Thursday, June 06, 2024

UPDATED 

ANOTHER DAY,ANOTHER ZIONIST WAR CRIME

US weapons parts used in Israeli attack on Gaza school: Al Jazeera analysis

Parts recovered from an Israeli attack on Thursday, which killed 40 Palestinians, made by US manufacturer.



By Al Jazeera Staff
Published On 6 Jun 2024

Among the rubble of the United Nations-run al-Sardi school in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp were the remnants of the weapons that killed at least 40 Palestinians.

The Israeli attack in the early hours of Thursday gave the displaced people sheltering in the school no prior warning. Fourteen children were killed, as well as nine women and at least 74 other people were wounded. The weapons used to carry out the attack – according to an Al Jazeera analysis of the fragments left behind – were US-made.

KEEP READINGlist of 3 itemslist 1 of 3
‘Standing Together’ against far-right Israeli hate in Jerusalemlist 2 of 3
‘Historic’: NAACP urges Biden to end arms transfers to Israel amid Gaza warlist 3 of 3
Houthis say they launched two attacks against ships at Haifa portend of list

An inertial measurement unit from the missile, used to aid with precision targeting, was manufactured by Honeywell, an American conglomerate that specialises in the design and delivery of sensors and guidance devices that are used in a variety of military weapons.

Al Jazeera’s Sanad verification unit discovered that one of the fragments found in Nuseirat bore the manufacturer and category number HG1930BA06, tracing it back to Honeywell. HG1930 refers to the specific sensor manufactured by the company.
The missile fragment found at the site of an Israeli attack on a United Nations-run school in Nuseirat on June 6. The manufacturer and category numbers on the fragment trace it back to the US manufacturer Honeywell [Sanad/Al Jazeera]

The same part was found after the Israeli bombing of a Palestinian home in Shujayea, Gaza in 2014. The two pieces, in the most recent and the 2014 bombing, have the same manufacturer part number inscribed on them.

“We see also other numbers like the MFR, HG 1930 and then BA 06. This is the manufacturer part number that provides more specific details about the component of the missiles,” Elijah Magnier, an independent military and political analyst, told Al Jazeera. “Now, if you look at the manufacturer identification … it is a format used by the aerospace and defence sector in the United States connected to Honeywell.”

“Honeywell is known for the supply of IMU in the various military applications, and particularly the guided missiles that it has been providing to the Israeli Air Force since the year 2000.”

Al Jazeera has reached out to Honeywell for comment, but has yet to receive a response.

Israeli attacks on UN spaces have become commonplace during Israel’s war on Gaza, which has now killed more than 36,000 Palestinians.

The United States has been criticised for its role in supporting Israel, and particularly its continued supply of weapons.

Major rights groups have repeatedly accused Israel of violating international law, and Israel is currently facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice. The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor has also sought arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for their actions in Gaza.

In May, a US government report found possible Israeli violations of international law in Gaza, but stopped short of identifying the violations that would end its continuing military aid. US President Joe Biden has threatened to stop the supply of some offensive weapons to Israel if it continues its Rafah operation, but has not carried out the threat, despite Israel pressing on in the area, which lies in southern Gaza

.
At least 40 Palestinians were killed in the June 6 attack on al-Sardi school in Nuseirat [Sanad/Al Jazeera]


Central Gaza under attack

Central Gaza has most recently come under severe Israeli bombardment, which Palestinians have described as similar to the early days of the war.

The attack on al-Sardi school in Nuseirat is part of that assault.

“The bombardment came from here,” said Naim al-Dadah, a survivor of the attack.

“We were sleeping. The flying metal reached the roof on the other side and all these nets landed over there, on the other side. What happened to us is beyond anyone’s imagination.”

Other witnesses say the attack tore people to pieces. Survivors collected body parts, including those of many children, until the early hours of the morning. Weapon debris was scattered throughout shattered rooms and the blood-stained mattresses. Multiple rooms were targeted, though the building’s structure remained intact.

Israel’s Arabic language spokesperson Avichay Adraee, claimed the UN school was targeted because it housed a Hamas command post and fighters involved in the Palestinian group’s October 7 attack on Israel, which killed 1,139 people. He also claimed Israel took several steps to minimise the possibility of civilian casualties. The director of Hamas’s government media office, Ismail al-Thawabta, rejected Israel’s claims.

