Beyond Bombs – Infectious Diseases Plague Over 1.5 Million Displaced in Gaza

At least 1.5 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have contracted infectious diseases due to the displacement caused by the Israeli war on Gaza, the Strip’s government media office 

In a statement released on Friday, the office reported that 1,477,748 displaced Palestinians have contracted infectious diseases due to being uprooted from various areas in the Gaza Strip.

The statement did not clarify if any of those affected had recovered. However, it did note that the number of internally displaced persons in the Gaza Strip since October 7 has reached two million.

The office also warned that 3,500 children in the Gaza Strip are at risk of starving to death due to the ongoing blockade and the Israeli war.

On Thursday, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that nine out of ten children in Gaza are suffering from severe malnutrition.

The statement also highlighted that 10,000 cancer patients are facing life-threatening conditions and require treatment outside the Gaza Strip. Additionally, more than 71 cases of viral hepatitis have been recorded.

Hepatitis A is a highly infectious liver disease caused by a virus, which can spread through consuming contaminated food or water or through close contact with an infected person.

Viral hepatitis has spread in the Gaza Strip, particularly among children, due to poor personal hygiene, lack of clean water, food contamination, and overcrowding in displacement centers.

Since the closure of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, following Israel’s control of the Palestinian side on May 7, no patient or wounded individual has been able to leave the Gaza Strip.

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Israel’s progression from Apartheid to Genocide

For Palestinians, Israel’s violence began long before October 7, 2023. The unfolding genocide in Gaza is the latest chapter in a series of Israel’s settler-colonial practices to remove Palestinians by force from their land. These practices began with the inception of the state of Israel.  

The most fateful year in modern Palestinian history was 1948, when David Ben-Gurion unilaterally declared the creation of the state of Israel and armed Zionist militias massacred Palestinians and evicted thousands from their homes at gunpoint. Palestinians know this as the Nakba, or “catastrophe.” This is not ancient history. Israeli politicians, before and after October 7, threatened a second Nakba against Palestinians. Israeli forces in Gaza painted graffiti on destroyed homes in Gaza that read, “Nakba 2023.” 

Israel’s apartheid practices against Palestinians also started in 1948, when Israel caged Palestinian communities in Lod, Nazareth, and Haifa in wired areas and issued discriminatory laws against those Palestinians who stayed and those forcibly displaced. Soon after, Israel captured the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in 1967 and the discriminatory laws and practices were expanded to the occupied Palestinian territory.  

At the time, Israel described the act of capturing what remained of historic Palestine in 1967 as “finishing the job.” The job was to ethnically cleanse the survivors of the Nakba and capture the territories left unoccupied in 1948. 

Many Palestinians were displaced by war and were now under Israeli occupation in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and in the Gaza Strip where much of the Palestinian population sought refuge. The capture of Palestinians within the new Israeli State in 1948 and 1967 meant more than 811,000 Palestinians lived under occupation then, and with these two events, all Palestinians were now subject to Israel’s policies of apartheid.  

Soon after Israel captured the Gaza Strip in 1967, for example, it introduced schemes to get rid of the young population of Gaza. In 1969, Moshe Dayan, Israel’s Defense Minister, introduced a plan to transfer young refugees in Gaza to Latin America. Between 1948 and 1967, Israeli army raids into Palestinian refugee camps of Rafah and Khan Younis killed hundreds of Palestinians, some of whom were stood against the famous Barquq Castle Wall and were killed, sometimes in front of their families. 

Today the Barquq Castle itself is in ruins because of Israel’s destruction of Khan Younis.

Throughout the 1970s, Israel exploited Palestinian refugees as cheap labor to build Israeli settlements and with the outbreak of the 1987 Palestinian Intifada, and the mounting Israeli state and settler violence against Palestinians, apartheid practices and laws have only increased, suffocating Palestinians even more and making their lives almost impossible. This has been especially visible with travel restrictions, access to water, land and natural resources, and access to medical care. 

The clearest manifestation of this permit regime, and the brutal realities of Israeli apartheid, has been seen in Gaza.

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The genocide in Israeli prisons

Israel’s genocidal war on Palestinians since last October has extended beyond the daily mass death, displacement, and starvation of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip. Behind the bars of Israeli prisons, Israel has been waging war against Palestinian prisoners, creating conditions that make the continuation of human life impossible. The effects of this brutal campaign have reverberated among prisoners’ families outside of jail, who are watching their loved ones being systematically starved, beaten, tortured, and degraded.

