Sikkim: Satellite images show devastating Himalayan floods

11th December 2023
By Cherylann Mollan

BBC News, Mumbai

Construction vehicles covered in debris caused by the flash floods in October

New satellite images show the extent of the damage caused by deadly flash floods that hit a village in India's north-eastern state of Sikkim in October.

The photos show how the Teesta river broke its banks and submerged a huge portion of a nearby village.

The devastating floods killed more than 30 people and destroyed the livelihoods of thousands.

Dozens of people are still missing after being swept away.

The flash flood was triggered by a cloudburst, which caused the South Lhonak glacial lake to burst its banks. The excess water flowed into the Teesta river downstream, causing its water level to rise.

The situation worsened after more water was released into the river from a nearby dam. The gushing water from the river wreaked havoc on the Chungthang village, which adjoins its banks.

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Earth observation experts at the University of Leicester in the UK have now released photos that show the devastating impact of the floods.

Of the two satellite photos, one shows the village before the floods and one captures it after.

In the photo taken before the floods, the Chungthang village, located close to the banks of the Teesta river, as well as the Teesta III dam - which is a short distance away from the village - is intact.

 2023 Planet Labs PBCChungthang village before the flood

But on 4 October, the Teesta III dam collapsed due to the bursting of the South Lhonak glacial lake.

In the photo taken 10 days after the flood, one can see the collapsed dam as well as clusters of houses submerged in debris left behind by floodwaters.

Although the image doesn't capture the flood, it depicts the areas that were submerged, revealing the extent of destruction experienced by Chungthang village.

 2023 Planet Labs PBCChungthang village after the flood

Matthew Payne from the School of Geography, Geology and the Environment at the University of Leicester says that the images could be useful in "tackling climate change".

"This catastrophe is a stark reminder of the escalating challenges faced by the verdant Himalayan regions and the increasing magnitude of flooding events necessitates resilient infrastructure capable of tolerating climate-induced excessive rainfall," he says.

Mr Payne adds in a statement that satellite imagery can help track the onset, duration and retreat of floodwaters, providing crucial insights for relief and recovery efforts.

Experts say global warming is causing glaciers to melt faster and this has led to an increase in the water levels of several Himalayan lakes.

They also say that this has led to an urgent need for authorities to install early warning systems in these glacial lakes.

Prior to the floods in Sikkim, several studies had warned that there was a high possibility of South Lhonak lake flooding, the BBC's environment correspondent, Navin Singh Khadka wrote earlier.

The lake's area had expanded more than 2.5 times in the past three decades because of a rapidly melting glacier that feeds it, but authorities had not installed an early warning system.

People working at the Teesta III dam told local media that when they received orders to open the dam's floodgates it was too late as water had already started hitting the infrastructure, causing its eventual collapse.

Sikkim alone has more than 700 small and large glacial lakes and experts say around 20 are at risk of bursting.

 

Later today, I will join Indigenous land defenders in Vancouver to share a story of oppression, resistance, resilience, and hope. Amnesty Canada has just issued a research report in which we document and condemn a years-long campaign of violence, harassment, and racial discrimination inflicted upon the Wet’suwet’en Nation in British Columbia (B.C.). The land defenders at today’s press conference have faced a litany of human rights violations and abuses at the hands of the Canadian and B.C. governments, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and fossil-fuel companies – simply for defending their Indigenous rights. The Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline cuts through the heart of the Wet’suwet’en Nation’s unceded ancestral territory, threatening to sever their profound connection to the land. The Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs, the Nation’s traditional authority, have refused to grant their free, prior and informed consent to the project – as is their right under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. When Wet’suwet’en land defenders peacefully defended their lands and waters from the CGL pipeline construction, they were met with violence, intimidation, and unlawful surveillance. Informed by two research trips to Wet’suwet’en territory and dozens of interviews with land defenders and other eyewitnesses, our report sheds light on tactics used by the RCMP. During four militarized raids, officers stormed onto Wet’suwet’en Territory with semi-automatic sniper rifles and police dogs, while helicopters and surveillance drones buzzed overhead. Land defenders reported arbitrary arrests, damaged property, and assaults by masked officers who refused to identify themselves. Our research also reveals a persistent pattern of intrusive surveillance, harassment, and intimidation, accompanied by racial discrimination and gender-based violence against the land defenders, the majority of whom are women. But our report goes beyond the pipeline. It’s about the ongoing colonial violence that Indigenous Peoples in Canada have endured for far too long. And it must end today. YES, I SUPPORT THE WET'SUWET'EN NATION! I ask you to join Amnesty International Canada in urging Canadian officials to: End the harassment, intimidation, surveillance and criminalization of Wet’suwet’en land defenders and their supporters. Drop the charges against Indigenous land defenders criminalized for opposing the Coastal GasLink pipeline. Stop the construction and use of the Coastal GasLink pipeline until the free, prior, and informed consent of the Hereditary Chiefs is obtained. Our collective voice is stronger than this injustice. Speak up with me, speak up with Amnesty International, and most importantly, speak up and show your solidarity with Indigenous land defenders. In hope and solidarity, Ketty Nivyabandi, Secretary General Amnesty International Canada P.S. If you want to learn more, watch our live press conference on our Facebook page at 1 p.m. EST/10 a.m. PST. On our interactive Digital Report page, you can explore firsthand accounts, compelling photos, and gripping videos. You also can read the full PDF Report by clicking here.

