ZIONISTS CREATE FEAR & TERROR
Name and shame: Pro-Israel website ramps up attacks on pro-Palestinian student protesters

Sat, May 11, 2024 






 Protesters gather at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), in Los Angeles

By Gabriella Borter, Joseph Ax and Andrew Hay

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Weeks after attending a pro-Palestinian demonstration, Egyptian-American student Layla Sayed received a text message from a friend drawing her attention to a website dedicated to exposing people it says promote hatred of Jews and Israel.

"I think they found you from the protest," the friend wrote.

When Sayed visited the site, called Canary Mission, she found a photo from the Oct. 16 rally at the University of Pennsylvania with red arrows pointing to her among the demonstrators. The post included her name, the two cities she lives in, details about her studies and links to her social media accounts.

Canary Mission later posted a photo of her on its X and Instagram accounts labeled "Hamas War Crimes Apologist," a reference to the Palestinian militant group's Oct. 7 attack on Israel in which around 1,200 people were killed and 253 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

In response to that raid, Israel launched a military offensive in the Gaza Strip that has killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.

Comments about Sayed from social media users poured in.

"No future for that c.nt," one X user wrote. "Candidate for deportation to Gaza," wrote another.

Although Sayed has long supported Palestinian causes, she said it was the first time she had participated in a pro-Palestinian demonstration at Penn, and Canary Mission did not flag any other activities.

"My initial reaction was just absolute shock," Sayed, a 20-year-old sophomore, told Reuters. "I wasn't there to say I supported Hamas. I wasn't there to say I hated Israel. I was there to say what's happening in Palestine is wrong."

She said she did not realize at the time that a chant Canary Mission took issue with, "When people are occupied, resistance is justified," is considered by some as an expression of support for Hamas' killings. She joined in the chants, she said, to show support for demonstrations.

Responding to an inquiry submitted via its website, Canary Mission said it has been "working around the clock" to combat a "wave of antisemitism" on college campuses since Oct. 7, including by exposing people who endorse Hamas.

Canary Mission did not respond to questions about Sayed's profile or the online abuse directed against its targets, according to the comments from the site provided by a spokesperson from a Tel Aviv-based public relations firm, Gova10.

While Canary Mission relies on tips, it said it verifies what it publishes, drawing from publicly available sources. Canary Mission’s profiles include links to its targets' social media posts, public speeches and interviews with journalists.

Penn officials did not respond to questions about Sayed's case.

"Penn is focused on the well-being of all members of the community," a university spokesperson, Steve Silverman, told Reuters, adding that staff reach out to offer support when aware of concerning situations.

Canary Mission is one of the oldest and most prominent of several digital advocacy groups that have intensified campaigns to expose Israel's critics since the war broke out, often leading to harassment such as Sayed experienced. The people behind the site have kept their identities, location and funding sources hidden.

Reuters reviewed online attacks and abusive messages directed at scores of people targeted by Canary Mission since Oct. 7.

The site has accused over 250 U.S. students and academics of supporting terrorism or spreading antisemitism and hatred of Israel since the start of the latest Gaza conflict, according to the Reuters review of its posts. Some are leading members of Palestinian rights groups or were arrested for offenses such as blocking traffic and punching a Jewish student. Others, like Sayed, said they had just stepped into campus activism and were not charged with any crimes.

Reuters spoke to 17 students and one research fellow from six U.S. universities featured on Canary Mission since Oct. 7. They include other students who chanted slogans during protests, leaders of groups that backed statements saying Israel bears sole responsibility for the violence and people who argued in social media posts that armed resistance by Palestinians is justified. All but one said they had received hate messages or seen vitriolic comments posted about them online.

Messages reviewed by Reuters called for their deportation or expulsion from school or suggested they should be raped or killed.

Several pro-Palestinian groups that use similar tactics to call out Israel's defenders have emerged in recent months. They include an X account called StopZionistHate and Raven Mission, a website launched in December that emulates Canary Mission by spotlighting people it accuses of Islamophobia or helping perpetuate atrocities against Palestinians.