Shortly after October 7, Israel imposed a new set of rules in its cell blocks. In some detention centers like Ofer near Ramallah, the Israeli army was reportedly handed over control of the prison, while the Israel Prison Services guards were given a free hand in dealing with Palestinian inmates inside the jail sections. This shift was accompanied by a dramatic increase in the number of Palestinian detainees who were arrested after October 7, doubling the prisoner population as early on as mid-October. This included prisoners from Gaza, for whom the hardest part of the treatment was reserved.

In mid-May, CNN released an exposé based on the testimonies of Israeli whistleblowers about the horrific treatment of Palestinians from Gaza at the Israeli military base of Sde Teiman, now containing a detention center. The whistleblower testimonies detail a number of medieval practices to which Palestinian prisoners have been subjected, including being strapped down to beds while blindfolded and made to wear diapers, having unqualified medical trainees conduct procedures on them without anesthesia, having dogs set on them by prison guards, being regularly beaten or put into stress positions for offenses as minor as peeking beneath their blindfolds, having zip-tie wounds fester to the point of requiring amputation, and a host of other horrific measures.

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Palestinians recount torture and sexual abuse in Israeli detention facility

An Israeli military base in southern Israel is holding thousands of Palestinians in detention where mistreatment and torture is rife, according to a new report.

Since 7 October, the Sde Teiman military base has been used to detain roughly 4,000 Palestinians from Gaza, with some staying at the base for three months before release or transfer into Israel’s prison system.

Around 1,200 Palestinians who were at the base have been released back into Gaza after being found to be civilians.

A report by the New York Times (NYT) revealed that although many had been released after being found to be civilians, those people still underwent interrogations that are consistent with practices of torture.

Seven former detainees at the base, and whose detention was verified by the Israeli military for the report, gave accounts describing forms of torture being widespread at the base.

These accusations include repeated beatings during interrogations or for minor infractions, such as peeking under blindfolds or sleeping when not permitted.

Such accounts of beatings were corroborated by Israeli soldiers speaking to NYT, who said that colleagues boasted about beatings, and that at least one person had died as a result of being beaten.

At least 35 Palestinians have died at the base since 7 October, although Israeli officers speaking to NYT at the facility denied the deaths were as a result of abuse.

The officers said that 12 soldiers had been dismissed from the base, some for excessive use of force.

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Israel Butchers Another Round of Gazan Children Using U.S.-Provided Munitions

Another day, another mass murder by Israel in Gaza using U.S.-provided weapons.

At least 45 people were killed, mainly women and children, inside a UN-run school in the Nuseirat refugee camp. The IDF said it was targeting a Hamas compound that was operating inside the school, according to CNN.

The report said U.S.-made munitions were used in the strike – the same GBU-39 small-diameter bombs that Israel used in its recent bombing of a tent camp of displaced Gazans that killed 35.

Netanyahu “is killing the civilians, he is not killing militants, it’s innocent people asleep in a UNRWA facility… what did children and elderly do? What did they do to him? He is looking for Hamas people? Go look for them, why are you killing us in schools?”

The report, citing journalists in the area working with CNN, said the school, which was housing 20,000,  was hit by three missiles.

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Shattered Theory: the War on Terror and Western Impunity

The ICC request for arrest warrants against Netanyahu and others is only the beginning. Around the world evidence is being gathered and cases are being prepared, including against British, American and EU politicians and officials for complicity in genocide and other crimes against humanity.  This week the ICC received a request from jurists and human rights groups to investigate EU chief Ursula von der Leyen for complicity in genocide.

Tayab Ali, a human rights lawyer and director of the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians told journalist Owen Jones that a tremendous amount of preparation is underway out of sight of the public.  “I’ve spent a significant amount of time this year travelling the world meeting with heads of state, meeting with foreign ministers, meeting  with justice ministers, and I’ll tell you: the appetite, particularly in the global south, to prosecute people complicit in war crimes, is high.”  South Africa has been a leader in this regard.

The reality is Benjamin Netanyahu and Joe Biden are guilty of far worse crimes than Osama Bin Laden, Ismail Haniyeh, Marwan Barghouti or Nelson Mandela.  I don’t condone Bin Laden or minimise what he did; a good friend of mine John Lozowski was killed in the Twin Towers on 9/11.  He didn’t deserve to die.  The current US President and the PM of Israel, however, just happen to have murdered far more innocent men, women and children – and, unlike Bin Laden and the others, are clearly guilty of the crime of crimes: genocide.  The game changer, however, is the looming presence of the combined legal and moral authority of the ICC and ICJ. Bearing down like angels of justice, they will pursue Israel, and, ultimately even top US officials, to the ends of the earth.  In the case of the ICC, no signatory nation to the Rome Statute can provide a safe haven once the arrest warrants go out.