There Are Ghosts High Above Us, With Colors That Come From Space

Scientists captured new imagery of atmospheric phenomena that occur during some lightning storms, offering clues into how they form.

A jellyfish sprite, observed from a time-lapse video in 2019, about 50 miles above the Mediterranean Sea. Scientists disentangling the various wavelengths in the ghost above the jellyfish explained why some have a green hue (which are not visible to the naked eye)

.Credit...Oscar Van der Velde



By Robin George Andrews

NEW YORK TIMES
Dec. 12, 2023


In June 2019, scientists in Spain went searching for ghosts haunting the skies above the Mediterranean Sea. These green-hued wisps, dancing above pink-red, extremely high-altitude lightning during thunderstorms, had been discovered only in May that year. What were they? The only way to know was to capture one.

But that would prove to be a troublesome task. These ghosts are aptly named: they are difficult to see with the naked eye and appear for just a heartbeat dozens of miles above ground.

“Seeing a ghost is really difficult,” said María Passas-Varo, a researcher at the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia in Spain.

But on Sept. 21, 2019, they finally caught one with a specialized camera: a green spirit flickering at the crown of a jellyfish-shaped maelstrom of fuchsia lightning 50 miles above the sea. And after painstakingly disentangling the various wavelengths of light emitted by the ghost, the scientists unveiled its elemental makeup.

In a study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, Dr. Passas-Varo and her colleagues revealed that the ghost’s pale emerald complexion came, in part, from excited oxygen, similar to the green glow of auroras; nitrogen plays a role, too.

But the main contributor was another element: iron. That was a surprise because the metal was ultimately being delivered from space.

Better understanding ghosts and other ephemeral lightning like entities can help scientists interpret the difficult-to-parse chemistry and physics of Earth’s upper atmosphere.

“There are layers of metals that dance” in and above thunderstorms, Dr. Passas-Varo said.

Ghosts are a type of transient luminous event, or T.L.E., which were first described by scientists in 1989. T.L.E.s can include blue jets, which fire upward from thunderstorm clouds, as well as crimson-tinged upper atmospheric lightning that can come in many shapes, like carrots and jellyfish, and is known as a sprite.

T.L.E.’s “are like fireworks,” Dr. Passas-Varo said. And little is definitively known about them — especially ghosts, the first of which was observed atop a sprite storm over Oklahoma in May 2019.

To capture their own ghost, her team pointed a spectrographic camera — one that can use light to ascertain chemistry — at the upper atmosphere from an observation post in Castellgalí, Spain. All they could do was wait for sprite thunderstorms to appear, cross their fingers and hope that at least one sprite would be briefly decorated with a ghost, and that their camera was pointed at the right place.

Eventually, they found one flitting about on a jellyfish sprite.

“It was a matter of luck,” Dr. Passas-Varo said.

This one was largely powered by extraterrestrial iron, not atmospheric oxygen. The camera also revealed the presence of nickel, sodium and silicon. The complex chemical soup responsible for this ghost even added a yellow-orange tinge to its green glow.