Raven Mission did not respond to requests for comment. StopZionistHate said it wanted to "ensure that the American public is aware of the threat posed by Zionist extremism."

ACCUSATIONS OF CYBERBULLYING

Some critics accuse sites on both sides of cyberbullying or doxxing, which they note can have a chilling effect on free expression.

Tensions have been mounting on U.S. college campuses, where Israel's war in Gaza has unleashed an outpouring of student activism. Some of the pro-Palestinian demonstrations have been met with counter-protesters accusing them of fomenting anti-Jewish hatred and intimidating Jewish students on campus. Both camps have clashed with police.

The U.S. Department of Education has opened investigations into dozens of colleges since Oct. 7, noting an "alarming nationwide rise" in reports of antisemitic, anti-Muslim and other forms of discrimination and harassment. It declined to provide details about these investigations, including whether any concern Canary Mission, Raven Mission or StopZionistHate, or incidents these groups have highlighted.

Across the U.S., pro-Palestinian student groups are advising followers to wear masks at protests, to avoid drawing unwelcome attention.

Canary Mission and its defenders argue that those who promote hatred and bigotry should be held to account. On its site, Canary Mission provides academic and employer details for the people it profiles, calling on its tens of thousands of followers to ensure "today's radicals are not tomorrow's employees."

Ten of the students interviewed by Reuters feared that appearing on the site could derail their careers. Canary Mission is often at the top of its targets' Google search results, and its social media posts can draw hundreds of comments.

For those targeted, there are few options to seek redress, lawyers and advocacy groups say. Much of what Canary Mission publishes is protected by the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment on free speech, three lawyers told Reuters.

It generally isn't illegal to publish information about someone without consent when the information is accurate and was acquired lawfully from the public domain, said Eugene Volokh, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

The legal standard for defamation is high, with the burden on claimants to prove the site made false statements about them, added Dylan Saba, an attorney at Palestine Legal, which represents pro-Palestinian activists. He could recall only a handful of cases where students succeeded in getting Canary Mission profiles changed or removed by threatening defamation suits.

The low profile of Canary Mission's principals poses an additional hurdle.

"If you're going to sue somebody, you have to know where you're serving them," Saba said.

Canary Mission says on its site that it will remove profiles of people who "recognize their earlier mistakes" and reject what it describes as "latent anti-Semitism" in groups that campaign for boycotts against Israel over its policies in the Palestinian territories. It publishes what it says are their apologies on an "ex-canary" page but does not identify the individuals.

Canary Mission told Reuters the site was established in 2015 to counter rising antisemitism on college campuses. It did not answer questions about its leadership and funding.

LINKS TO ISRAELI NONPROFIT

A 2016 tax filing by a prominent Jewish American philanthropic organization, the Helen Diller Family Foundation, revealed a financial link between Canary Mission and an Israeli non-profit called Megamot Shalom. That year, the Diller foundation gave $100,000 to the Central Fund of Israel earmarked "Canary Mission for Megamot Shalom," according to the document, which was first reported by the U.S. Jewish news outlet the Forward and reviewed by Reuters.

The Central Fund is a U.S.-based group that acts as a conduit for Americans to make tax-deductible donations to Israeli charities. Its president, Jay Marcus, told Reuters his organization only supports registered charities but would not confirm whether Megamot Shalom or Canary Mission were among them, citing the privacy of its donors and recipients.

Despite several attempts, Reuters could not reach a representative of the Diller foundation.

The organization that oversees the Diller foundation's giving, the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund of San Francisco, referred Reuters to a 2018 statement confirming the donation was to support the work of Canary Mission and saying neither group would fund the site further. The statement said the federation had determined that the Central Fund did not comply with its giving guidelines but did not respond to requests to elaborate.

Canary Mission did not respond to questions about Megamot Shalom or its connection to the nonprofit.

Megamot Shalom was founded in 2016 "to preserve and ensure the national strength and image of the State of Israel" through media initiatives, according to documents obtained from Israel's corporations registry.