In April, the media outlet +972 Magazine reported that Israel uses an artificial intelligence-targeting system called Lavender in its Gaza-bombing campaign. The report quoted Israeli military officials who said that the system generates targets to kill. For low-level Hamas targets, the report said, the army was permitted to kill 15 to 20 civilians. An attack on a more senior Hamas official with the rank of battalion or brigade commander was used to justify the killing of more than 100 civilians.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA


Israel attacks UN-run school in central Gaza, killing at least 40

Al Jazeera English
Al Jazeera is funded in whole or in part by the Qatari government.
Wikipedia

Jun 6, 2024 #Palestine #Gaza #GazaUnderAttack

 • Jun 6, 2024 • #Palestine #Gaza #GazaUnderAttackIsraeli forces have bombed a residential building and a UN school that was sheltering forcibly displaced Palestinians in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp in central Gaza. At least 40 people have been killed. Al Jazeera’s Tarek Abu Azzoum reports and Hind al-Khoudary went to the UNRWA school which was bombed in Nuseirat Refugee camp.


Dozens Feared Dead In Israeli Airstrike On UNRWA School In Gaza

By 

Amid early reports that an Israeli strike on a UN-run school in Gaza overnight into Thursday left dozens dead, humanitarians warned that cholera and other potentially deadly diseases stalk people uprooted by the war, forced to live among “mountains of trash”.


“UNRWA can confirm that one of our schools in the Nuseirat area (Middle Areas) was hit overnight / early morning by Israeli Forces. ⁠The school was possibly hit several times,” the UN agency for Palestinian refugees told UN News. “The number of those reported killed is between 35 and 45. Scores others are injured. We are not able to confirm the above figure at this stage.”

Children caught up in war

Local officials in Gaza reported that 37 people were killed in the school building attack in Nuseirat refugee camp near Deir Al Balah in central Gaza. The toll included 14 children, it was also reported.

Media cited the Israeli military that the strike’s objective was to eliminate Hamas operatives and that it was only given the go-ahead after aerial surveillance, with additional measures taken to reduce the risk to civilians.

In an early response condemning the school attack, UNRWA said that 6,000 people had been sheltering on the premises. Since the war began, more than 180 buildings belonging to the UN agency have been hit, killing more than 450 displaced people in those facilities.

“The vast majority” were schools-turned-shelters, UNRWA said, as it issued a reminder “to all parties to the conflict that schools and other UN premises must never be used for military or fighting purposes…UN facilities must be protected at all times”.


Rubble for a home

The development came as humanitarians issued alerts about the already dire sanitary emergency in Gaza, as civilians displaced by the war “have no choice but to live amid the rubble and in destroyed UNRWA facilities”.

In its latest report on relief activities in May, the UN agency flagged that aid teams were allowed to pick up “just under 450 trucks in the past three weeks in support of the humanitarian operation. This is nothing in the face of the needs,” UNRWA said, insisting that at least 600 trucks per day “of commercial, fuel and humanitarian supplies” are required to help stave off famine and death in Gaza.

“Fuel is running short: our teams are standing by to pick it up when the Israeli Authorities give the green light,” UNRWA said, before highlighting “horrific” scenes of devastation from Jabalia Refugee Camp in northern Gaza, home to thousands of displaced people.

“All eyes are on the proposal to reach an end to this war through a ceasefire, the release of all hostages and substantial and safe flow of urgently needed supplies into Gaza,” the UNRWA update continued, as the US and 16 other countries reportedly expressed their full support for the ceasefire and hostage release proposal presented by President Biden on 31 May.

Cholera killer

As summer temperatures rise, humanitarians also expressed deep concerns that preventable disease outbreaks could spread more widely.

“Children in Gaza are living alongside mountains of trash and raw sewage as basic services reach a breaking point amid continued fighting and displacement,” said Catherine Russell, head of UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, on X.