All of those elements often come from micrometeoroids and deep-space dust particles that are nearly constantly plunging into the upper atmosphere. That means that ghosts could effectively be seen as interplanetary visitors.

Still, some researchers said not too many conclusions should be drawn from the new paper’s findings.

“The metallic traces are interesting, but I’ll caution that this was only a single event,” said Chris Vagasky, a lightning researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who was not involved in the new work. To see if all ghosts are iron-fueled spooks, he added, “it would be nice to see the results from multiple ghosts.”

He has no doubt that the search for ghosts, and other T.L.E.s, will continue — largely because these phantoms are inherently beguiling.

“It’s really incredible to think that there is so much more occurring during a thunderstorm than what you can see or hear,” Dr. Vagasky said.

"The Colour out of Space" by H. P. Lovecraft

The H.P. Lovecraft Archive

https://www.hplovecraft.com › writings › texts › fiction

Aug 20, 2009 — It was just a colour out of space—a frightful messenger from unformed realms of infinity beyond all Nature as we know it; from realms whose ...

RELIGIOUS FETISH

Thousands gather to honor Mexico’s Virgen of Guadalupe on anniversary of 1531 apparition

Pilgrims sleep outside the Basilica of Guadalupe on her feast day in Mexico City, early Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023. Devotees of Our Lady of Guadalupe gather for one of the world’s largest religious pilgrimages on the anniversary of one of … more >

By Fernanda Pesce - Associated Press - Tuesday, December 12, 2023

MEXICO CITY — Thousands of people sang the traditional Mexican birthday song “Las mañanitas” at Mexico City‘s Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe Tuesday to honor the virgin on the 492th anniversary of her apparition in 1531.

Authorities estimated that over five million faithful visited the Basilica during the days leading up to the annual celebration of the country’s patroness.

Many had walked from distant villages, others had ridden bicycles or buses to reach the Basilica’s enormous patio, where a sea of tents held pilgrims who had slept overnight to greet the virgin in the morning.

The journey was not without dangers and risks. Mexico City prosecutors said Tuesday that three pilgrims, who were among a group on motorcycles, had been run over and killed on a highway leading from Mexico City east toward the city of Puebla.

Ten others were injured when a pickup truck ran into the group late Monday. The driver was arrested at the scene. Such groups of pilgrims walking or riding to or from the Basilica are a common sight on highways in December, when they sometimes occupy a lane or two of roadways.

The cold temperature, long walks and the wait to see the virgin’s cloak inside the Basilica did not discourage the pilgrims, many of whom walked the last mile or so carrying flowers or large paintings of the virgin.

According to church tradition, in 1531 the dark-skinned virgin appeared to the Indigenous peasant Juan Diego and her image was imprinted on his cloak, which is on display inside the church. Juan Diego was made a saint in 2002 by Saint John Paul II.

Parents furious as pastor dressed as Grinch tells kindergartners 'Santa is fake': report

Travis Gettys
December 12, 2023

The Grinch (Shutterstock)


A man wearing a Grinch costume tried to spoil Christmas for children at an Albuquerque school, according to a report.

The man parked himself Monday morning outside the kindergarten entrance at Osuna Elementary School, where he greeted students with a sign saying, "Santa is fake ... Jesus is real," reported KRQE-TV.

“Take that in front of little kids and try to destroy their wonder, destroy the magic of Christmas," said parent Hannah Dalton. "It makes my blood boil."

The man, who was identified in several news reports as 63-year-old pastor David Grisham, spent about 45 minutes walking up and down the sidewalk outside the school, and video shows parents confronting him and asking whether there were other ways to spread his religious message.

“This is a great way, trust me," the man told parents. "Jesus said go into all the world, including elementary, and preach the gospel to every preacher.”

Grisham, who has been pulling similar stunts for years, set up as the Grinch last week at another school in Amarillo, Texas, and principal Hanna Myers told parents in a letter that the protest was part of a nationwide movement.

"While I respect freedom of speech and religion, I am saddened that some individuals think it’s okay to elevate their beliefs by taunting children," Myers wrote. "No public display that frightens or traumatizes our students, staff, or members of the community is acceptable."