As of 2022, the most recent year for which records are available, it employed 11 people, including four content writers. The only donor identified in the registry documents is the Central Fund, from which it received 13.2 million shekels ($3.5 million) between 2019 and 2022, the records show.

Reuters was unable to reach Megamot Shalom's founder, Jonathan Bash, or any other listed employees. When Reuters visited the group's registered address in Beit Shemesh, a city 23 km (15 miles) southwest of Jerusalem, it found a locked one-story building with no sign of activity.

"A TARGET ON MY BACK"

Canary Mission has targeted at least 30 Penn students and academics since Oct. 7.

The university is one of several elite campuses that have been at the center of unrest over the Gaza war. Its former president, Liz Magill, resigned in December after coming under fire for her handling of accusations of antisemitism on campus.

On Friday, police dismantled an unsanctioned pro-Palestinian encampment on Penn's main lawn and arrested about 33 people following accusations of harassing and threatening behavior by protesters and the defacement of campus landmarks.

After finding her profile on Canary Mission, Sayed consulted the Council on American-Islamic Relations, an advocacy group. Ahmet Tekelioglu, executive director of CAIR's Philadelphia branch, said the group offered her help to remove information from the internet but advised that it would be hard to take legal action against a group that isn't registered in the U.S.

Despite the "blatant negative framing," Canary Mission's comments were presented as quotes or opinions, which typically cannot be the subject of a defamation claim, Tekelioglu told Reuters.

Fearful for her safety, Sayed said she removed the Palestinian keffiyeh scarf she had tied to her backpack, which she said felt like "a target on my back." She avoided walking alone on campus and put her LinkedIn profile in hibernation.

Canary Mission also profiled seven Georgetown University School of Medicine students after they were featured in a Dec. 21 article by the conservative Washington Free Beacon news site headlined, "At Georgetown Med, the Doctors of Tomorrow Aren't Hiding Their Support for Terrorism."

One of them, Yusra Rafeeqi, 22, said the websites published a screenshot of a post she said she had shared privately with her Instagram followers showing a man atop an Israeli tank waving a Palestinian flag on the day Hamas militants broke through the border fence between Gaza and Israel. The image was captioned, "No more condemning Palestinian resistance. Radical change requires radical moves."

"Fire her immediately," an X user commented on a Canary Mission post that tagged her school and a clinic where she volunteers.

Rafeeqi told Reuters she reposted the image to support resistance to what she described as Israel's "violent occupational forces" and noted she did not comment on Hamas' killing of Israelis.

A Georgetown representative referred Reuters to a statement issued by Edward Healton, the medical school's executive dean, calling the leaking of students' private information and reports of retribution against those believed responsible "unacceptable." Healton said the school condemns antisemitism and Islamophobia, and encouraged students to report potential threats.

Rafeeqi said she has had "massive anxiety" about how this might affect her ability to pursue a career in medicine and continue advocating for Palestinians.

"I no longer feel safe in this country I once called home," said Rafeeqi, whose parents immigrated from Pakistan.

Canary Mission and the Washington Free Beacon did not respond to questions about Rafeeqi's case.

($1 = 3.7291 shekels)

(Gabriella Borter reported from Washington, Joseph Ax from New York and Andrew Hay from Taos, New Mexico. Writing by Gabriella Borter. Editing by Paul Thomasch and Alexandra Zavis)

Ottawa turns to civilian first responders as another dire wildfire season approaches

CBC
Sat, May 11, 2024

The McDougall Creek wildfire burns on the mountainside above houses in West Kelowna, B.C., in August 2023. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press - image credit)


Instead of sending in the troops to deal with what promises to be another dangerous wildfire season, Public Safety Canada is testing the capabilities of civilian-led first responders and relief providers.

Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan said the new program will be deployed during this wildfire season in British Columbia and the Northwest Territories.

Sajjan, a former defence minister, added that the Canadian Armed Forces is "not the best resource to deal with a lot of emergencies," including wildfires.


The federal government is expanding its existing Humanitarian Workforce Program — which supports non-governmental organizations responding to natural disasters and other large-scale emergencies — to support its 2024 wildfire response and other emergency services through pilot programs in British Columbia and the Northwest Territories.