The lack of clean drinking water has also fuelled warnings that cholera may strike too, just as healthcare provision remains “crippled”, UN health agency chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

“Intense hostilities have severely crippled health care provision in Rafah where tens of thousands of vulnerable people still remain,” he said in post on X, noting that the partner medical NGO International Medical Corps had moved its 160-bed field hospital from Al-Mawasi to the west of Rafah to its existing facility in Deir Al Balah.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General noted that the only functioning field hospital in Al-Mawasi was the one run by the International Committee of the Red Cross. In Rafah city, meanwhile, only the United Arab Emirates field hospital currently provides health services “but is increasingly difficult to reach due to hostilities”, Tedros said.

West Bank spiralling

In a related development in the occupied West Bank, the UN’s top aid official in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) warned of rising violence, bloodshed and killings, mainly of Palestinians.

More than 500 Palestinians and 12 Israelis have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 7 October, according to the UN aid coordination office, OCHA.

About 280 olive and fig trees and 580 grape vine trees were also vandalized by Israeli settlers in seven communities across the West Bank during the week-long reporting period, the UN office said in a scheduled update.

“While all eyes are on Gaza, the people of the West Bank must also be supported and protected. The situation here is volatile,” said UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the OPT Muhannad Hadi. “We can’t wait for the West Bank to become another Gaza.”

Mr. Hadi’s comments followed meetings on Wednesday with Palestinian herding and Bedouin communities in the central West Bank. Members and organizations supporting the Palestinian communities reported “heightened violence, settler activities, access restrictions, demolitions and other coercive policies and practices”, OCHA said in its update.

In the same report, the UN aid office said that Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinian men near a military gate located in the Barrier west of Tulkarm city on Tuesdat, “after the two men reportedly opened fire at them. Their corpses have been withheld by Israeli forces”.

Bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo Credit: UNICEF/Eyad El Baba

ZIONIST EXCUSE AS PER FORMA

IDF says bombed school had Hamas compound 'embedded inside'

After an Israeli strike on a U.N. school in Gaza, the IDF says they bombed the school because it had a Hamas compound "embedded inside" it. ABC News' Mick Mulroy and Marcus Moore report.

 


Israel Hamas: IDF strikes UN school in Gaza killing 40

Channel 4 News
Channel 4 is a British public broadcast service.
Wikipedia

Warning: This report contains distressing images.



Jun 6, 2024

More than 40 people have been killed after an Israeli airstrike hit a UN-run school in central Gaza where displaced Palestinians had been sheltering. Officials from the Gaza Health Ministry said 70 others were injured. A strike hit the UNRWA Al-Sardi school in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp in the early hours of the morning. Israel claimed it had been targeting Hamas militants inside. The airstrike came as Israel escalated its military operations in central Gaza - targeting the area with artillery strikes and a ground troops operation. Most of those killed and injured have been transported to Al-Aqsa Hospital - where conditions are said to be dire. 

 

 





Pivotal rights group urges Biden to 'indefinitely' suspend arms shipments to Israel as election nears

US must 'be willing to pull the levers of power when appropriate to advance liberation for all,' says NAACP president

Michael Hernandez |06.06.2024 - 
Pro-Palestine protesters gather during Biden, Obama, Bill Clinton at New York fundraiser

WASHINGTON

The Biden administration must "indefinitely" suspend arms shipments to Israel amid an "unacceptable" civilian death toll, a Black civil rights group pivotal to the upcoming presidential election urged Thursday.

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) President and CEO Derrick Johnson said in a statement that a cease-fire proposal presented to Hamas last week "must clarify the consequences of continued violence."

The US and the international community must also "be willing to pull the levers of power when appropriate to advance liberation for all," said Johnson.

"The Middle East conflict will only be resolved when the U.S. government and international community take action, including limiting access to weapons used against civilians. The NAACP calls on President Biden to draw the red line and indefinitely end the shipment of weapons and artillery to the state of Israel and other states that supply weapons to Hamas and other terrorist organizations," he said.

"It is imperative that the violence that has claimed so many civilian lives, immediately stop. Hamas must return the hostages and stop all terrorist activity. Israel must commit to an offensive strategy that is aligned with International and Humanitarian laws," he added.

The NAACP is the largest civil rights group in the US that advocates for racial justice and police reform, and its appeal raises the stakes for President Joe Biden after he has for months refused to put meaningful limits on the supply of US arms to Israel despite a growing volume of civilian deaths cause by Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

US-made weapons have been linked to several high-profile Israeli attacks, including an airstrike overnight Wednesday that hit a UN facility.