Which is why the ICC seeking Netanyahu’s arrest has triggered something approaching a nervous breakdown, a shattering of the psyche for the Western elites. Impunity is in the job description.

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NATO Inciting WWIII While Israel Looks To Incinerate Middle East

TWEETER is aflury with NATO’s statement that it wants 300,000 US troops on Russia’s borders within eastern bloc countries.   Oddly, NATO did not call up British troops, German troops, or any other NATO troops which sounds alarm bells.   Secretary, Jens Stoltenberg, asserted at the Summit that NATO allies must pledge a stipulated amount to fund Ukraine’s rubble until the end of time.  Translation:  the stuttering, verbally challenged Alex Soros has spoken on behalf of daddykins who has owned Ukraine since 1992 and is not about to give up the $11.7 trillion in rare earth minerals if he has to murder every last Ukrainian and US soldier.

A Loss is NOT on the table despite Ukraine losing over 50,000 troops monthly.  In response to the US building up Europe’s weapons along Russia’s border, Putin claims Russia will begin providing weapons to those regions incompatible with western ideologies – most notably Afghanistan.   The end result will be a global tit-for-tat barrage of rockets similar to Israel and Palestine.   A constant state of war.

The fact that Ukraine and Russia are nonNATO countries seems to have evaded Stoltenberg’s understanding.   The Rules of Engagement are quite clear:  “Strategic Concept for the Defence and Security of the Members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation adopted by Heads of State and Government in Lisbon.”  

At the summit in St Petersburg, Putin stated that intel reveals the US is planning to ultimately lower the conscription age to 18 and get rid of Zelenskyy.  He has become an expensive puppet, much disliked by statesmen.

Perhaps NATO’s statement is much ado about nothing.  Perhaps its entire purpose was to ignite rage.    The timing weas not elaborated on and the readiness of troops was not discussed.   In fact, Germany, who has failed every single deadline for Climate Change, has now declared that ‘war readiness’ must be achieved by 2029.   No more solar powered tanks!

Defense Minister for Germany, Boris Pistorius, has stated that in order to achieve this readiness both men and women will potentially be subject to mandatory conscription.   In the US all 18—24 year olds are automatically registered for the draft given the military is  wholly short on recruits in all branches.

The Ukraine peace summit to be held in Switzerland did NOT include Russia.   Given the idiocy of the summit, many countries chose to avoid the plea for money, including:  China, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Hungary, Brazil, and South Africa are notable.   The clear waste of time is the most pervasive reasoning.    But the pleading for money has also worn down enthusiasm.   The war weariness is evident to everyone except the Kabbalah.

Afghanistan cost the US 2.3+ Trillion.  Syria cost $1.2 Trillion.  Iraq cost us $1.1 trillion.   WWII = $330 billion ($5.75 trillion in 2024 dollars).  Vietnam $176 billion.  We are broke.  Our Treasury Balance Sheet reveals a Net Worth of -$30+ Trillion.

To add prospective to the financial collapse we are facing, the FDIC has stated that 63 banks are on the brink of failure.  The losses stem from unrealized residential mortgage backed securities and an office property glut.  The potential losses represent $517 billion for the FDIC to bailout depositors.  The vast majority are smaller banks, but a representation of the failed economy under Biden’s Handlers.

All of this comes under the real umbrella – Israel.  Hezbollah rockets hit northern Israel igniting fires across the territory.   Indonesia has rallied its support for Iran.  One of the ICJ judges in calling for criminal charges to be levied against Netanyahu has suddenly resigned citing ‘personal reasons’ – translation his family was likely threatened.  Simultaneously the AIPAC led US government is determined to sanction all the judges, defund UNRWA, and dismantle the ICC.

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Johnson and Schumer Invite War Criminal and Mass Murderer To Address Congress

Mark this most recent event as yet another piece of evidence that Israel literally owns the U.S. Congress.

From Politico:

Netanyahu accepts Congress’ invitation to speak despite blowback.

Tensions have been mounting in recent weeks after Speaker Mike Johnson announced his plan to invite Netanyahu to address Congress

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday accepted an invitation from congressional leaders to address a joint session, a decision that has sparked tension within the Democratic Party over Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza.

In a post to X, formerly known as Twitter, Netanyahu wrote that he was looking forward to the opportunity to “present the truth” to Congress about the “just war” that Israel has been waging in Gaza since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, when 1,200 Israelis were killed and 240 others were taken hostage. In the months following Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip, at least 35,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Palestinian health authorities, while millions of others have fled from their homes.

“I am very moved to have the privilege of representing Israel before both Houses of Congress and to present the truth about our just war against those who seek to destroy us to the representatives of the American people and the entire world,” Netanyahu wrote.