Sajjan said the initial program focuses on those regions because of "the heightened level of risk and recent experiences in these regions."

Harjit S. Sajjan, President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada, provides an update on the forecast for the 2024 wildfire season during a press conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa on Thursday, May 9, 2024.More

Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan says the military is 'not the best resource' to respond to natural disasters. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick)

The pilot program will involve multiple non-governmental organizations: the Canadian Red Cross, St. John Ambulance, the Salvation Army, the veteran-led Team Rubicon and the Search and Rescue Volunteer Association of Canada (SARVAC).

Sajjan said the Salvation Army will be responsible for providing water and non-perishable food in five high-risk areas, "to allow for a fast response if and when it is needed."

Sajjan said St. John Ambulance and the Red Cross, with their thousands of volunteers, can be called on to support northern communities. The Red Cross will have a team of 100 responders in the N.W.T. working on the logistics of evacuating communities and helping them return home.

St. John Ambulance will draw upon its pool of emergency responders, including nurses, doctors, and paramedics, to provide emergency health and psychological support services.

The Search and Rescue Volunteer Association of Canada (SARVAC) told CBC News the organization will draw upon its member associations across Canada to help support firefighters near the front lines. Search and rescue volunteers will build camps for firefighters, haul hoses and transport other gear.

"There are so many other roles. If we can help with those roles, then the firefighters who do have the proper training can focus on them," said Janelle Coultes, president of SARVAC.

Sajjan said this wildfire season SARVAC has "a new mission-ready group" of about 200 volunteers that will deploy within 72 hours for up to three weeks for emergencies.

Since the Humanitarian Workforce Program was launched during the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has provided $166.9 million to various organizations that are part of the program, said Joanna Kanga, Sajjan's press secretary.

NDP calls for permanent solution

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said small municipalities don't have the capacity to respond to large natural disasters. He called on the government to adopt more permanent solutions.

"We have to place the resources to fight the fires … and then to have the emergency response capacity," Singh said. "And that means having the food, the support, the logistics for communities that are often displaced from their homes.

"All this is required, and I think we are past the stage of having a pilot project. We need to have a real plan in place for what might be another record-breaking forest fire season."

Western Canada and the North are expected to face an above-average fire risk in June, federal officials said Thursday.

While British Columbia and Alberta experienced favourable spring conditions that led to fewer wildfires and evacuations, federal officials warned the situation could change rapidly.

They added that the wildfire outlook is expected to worsen in the summer, driven by warm temperatures and drought conditions. The 2023 wildfire season broke records for the amount of land burned.

That year, the military also hit a record for consecutive days on operations supporting civilian authorities — 141 in a row.

The military's top operations commander, Vice-Admiral Bob Auchterlonie, has warned that the Armed Forces is being used too often in response to weather and wildfire crises.

Auchterlonie oversees the Canadian Joint Operations Command (CJOC), which handles all domestic and foreign deployments of troops.

In December, he told CBC that he tells provincial emergency measures organizations and federal agencies that the military should not be the first option for responding to natural disasters.

"I reinforce the message and say we are a force of last resort, [and] this is what we can provide, if necessary, in extremis," Auchterlonie said.

BOYCOTT PALM OIL

Malaysia’s ‘orangutan diplomacy’ plan slammed as ‘obscene’

Heather Chen, CNN
Sun, May 12, 2024 

China has “panda diplomacy,” Australia parades koalas at global summits – and now Malaysia plans to join the Asia-Pacific trend for adorable ambassadors, by gifting orangutans to countries that buy its palm oil.

But the idea has come under heavy criticism from conservationists, who note that palm oil is one of the biggest factors behind the great apes’ dwindling numbers – with one leading conservation professor calling the plan “obscene.”

The world’s most widely consumed vegetable oil, palm oil is used in everything from shampoo and soaps to ice cream. Clearing land for palm oil plantations has been a major driver of deforestation, the greatest threat to the survival of critically endangered orangutans.