The Black community is key to Biden's re-election efforts, and will play a pivotal role in swing states come November, including Georgia, Michigan and North Carolina.

Johnson also urged Hamas to free the hostages that it continues to hold in Gaza following its Oct. 7 cross-border attack on Israel, "and stop all terrorist activity."

More than 36,650 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza during the eight-month war, the vast majority of whom have been women and children. Over 83,300 others have been injured, according to local health authorities.

Vast swathes of Gaza now lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine that has pushed the coastal enclave into what the UN describes as "full-blown famine."

​​​​​​​Nearly all of Gaza's population has been forced into displacement.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before Israel invaded on May 6.​​​​​​​
Who will run Gaza after the war? Israel? Hamas? The UN?

Here’s a rundown of some potential plans and their prospects for success.



A Palestinian youth stands on a donkey cart in the grounds of a partially destroyed school being used as a shelter by internally displaced families in the Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip on June 3, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. (Omar Al Qatta/AFP via Getty Images/TNS)

By TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE | Tribune News Service
PUBLISHED: June 6, 2024 at 11:19 a.m. | UPDATED: June 6, 2024 at 11:19 a.m.

By Tracy Wilkinson and Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — Pressure from numerous fronts, domestic and international, is building on Israel to end the war in Gaza.

The International Court of Justice, Arab and European leaders, angry Israeli citizens and segments of the Biden administration are calling for an urgent cease-fire as part of an initial step toward determining the future of the devastated, impoverished coastal enclave.

But what happens then?

Here’s a rundown of some of the plans being floated for the endgame in Gaza and their prospects for success.
Israeli annexation or settlement?

Some of Israel’s most right-wing politicians are calling for the annexation of parts of the Gaza Strip.

They advocate building Jewish settlements in Gaza that would dot and break up contiguous Palestinian communities. In other words, Gaza would look like the West Bank, where around half a million Israeli Jews live in heavily guarded enclaves, using their own roadways and farmland in settlements most of the world considers illegal under international law.

This was the situation in Gaza before 2005.


First, a brief history: Under the 1947 United Nations partition plan, Gaza was to be part of a new Palestinian state that also included the West Bank. Israel accepted the plan and declared statehood in 1948. Arab nations rejected it. Jordan seized control of the West Bank. Egypt moved into Gaza.

In the 1967 Middle East War, Israel captured Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel occupied and began settling all three areas.

In 2005, then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, a hard-liner, ordered the withdrawal of Israeli military troops from Gaza and the forcible relocation of around 8,500 Jewish settlers. Sharon characterized his move to the world as a concession to Palestinians, but critics noted that Gaza’s occupation had become particularly difficult and dangerous for Israel. And Sharon withdrew on his own terms, maintaining Israel’s blockade of the strip, controlling all access by land, sea and air.

Proponents of resettlement argue expanded Israeli military and civilian presence is the only way to ensure security for Israelis and prevent the militant group Hamas from reemerging.

There are significant problems with this plan, not the least of which is it would be seen by most of the world as a blatant violation of international law.

“Starting with it’s illegal,” said Diana Buttu, a lawyer and former advisor to the Palestinian Authority.

Critics say settlement would also be a logistical nightmare, an enormous investment of military force to protect settlers.

Palestinians, particularly Gazans, Egypt and the rest of the Arab world would never accept the return of settlements in Gaza, potentially fueling political turmoil and violence.

And politically it would be extremely difficult to sell to the world.

President Joe Biden has said Gaza must remain in the hands of Palestinians, a position that most of the international community shares.
Israeli (re)occupation of Gaza?

There’s debate about whether Israel ever actually stopped its occupation of Gaza. Some say the 2005 withdrawal in effect turned over control to Palestinians, but others say Israel’s continuing control over access to the strip essentially turned it into a vast, open-air prison.

That said, another postwar option frequently discussed would have Israel returning to a more traditional, direct military reoccupation of Gaza.

One plan calls for Israeli-controlled “buffer zones” that could encircle the Gaza population. Such zones might make it easier for Israel to prevent another Oct. 7-style attack, when militants swept into Israel, killed about 1,200 people and seized about 240 hostages.

