconstruction efforts, and have committed thousands of personnel to the International Stabilization Force and Local Police,” he wrote, adding that Hamas must uphold its commitment to full and immediate “demilitarization.”

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‘Wet tent syndrome’ is killing Gaza’s infants

Last week, Mohamed Abu Jarad returned to his tent in Gaza City’s Al-Daraj neighborhood to find his three-month-old daughter, Shaza, freezing cold and no longer breathing. The family rushed the baby to hospital, where doctors pronounced her dead from hypothermia. 

This tragedy came only a week after one-month-old Aisha Ayesh Al-Agha had died of hypothermia in Khan Younis, and two weeks after two more Palestinian babies died from the cold in the north and center of the Strip within a few hours of each other: Mahmoud Al-Akra, only one week old; and Mohammed Wissam Abu Harbid, two months old. 

In total, 10 infants under the age of 1 have died from hypothermia and extreme cold this winter, taking the total to around two dozen since the beginning of Israel’s onslaught on the enclave in October 2023, according to local health officials and Save The Children. All of them died while living in tents, their families helpless to keep them warm amid the freezing winter temperatures.

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Australia seeking criminal charges over aid workers slain by IDF in Gaza

Canberra is demanding criminal charges over an Israeli drone attack on Gaza that left aid workers dead, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said.

Seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers were killed in a 2024 Israeli airstrike, which the NGO has described as “targeted.” The victims included Australian Zomi Frankcom, three British nationals, a Polish national, a dual US-Canadian citizen, and a Palestinian.

The issue was raised this week as Israeli President Isaac Herzog is visiting Australia to express solidarity with the country’s Jewish community in the wake of a deadly mass shooting which took place in December.

Albanese told Australia’s parliament on Wednesday that he had confronted Israel regarding the slain aid workers, calling it “a tragedy and an outrage” and saying Canberra had made clear its “expectation that there be transparency about Israel’s ongoing investigation” into the incident.

“We continue to press for full accountability, including any appropriate criminal charges,” he said, noting that Herzog had agreed to “engage.”

The aid workers were traveling through a de-conflicted zone in central Gaza in two armored cars with the WCK logo on them as well as a soft-skin vehicle when struck, despite the WCK coordinating its movements with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), according to the NGO.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acknowledged that the IDF was behind the airstrike but is insisting that it was an accident.

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Israel to expand its control in West Bank, make settlers’ land seizures easier, media say

Israel’s security Cabinet approved a series of steps on Feb 8 that would make it easier for settlers in the occupied West Bank to buy land while granting the Israeli authorities more enforcement powers over Palestinians, Israeli media reported.

The West Bank is among the territories that the Palestinians seek for a future independent state. Much of it is under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule in some areas run by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA).

Citing statements by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defence Minister Israel Katz, Israeli news sites Ynet and Haaretz said the measures included scrapping decades-old regulations that prevent Jewish private citizens buying land in the West Bank.

They were also reported to include allowing the Israeli authorities to administer some religious sites, and expand supervision and enforcement in areas under PA administration in matters of environmental hazards, water offences and damage to archaeological sites.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the new measures were dangerous, illegal and tantamount to de-facto annexation.

The Israeli ministers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The new measures come three days before Prime Minister 

Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet in Washington with US President Donald Trump.

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U.S. secretly deporting Palestinians to West Bank in coordination with Israel

The United States is quietly deporting Palestinians arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to the occupied West Bank by private jet, with two such flights taking place in coordination with the Israeli authorities since the beginning of this year — part of a secretive and politically sensitive operation revealed through a joint investigation by +972 Magazine and The Guardian. 

Eight Palestinian men — shackled for the entire journey by their wrists and ankles — were flown from an ICE deportation hub in Phoenix, Arizona on Jan. 20 and arrived in Tel Aviv the following morning after refueling stops in New Jersey, Ireland, and Bulgaria. After arriving at Ben Gurion Airport, the men were put in a vehicle with an armed Israeli police officer and released at a military checkpoint outside the Palestinian town of Ni’lin in the West Bank.

The same private jet, which belongs to an Israeli-American property tycoon who is a friend and long-time business associate of President Donald Trump, conducted an almost identical journey on Monday this week, but the number of passengers onboard and most of their identities remain unclear.

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U.S. Envoys Refused to Report “Apocalyptic” Conditions in Gaza. Exclusive Photos Show the Reality They Suppressed

In February 2024, just over three months into Israel’s war on Gaza, U.S. ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, and his deputy, Stephanie Hallett, blocked an internal cable intended for wider distribution among senior officials in the Biden administration that warned northern Gaza had turned into an “apocalyptic wasteland,” according to Reuters. Lew and Hallett reportedly blocked the cable, which described the consequences of Israel’s assault in harrowing detail, because they believed it lacked balance.

The cable was drafted by U.S. Agency for International Development staffers and was based on a two-part humanitarian fact-finding mission by a small United Nations team that visited the area on January 31 and February 1, 2024.

I was part of that mission.

Northern Gaza had been under a total siege for over three months when we were eventually allowed to enter in January 2024. We moved through Gaza City, Beit Lahia, Jabaliya, and Beit Hanoun.

What we found was an endless horizon of destruction. People were living under plastic sheeting or in the rubble of buildings. Schools had been destroyed. In parts of Beit Hanoun, the entire area had been depopulated and decimated. There was a deadly shortage of clean drinking water, food and access to healthcare.

Mass starvation had already set in. Everyone we spoke to asked us for food. People gestured to us in the street for something to eat. Israeli authorities continued to deny the entry of any supplies despite our warnings of the deadly conditions.

We found bodies of people that had been killed for getting too close to Israeli checkpoints. Their remains were being eaten by cats and dogs. On a wall that was still standing in someone’s destroyed home we found the word “Revenge” graffitied in Hebrew, with the date of October 7, 2023, written below.

The purpose of a fact finding mission like this one is to report back on the humanitarian situation on the ground. The goal is to accurately reflect reality, not political balance. The images I captured during that trip are raw evidence of the conditions in northern Gaza at that time. Some, depicting bodies that were left to decompose in open air, are too gruesome to show. A selection is being published here for the first time. Many of these scenes had already been captured by Palestinian journalists, but they too had been dismissed as biased.

Almost exactly two years later to the day, the situation has been made far worse. The Israeli assault has destroyed, flattened and emptied northern Gaza even more—the UN estimates that over 81% of all buildings in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed or damaged. Much of the little that is depicted here is now gone.

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