Tensions have been mounting in recent weeks after Speaker Mike Johnson announced his plan to invite Netanyahu to address Congress. The Democratic Party has splintered over U.S. support for Israel in its ongoing war in Gaza, particularly after recent strikes in a designated safe zone for Palestinians in the southern city of Rafah that reportedly killed at least 45 people.

Progressives, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has been outspoken in his disapproval of U.S. military support for Israel’s war, denounced the invitation.

“Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal. He should not be invited to address a joint meeting of Congress. I certainly will not attend,” Sanders wrote in a post to X.

Sanders also referenced the International Criminal Court’s seeking arrest warrants for both Netanyahu and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar for alleged war crimes committed on both sides.

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Failing Washington Post attempts to get Grayzone editor jailed with error-filled smear piece

Though The Washington Post was forced to retract the first sentence and central premise of its nothingburger ‘expose’ targeting The Grayzone, pro-Israel operatives are using the malicious hit piece to demand a federal investigation.

The secret is out. Starting in 2020, for a period of less than a year, and well before ever joining the staff of The Grayzone, journalist Wyatt Reed appeared multiple times on PressTV, an Iranian state-backed international news service. You may have noticed it from Wyatt’s regular postings at the time highlighting these videos, or the “correspondent @PressTV” description that featured in his Twitter bio at the time.

For the Washington Post’s so-called “disinformation threat” researcher, Joseph Menn, this became a vitally important fact to highlight on a full page of a legacy newspaper whose banner motto boldly declares, “Democracy dies in darkness.” 

After sending Wyatt a series of aggressively worded emails implicitly threatening to have him criminally prosecuted, and demanding to speak with his lawyer, the Washington Post employee relied on a series of hacked documents to “expose” what Wyatt never attempted to conceal: while beginning his journalistic career, he appeared on the Iranian news outlet Press TV several dozen times.

Incidentally, during this time, Wyatt received payment from such nefarious foreign outlets as CBS Weekend News and CBS This Morning, which correctly credited him as a journalist when airing the footage he gathered reporting from the frontlines of BLM protests. 

Since joining The Grayzone in June 2023, Wyatt has not accepted a penny from any government-backed outlet. In fact, The Grayzone imposes far stricter rules on its employees than The Washington Post, which appears to have no such prohibitions on its employees moonlighting for government backed think tanks.

However, the case remains: for a brief period of time, four years ago, he openly appeared in reports for an Iranian outlet which employs Americans to this day.

So why, four years after Wyatt’s last appearance on Press TV, is the Washington Post targeting him, and only him, and even suggesting he should be jailed, despite the fact that dozens of Americans have reported for this same network?

The motive behind this malicious attack is abundantly clear: Wyatt now works for The Grayzone, and The Grayzone’s factual reporting has infuriated boosters of the Ukraine proxy war and members of Israel’s international propaganda network. 

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‘The New McCarthyism’: NY Hospital Fires Nurse for Empathizing With Gaza Mothers

A nurse was fired earlier this month from a New York City hospital for a speech lamenting the anguish felt by Palestinian mothers whose children were killed during the Gaza genocide – remarks that came as she was being honored for providing extraordinary care to mothers who’ve lost babies.

NYU Langone Health labor and delivery nurse Hesen Jabr, who is Palestinian American, was terminated over her May 7 speech accepting the award, in which she said that “it pains me to see the women from my country going through unimaginable losses themselves during the current genocide in Gaza.”

“Even though I can’t hold their hands and comfort them as they grieve their unborn children and the children they have lost during this genocide, I hope to keep making them proud as I represent them here at NYU,” she added.

In a May 27 Instagram post, Jabr recounted what she says happened to her when she went back to work for the first time after her speech:

As soon as I walked onto the unit, I was dragged into an impromptu meeting with the president and vice president of nursing at NYU Langone to discuss how I “put others at risk” and “ruined the ceremony” and “offended people” because a small part of my speech was a tribute towards the grieving mothers in my country. I was sent back to work my shift while the hospital spent the day “figuring out” what to do with me. After working almost the entire shift, I was dragged once again to an office where I was read my termination letter by the director of human resources, Austin Bender, and escorted off the premises by a plain clothes police officer.

NYU Langone spokesperson Steve Ritea told The New York Times that Jabr was terminated over the speech and “a previous incident” related to Gaza, over which she was warned “not to bring her views on this divisive and charged issue into the workplace.”

“She instead chose not to heed that at a recent employee recognition event that was widely attended by her colleagues, some of whom were upset after her comments,” Ritea added. “As a result, Jabr is no longer an NYU Langone employee.”

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