Instead of settling the Palestinian land with Israelis, the zones would be vacant no-man areas and heavily guarded by the Israeli military.

Palestinians reject such a plan as de facto annexation of their land.

Because Gaza is only 7.5 miles wide at its east-west broadest, such zones would greatly shrink what is already a densely populated territory. As a result, this idea would face strong opposition from the international community.
The return of Hamas and status quo?

Hamas, which nearly eight months into the conflict is still fighting Israel and launching attacks, has proposed its own plan for ending the war and retaining some control over Gaza.

It starts with a permanent cease-fire followed by Israel’s withdrawal of all troops, Israel’s release of hundreds of Palestinians detained in its jails, and Hamas’ release of all hostages it still holds from its Oct. 7 attack, which triggered the war.

Under the Hamas proposal, once a “sustainable calm” is maintained, a reconstruction plan would commence along with the establishment of a realistic path to establishing an independent Palestinian state.

Israel has flatly rejected such proposals. For Israel, any plan that leaves Hamas standing — much less in power over Gaza — is unacceptable. Israel has repeatedly rejected the notion of Hamas remaining in power and has vowed to destroy the militant group.

The atrocities committed by Hamas also eroded any lingering support with international powers. The U.S. has declared that there can be no more “business as usual” in tolerance for Hamas in parts of the Middle East.

It’s unclear whether Palestinians would support such a plan. Among many Palestinians and other Arabs, Hamas has gained support for having inflicted such damage on Israel.

But in recent years, Hamas was not very popular among Palestinians and especially Gazans, who bristled under Hamas’ heavy-handed rule. Major regional powers such as Egypt do not trust Hamas.
An alternative Palestinian authority?

If not Hamas, is there some other Palestinian group that could step in?

The most obvious option would be the Palestinian Authority, which provides a measure of civil administration over Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, although still under the umbrella of Israel’s military.

In the past, the authority helped run the Gaza Strip until it was driven out by Hamas in 2006.

Biden has floated the idea of a new, reformed Palestinian Authority, which could take over postwar administration of Gaza.

Reforms would include new, younger leadership. The authority’s current president, Mahmoud Abbas, 88, has overstayed his term by more than a decade and is refusing to hold new elections. Biden also speaks about financial transparency and improved law enforcement practices.

Others have suggested incorporating Gaza clans into a new leadership.

But there’s opposition to this plan as well.

Israel, which secretly helped create Hamas decades ago as a rival to the Palestinian Authority, will probably be concerned over the prospect of Palestinian unity. The chaos and divisions among Palestinians have long been cited by Israel as reasons for not moving forward on a Palestinian state. It’s highly doubtful Israel would agree at this point to give Palestinians any control over land, water or borders in Gaza.

That explains why the authority itself has resisted such proposals in the past. No one wants to be seen as “riding into Gaza on the back of Israeli tanks,” as a common refrain goes. Palestinians don’t want to be seen as caretakers — or worse, collaborators — working under Israel’s occupation, with little real power.

Finally the authority may not want to be handed the keys to Gaza after Israel has inflicted such massive destruction to buildings and infrastructure, and left the population on the verge of starvation.

The Palestinian death toll in Gaza is more than 36,000, according to Palestinian authorities. Rebuilding after the Israeli attacks will be a monumental task.

Any alternate Palestinian power would also have to contend with whatever remains of Hamas and other Islamist groups.
International authority?

For an international authority to take over — such as a U.N. peacekeeping force — a major obstacle would be Israel’s unwillingness to relinquish control over security for the Gaza Strip.

That complicates many of the international plans on the table.

One would involve an international authority, possibly with Palestinian components, to take over Gaza once the war ends, handling the food supply, medical care and schooling while negotiating broader security relationships.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Benny Gantz this month proposed an “American, European, Arab, and Palestinian administration” to manage civilian affairs in Gaza until a new government can be formed, with Israel maintaining “security control” in the interim.

The Biden administration has already conducted outreach to regional allies such as the United Arab Emirates and Morocco regarding creating a peacekeeping force. Both Egypt and Jordan have rejected such an idea in the past for fear of being seen as interfering in Palestinian self-determination. And Palestinians have lost faith in the U.S. as a fair broker.

Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahyan shot down a proposal from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the UAE be involved in a postwar administration.

“The UAE stresses that the Israeli prime minister does not have any legal capacity to take this step, and the UAE refuses to be drawn into any plan aimed at providing cover for the Israeli presence in the Gaza Strip,” Al Nahyan wrote on the social platform X.

On the other hand, wealthy outside powers such as Saudi Arabia could be tempted to assist a new Palestinian government if it were assured Israel was out of the picture and if it got something in return, such as the mutual defense pact that Riyadh has been seeking from Washington.


RELATED ARTICLES


VP Kamala Harris’ quiet stops in Bay Area met with Gaza ceasefire protests

13 Stanford students arrested after pro-Palestinian protesters barricade building

Daly City becomes latest Bay Area city to pass ceasefire resolution

Qatar says Israel struggling to unite over Gaza peace terms


Wilkinson reported from Washington and Bulos from Beirut.

©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.


Israelis, Palestinians to launch joint bid to bring humanitarian aid to post-war Gaza

Damour for Community Development in Gaza and Arava Institute for Environmental Studies form group of companies aiming to provide off-grid services to ravaged territory


In this April 30, 2020, photo, Palestinian engineer Raed Nakhal from Palestine Children Relief Fund, right, and engineer Abdullah Dewik, check the Watergen machine that generates safe drinking water from air on the roof of al-Rantisi pediatric hospital in Gaza City. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)
In this April 30, 2020, photo, Palestinian engineer Raed Nakhal from Palestine Children Relief Fund, right, and engineer Abdullah Dewik, check the Watergen machine that generates safe drinking water from air on the roof of al-Rantisi pediatric hospital in Gaza City. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)


A new Israeli-Palestinian project to meet the need for water, sanitation, hygiene and energy in the Gaza Strip between the end of hostilities and rebuilding of the enclave is to be launched Friday.

Palestinian organization Damour for Community Development in Gaza and the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, which already have an established track record of working together on off-grid, solar energy-driven solutions in Gaza and the West Bank, believe that such infrastructure can be quickly provided and scaled up to immediately improve the humanitarian situation in the coastal enclave.

The launch event, in English, at the Peres Center in Tel Aviv is sold out, but can be accessed via Zoom.

According to UNICEF, 96 percent of the strip’s freshwater was unsafe to drink even before the war because of contamination and high salinity.

Energy provision was inadequate and power cuts were frequent.

The war, now in its eighth month, has wreaked widespread destruction on large swaths of the enclave and its infrastructure.

Palestinians inspect the destruction following overnight Israeli strikes on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 6, 2024. (AFP)

Fuel shortages and the war itself have disabled wastewater treatment, raising the risks of water-borne diseases such as cholera, typhoid, diarrhea and tuberculosis.

More than half of all structures have been destroyed, damaged or possibly damaged since the war erupted, according to preliminary satellite analysis by the United Nations.

As The Times of Israel reported this week, Israel has quietly gone to significant lengths to fix the enclave’s water infrastructure.

For the new project, Jumpstarting Hope in Gaza, Damour and the Arava Institute have put together a consortium of companies offering a range of services.

The solutions include:

  • Watergen machines that produce water from the atmosphere. Seven machines were installed in Gaza before the war, providing clean drinking water to thousands of Gazans.
  • wastewater treatment system for purifying sewage developed by the Arava Institute and Laguna Innovation. This produces water clean enough to be used for agriculture.
  • A portable system designed by Atheer Integrated Solutions that produces freshwater from salty groundwater or seawater
  • Building blocks created by Green Cake from the ash and rubble of destroyed houses.
  • Solar panel kits for tents, wells, and desalination facilities from SunBox

Other organizations in the partnership include Home Biogas and Gigawatt Global, as well as initiatives offering off-grid services in internet connectivity, agriculture, public health, women’s empowerment, and technical training.

The Arava Institute, based at Kibbutz Ketura in southern Israel, brings Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians, and international students and experts together through a variety of programs, all based on the conviction that environmental problems know no political boundaries, and that the best way to solve pressing issues such as water and energy shortages is together.