Zelensky had to smack down debunked conspiracy theories at Capitol Hill meeting: Senator

Sarah K. Burris
December 12, 2023 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (AFP/Ukraine Presidency/Handout)

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) told reporters that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky faced off against conspiracy theories while meeting members of Congress Tuesday — including one that he used aid from the United States to buy a $75 million yacht.

The Associated Press reported in September that a conspiracy theory broke out on social media when someone posted a YouTube video claiming "Ukrainian President Zelensky uses proxies to hide ownership of two yachts worth $75,000,000."

The account hasn't posted any other videos. According to the BBC, the source was "very suspect" and has no other presence anywhere online.

The company selling the yachts also confirmed to the AP that it wasn't true.

“We can confirm that the yacht has not been sold and therefore remains for sale," the company's spokesperson, Nicci Perides, told the AP.

ALSO READ: Mention ‘Liz Cheney 2024’ and things get very, very awkward on Capitol Hill

But the conspiracy that spread online is now apparently influencing whether or not Republicans will back Zelensky's request for funds necessary to continue fighting off Russia.

Fox reporter Chad Pergram paraphrased Tillis saying in passing that, "It was helpful that President Zelensky focused on some of the myths around yachts being bought with the money coming from the United States."

Tillis went on to say that he and others are aware of what is happening on the ground in Ukraine and he is confident that the money is being sent properly. He cautioned that if lawmakers failed to support Ukraine, the U.S. would be spending a lot more money if they walked away from them.

Tenants describe Bronx building collapse as ‘disaster from hell’

New York Daily News
2023/12/12

Firefighters respond to a partial building collapse on West Burnside Avenue and Phelan Place in the Bronx, New York City, on Monday, Dec. 11, 2023. 

- Gardiner Anderson/New York Daily News/TNS

NEW YORK — When a seven-story Bronx apartment building partially collapsed Monday afternoon, creating a jaw-dropping scene of devastation, some residents were away on vacation, others at work and still others were at home, forced to spring into action to save themselves.

“Let’s go, let’s go, just leave everything,” tenant Sadie Martinez recounted telling her brother before they snatched up her 1-year-old and the family dog. “I was scared for my baby, not me.”

There was no immediate warning the building would crumble, but Martinez recalled hearing a loud noise that afternoon as she was preparing food.

“I heard like a boom, and you know when the wind is hard? I heard that at the same time,” she told the New York Daily News. “I thought it was an earthquake or they were fixing the street.”

Miraculously, no one among the building’s 46 households was killed or seriously injured. A small army of first responders confirmed no one was trapped under the 12-foot pile of rubble at Billingsley Terrace and West Burnside Avenue in Morris Heights.

Still, residents were left Tuesday to cope with trauma and uncertainty about their futures.

Jacqueline Tomlinson was in bed in her sixth-floor apartment when she felt a “big shake.” Moments later, her son, who was outside smoking, called her on the phone.

“He said, ‘Mom, get out, the whole front of the building collapsed,’ ” said Tomlinson, 64. “So I just grabbed my coat and I ran outside and and I haven’t been able to go back in since.”

Another resident feared for the life of a neighbor’s ailing mom.

“My neighbor called me and she was crying frantically,” said tenant Renee Glasford, 48. “She wanted to know where my mom was because she has dementia.”

Fortunately, Glasford’s mother was with her, and the two made their way back home.

“When we got to the neighborhood, it was a disaster from hell,” she said. “I was devastated.”

The building had been flagged for more than 100 building violations, according to city records, with over 25 complaints sent to city agencies over the past month.

Two people suffered minor injuries as they escaped Monday’s carnage.

While harm to humans was mercifully minimal, some tenants still have loved ones in the building: their pets.

“My two cats are inside,” said Ivan Schoop, 32, who lives on the sixth floor with his father and was at work when the building fell.

Tomlinson is worried about her feline, Panda, who is “probably starving.”

“My dog is still trapped in the apartment. There are other people who were able to go get their dogs, but they told us we could not,” said Glasford, who is desperate to get to Sparky.

She added that the pet’s company is especially helpful to her mother with dementia.

The Red Cross says it has provided 153 displaced residents with emergency assistance, including temporary housing and meals. Red Cross workers will be on hand to assist tenants with disaster health services, including mental health, the organization said in a statement.

The tenants are now scattered throughout the city at hotels and relatives’ homes with none of their possessions, missing school and work as the holidays are on the way.

Glasford was put into a hotel in Brooklyn with her mother, sister and 9-year-old son, who wasn’t able to go to school Tuesday.

“They didn’t get us here until late, there’s no way he could have come back up,” she said.

Sadie Martinez said her family is staying with an uncle, but they have none of their possessions and have not heard if or when they will get them back.

The items cover “everything — memories personal papers, Christmas gifts,” she said.

Even with a tough, unknown road ahead, residents feel fortunate that a bad situation didn’t end up being tragic.

“That was one of my biggest things, I was hoping that no one got hurt,” said Glasford. “I’m happy no one got hurt.”

_____

(New York Daily News staff writer Téa Kvetenadze contributed to this story.)

_____


Bronx apartment building partially collapses with people inside: police

New York Daily News
2023/12/11


NEW YORK — An entire corner of a six-story Bronx apartment building collapsed Monday, officials said.

First responders raced to the scene of the destruction on Billingsley Terrace near Phelan Place in Morris Heights just before 3:40 p.m. EST, according to police.

A man who works in a bodega across the street watched as two men worked on the building, which a Department of Buildings source said is under construction inside and out.

“Before it came down, the scaffolding started creaking, then the whole thing started coming apart,” said Ahmed Bendary, 23. “People were screaming.”

One of the men working on the building quickly left as warning noises started, but the other kept on drilling.

“When it started coming down, he jumped immediately and ran across the street,” said Bendary. “It just missed him. He was almost killed.”

Bendary stepped outside and watched as a line of bedrooms fell to the street below.

“Big rocks started coming down from the building,” he recalled. “Then it went down floor by floor in a second.”

Numerous people were inside when the northeast corner of the 47-unit building crumbled, officials said.

The rest of the building was evacuated after the collapse.

A police spokesperson described to the scene as “chaotic” as first responders continued to search debris for any trapped people.

“It was like an action movie,” Bendary said of the collapse. “It was like something that happened at Palestine.”

In a post on X about an hour after the collapse, FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said there were no immediately reported injuries but members of the Fire Department, including a K-9 team, were still canvassing the rubble for potential victims.

The building has 103 open violations with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, records show.

_____

© New York Daily News

White supremacist who dined with Trump calls for ‘death penalty’ for non-Christians

David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement
December 12, 2023 

Nick Fuentes

Last year Donald Trump dined with two anti-Semites, Kanye West and Nick Fuentes, at his Mar-a-Lago resort and residence, drawing massive outrage while revealing to many Americans for the first time who Fuentes is: a white supremacist, Christian nationalist, anti-LGBTQ, authoritarian extremist who supports Trump's "America First" doctrine.

In his livestream show on Sunday titled, "The Great Replacement is about White GENOCIDE," Fuentes called for the "death penalty" for non-Christians, according to Right Wing Watch (video below). "Antisemitic white nationalist Christian fascist Nick Fuentes says that when his America First movement takes power, all non-Christians will be executed," RWW reported.

NCRM has located the full video and is publishing a longer version of Fuentes' remarks.

"There is an occult element at the high levels of society, and specifically among the Jews, and you know, whenever I see that stuff that just makes me want to proclaim louder and more firmly and more rigidly that it is nothing other than Jesus Christ. No, no pagan stuff, no false gods, no deities, no demons. It is Jesus Christ and we need to start saying that name," Fuentes said.

"It's the name Jesus, talk about it, say it. Pray to Him, talk about the sacrifice on the cross, that's the answer. Because so many of the people that are perpetrating the lies and the destruction on the country, they are evil doers. They are people that worship false gods, they are people that practice magic or rituals or whatever, and more than anything those people need to be, when we take power, they need to be given the death penalty. Straight up. And, I'm far more concerned about that than I am about even non-white people or mass migration."

"These people that are that are communing with demons and engaging in this sort of witchcraft and stuff, and these people that are suppressing the name Christ and suppressing Christianity, they must be absolutely annihilated when we take power, I'm not calling for political violence, but that cannot have any quarter in our society."

While the start of the segment was about the occult, Fuentes quickly turned his remarks to promoting an oppressive, authoritarian version of what he calls Christianity.

"We need to put up we need to put up a crucifix in every home, in every room in every school and every government office to signal Christ's reign over our country," Fuentes declared. "Not that God needs it, but it must be outwardly expressed from the interior, that this is God's country. This is Jesus's country. This is not the domain of atheists or devil worshipers or perfidious Jews. This is Christ's country," he said, adding those who are "agnostic" cannot be part of his "America First" movement. "No, you must be a Christian. And you must submit to Christianity."

The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated Fuentes a white nationalist extremist "who advocates pulling the Republican Party further to the extreme far-right end of the political spectrum. An outspoken admirer of fascists such as Mussolini, Fuentes emerged as an influential figure on the national stage during the now-infamous 'Stop the Steal' movement, which relied on misinformation to falsely claim that Donald Trump had won the 2020 election and sought to overturn the results of it."

In October, after Fuentes had reportedly visited a top Texas GOP donor for several hours, creating a massive firestorm, The Texas Tribune reported, "Fuentes, 25, often praises Adolf Hitler and questions whether the Holocaust happened. He has called for a 'holy war' against Jews and compared the 6 million killed by the Nazis to cookies being baked in an oven. He wants the U.S. government under authoritarian, 'Catholic Taliban rule,' and has been vocal about his disdain for women, Muslims, the LGBTQ+ community and others."

The Intercept's Prep Thakker responded to the video of Fuentes' remarks, declaring it, "An unambiguous call for religious genocide, namely against Jewish people, by the dinner guest of the Republican front runner for President of the United States. Will there be congressional hearings? Breathless, wall to wall coverage in nearly every major U.S. news outlet?"


Writer and activist Elad Nehorai responded by blasting the House Republican Conference chair Elise Stefanik, saying she "wants you to vote for the presidential candidate who sat down with Fuentes for dinner."

U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) wrote: "THIS scumbag is who Trump invited to his place at Mar-a-Lago for dinner. Trump is not fit to be President."

Attorney and Adjunct Professor of Philosophy teaching Ethics, Richard Kalish, warned, "This is a clear, word for word echo of Nazi Germany."

Watch the short clip below or at this link.

READ MORE: Trump’s Bigoted Dinner Guest Nick Fuentes Favors Burning Women Alive

‘Israel Is Still Far From Toppling Hamas’ in Tiny Gaza Strip, Palestinian Studies Expert Says

KEREN SETTON
12/12/2023

While Israel’s political echelon wants to portray Hamas as on the brink of collapse, experts say complex urban warfare will lengthen the war and make victory much less clear

The clock is ticking on Israel’s military operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, as it is unclear how much progress the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has made in eliminating the terrorist organization. The ambitious goal was set out by the Israeli government in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’ surprise offensive on Oct. 7. According to Israeli officials, approximately 1,200 Israelis were killed in the attack and 251 people were abducted by Hamas on that day. So far, 114 of the hostages, some of them foreign nationals, have been released. The rest remain in Gaza, and the Israeli government has promised to secure their release.

According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip, more than 18,000 Palestinians have been killed as a result of Israel’s retaliation on Gaza, with another 50,000 injured.

After over two months, there is increasing international pressure to end the war. Over the weekend, the US vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that called for an immediate cease-fire. While the Biden Administration has maintained that Israel will be the one to determine the end of the war, there have also been American insinuations that Israel’s credit is limited.

The IDF is now in a race against time to achieve its directive—stripping Hamas of its military capabilities and essentially removing it from power.


Israel is still far from toppling Hamas. The majority of its fighters are still alive; it still possesses rockets.

“We have seen extensive damage,” said Dr. Michael Milstein, head of the Palestinian Studies Forum at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies. “But Israel is still far from toppling Hamas. The majority of its fighters are still alive; it still possesses rockets.”

In addition, Milstein told The Media Line that the bombardment of government symbols, such as the parliament, courthouses, and mosques, is largely of symbolic value.


For Hamas, resistance is much more important than governance

“Hamas doesn’t need this to keep up its fight,” he added. “For Hamas, resistance is much more important than governance. As long as it has weapons and fighters, it doesn’t care whether it can govern Gaza or hand out humanitarian aid.”

This was proven already on Oct. 7, after many in the Israeli defense establishment thought Hamas was interested in solidifying its sovereignty over the Gaza Strip and would not risk an offensive against Israel that would endanger its rule.

While Hamas’ abilities are not comparable to the large and highly sophisticated IDF, the terrorist organization’s progress has been measured.

On Tuesday, battles continued to rage in the Gaza Strip.

The territory is a densely populated enclave around 26 miles (41 kilometers) long and between 3 and 8 miles wide. According to the UN, 1.93 million Gaza residents have been displaced as a result of the fighting, approximately 85% of its little over 2 million population. Israeli towns, villages and kibbutzim surround the Gaza Strip’s northern and eastern borders—which total around 36 miles in length— in what is often referred to by Israelis as the “Gaza Envelope.” The Strip also has an 8-mile-long border with Egypt and 25 miles of Mediterranean coastline.

When the IDF began its ground operation in Gaza, it initially focused on northern Gaza, specifically on the towns of Beit Hanoun and Bureij, each with a few tens of thousands of residents. The military then made progress towards Gaza City, the de-facto capital of the territory, where there is a concentration of Hamas government and military buildings.

In addition to Hamas’ military capabilities above the ground, experts believe the terrorist organization has a wide web of underground tunnels in which its munitions are manufactured and stored. These tunnels are also where many of the hostages are believed to be held and Hamas’ military commanders are running the war. The challenges of urban warfare are multiplied in light of this.

After a temporary cease-fire collapsed on Dec. 1, the IDF also began its ground operation in the south of Gaza. The area is believed to be the hub of Hamas’ military infrastructure. It is also believed to be where most of the Israeli hostages are being held. Israel has also vowed to kill Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who is believed to be underground in the same area.

“This will be a very complex operation, which will require much more care and time and will likely cost more lives of Israeli soldiers,” said Professor Danny Orbach, a military historian from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. “Israel is looking to cause the collapse of the Hamas governing mechanism,” he told The Media Line.

“The IDF method is to use massive airpower, then to encircle targeted areas, followed by increased incursions into territories as the hold over these territories gets stronger over time,” added Orbach, who noted that neither Israel nor Hamas focus their efforts on all areas equally. This creates pockets in which Israel has already gained control and other areas in which Hamas has focused its resistance, making it more difficult for the IDF.

On Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Hamas was near “breaking point” in northern Gaza.

“There is a gap between what is being described by the political level as Hamas being on the verge of collapse, but the countdown to the end of Hamas is premature,” said Milstein. “Even after Sinwar will be assassinated, there will still be resistance.”

Both Gallant and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Hamas terrorists to “surrender or die.”

In recent days, footage emerged of Palestinians being detained by the Israeli military while wearing only underwear. It is unclear how many of the men were taken for further interrogation and how many were uninvolved civilians who were released. However, according to Orbach, pictures of such a surrender are one of the preliminary signs of Hamas’ collapse.

“Mass surrenders, the lack of ability to execute complex military operations, and chaos amongst the civilian population are all signs of collapse,” Orbach said. “As this progresses, the military operation becomes easier. We are at the beginning of this process.”

Over the weekend, the Israeli secret service released a video of its interrogation of former Hamas Communications Minister Yousef al-Mansi. “Sinwar and his gang have destroyed us,” said the former senior official. “We must get rid of them.”

Al-Mansi also estimated that the majority of Hamas’ military brigades have been eliminated. Hamas has not confirmed how many of its members have been killed by Israel since the beginning of the war. Israel said it has killed thousands of Hamas terrorists.


When a state begins to collapse, no one wants to stay standing last, eliciting a race of who surrenders or runs away first

“When a state begins to collapse, no one wants to stay standing last, eliciting a race of who surrenders or runs away first,” said Orbach. “Al-Mansi would not have sharply criticized Hamas’ leadership publicly if he did not think Israel was to remain an influential actor in Gaza after the war. He wants to portray himself as an alternative to the current leadership. Such an experienced member of the leadership that is beginning to smell defeat is another sign of collapse of the governing mechanism.”

Hamas has continued to fire rockets into Israel throughout the military operation, despite massive Israeli airstrikes and the presence of its troops in Gaza. While there has been a significant decrease in the amount of rocket fire, it is unclear how much firepower Hamas has left and whether it is using it selectively because its arsenal has been severely hit or holding on to it for future use.

As the military offensive continues, it is clear there is much headway to be made for Israel to reach its goal. While Hamas has controlled and governed Gaza since 2007, its ideology, which calls for the destruction of Israel, goes back decades and will live on even if Israel is successful.

“There are so many goals on the way,” said Milstein. “There is a lot of expectation in the Israeli public, but this will be a long and exhausting war. We will not see a mass surrender of Hamas, and there will not be a specific point in time in which Israel will be able to say it has reached its goal.”

With such a heavy price being paid by both sides, neither side will truly be victorious though both will surely strive to stake this claim.

The urban warfare in which both sides are now engaged makes for a very challenging battleground, which is often murky. With little symmetry between the sides, it is difficult to calculate the wins and the losses.

“Often in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, both sides think they won,” said Orbach. “In this war, which is more like a street fight, it will be difficult to say who won and who lost.”

Australian PM joins NZ, Canada in call for Gaza ceasefire


The New Daily
Dec 12, 2023, 

Australia supports the creation of a sustainable ceasefire in the Gaza Strip but Hamas must give up its weapons, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says in a rare joint statement with his counterparts from New Zealand and Canada.

“We are alarmed at the diminishing safe space for civilians in Gaza,” the statement released by the three prime ministers early on Wednesday said, as the Israeli bombardment of Hamas militants in the enclave continued.

“The price of defeating Hamas cannot be the continuous suffering of all Palestinian civilians,” the leaders said.

The rare three-way statement from the three leaders came as the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a non-binding resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

The vote on Wednesday (AEDT) was backed by 153 member states, with 10 against and 23 abstentions.

It was the second attempt by the UN General Assembly, which called in October for “a humanitarian truce” in a resolution adopted with 121 votes in favour, 14 against and 44 abstentions.

It also followed the US veto of a similar move in the Security Council at the weekend.

Health authorities in the Hamas-run Gaza say the death toll from Israel’s offensive has passed 18,000.

Anthony Albanese, New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Luxon and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau also said any ceasefire “cannot be one-sided”.

“Hamas must release all hostages, stop using Palestinian civilians as human shields and lay down its arms,” they said.

The three leaders condemned “Hamas’ unacceptable treatment of hostages” and called for the immediate and unconditional release of the captives.

The Australian and Canadian governments consider Hamas a terrorist organisation while New Zealand authorities have designated the entity’s military wing a terrorist group.

The joint statement condemned Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7 and the “heinous acts of violence perpetrated in those attacks, including sexual violence”, after militants killed 1200 people and took more than 200 hostages.

The three governments recognised Israel’s right to defend itself.

“In defending itself, Israel must respect international humanitarian law,” they added.

There was also “no role for Hamas in the future governance of Gaza”, the leaders said while opposing “the forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, the re-occupation of Gaza, any reduction in territory and any use of siege or blockade” and backed a two-state solution.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong is expected to visit Israel and other countries in the Middle East in January.

Israel condemns UN vote

Israel was quick to react to the UN resolution on Wednesday.

Its representative in New York, Gilad Erdan, called the General Assembly resolution “hypocritical”, because it did not mention Hamas.

Erdan said a ceasefire would “only prolong death and destruction in the region”.

“A ceasefire will only benefit the terrorists that steal the humanitarian aid for themselves,” he said, adding that it would be a “death sentence for countless more Israelis and Gazans”.

The US’s ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said the US supported aspects of the resolution, including that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is dire. But it wanted an amendment that condemned the “abhorrent” 7 October attacks.

“We must work to build a foundation for truly sustainable peace, one where Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in states of their own,” she said.

Earlier, US President Joe Biden warned Israel said Israel had support from “most of the world”, including the US and European Union.

“But they’re starting to lose that support by indiscriminate bombing that takes place,” he told a campaign fundraising event in Washington.

He said ultimately Israel “can’t say no” to an independent Palestinian state – something that Israeli hardliners oppose.

-with AAP