Malaysia is the world’s second-biggest exporter of palm oil after Indonesia.

Production is vital to the economy and government officials have gone to great lengths in recent years to defend and rebrand the industry by introducing initiatives to support sustainability – such as improving agricultural practices and issuing government-endorsed green certificates to companies that meet sustainability standards.

At a biodiversity summit outside the capital Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, Malaysia’s minister for plantations and commodities announced plans for “orangutan diplomacy.” Hoping to emulate Chinese panda diplomacy – in which Beijing exerts soft power by loaning its beloved national animal to zoos overseas - the Malaysian government hopes to gift orangutans to some of its biggest trading partners, he said.

Those partners “are increasingly concerned over the impact of agricultural commodities on the climate,” said minister Johari Abdul Ghani. “It is a diplomatic strategy where it would be advantageous to trading partners and foreign relations, especially in major importing countries like the EU, India and China.”

Ghani did not provide further details such as a timeline or how the animals would be acquired – but welcomed palm oil giants to “collaborate” with local environmental groups in caring for the endangered giant apes.

“This will be a manifestation of how Malaysia conserves wildlife species and maintains the sustainability of our forests, especially in the palm oil plantation industry,” he said.

Halved oil palm kernels are seen on the trade floor of a commodities conference and exhibition in Kuala Lumpur. - Tengku Bahar/AFP/Getty Images

The announcement drew swift backlash from conservationists. “It is obscene, repugnant and extraordinarily hypocritical to destroy rainforests where orangutans live, take them away and give them as gifts to curry favor with other nations,” Stuart Pimm, chair of conservation ecology at Duke University, told CNN. “It totally goes against how we should be protecting them and our planet.”

Pimm also noted that cuddly-animal charm offensives were normally followed by wider long-term conservation efforts.

“There is a huge difference between what Malaysia is proposing and what China has done for giant pandas,” he said. “China has state-of-the-art facilities for pandas and more importantly, has established protected areas that safeguard wild panda populations. What Malaysia’s government is proposing is hardly anything comparable.”

CNN has reached out to Ghani, and Malaysia’s Ministry of Plantation and Commodities, for further comment about the proposed orangutan program and how it plans to ensure that it will support conservation and sustainability.

A panda basks in the sun at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. - VCG/Visual China Group/Getty Images

Environmental and conservation groups also strongly opposed the idea, calling on Malaysian officials to instead work on reversing deforestation rates, which they largely blame on palm oil.

Between 2001 and 2019, the country lost more than 8 million hectares (19 million acres) of tree cover, according to a 2022 report by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), an area nearly as large as South Carolina.

“Malaysia’s land surface area was once almost covered with forest,” the WWF said in its forestry report, which cited enduring threats such as palm oil cultivation and unsustainable logging.

According to a 2023 report by climate watchdog Rimba Watch, a further 2.3 million hectares of forests in Malaysia have been earmarked for palm oil production.

“Orangutan diplomacy will not solve Malaysia’s deforestation crisis,” Heng Kiah Chun, a regional campaign strategist for Greenpeace Southeast Asia, told CNN. “If the Malaysian government is truly committed to biodiversity conservation, it should implement policies against deforestation instead.”

Conservation ‘crucial’

Orangutans are the largest tree-dwelling animals, known to spend most of their lives swinging through canopies of tropical rainforests.

Researchers have noted their incredible intelligence and ability to demonstrate skills such as instinctively treating wounds with medicinal herbs or using tree branches, sticks and stones as tools to break open hard objects like nuts.

The gentle apes, once found in greater numbers across Southeast Asia, have experienced sharp population declines, according to a WWF Malaysia report – particularly on Borneo, the large island shared between Malaysia, Indonesia and the tiny sultanate of Brunei. “In 1973, Borneo was home to an estimated 288,500 orangutans. By 2012, their numbers had dropped by almost two-thirds, to 104,700 and the decline has continued,” the WWF report said.

There are still believed to be around 100,000 orangutans left on Borneo, and 14,000 on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, it added.

“Orangutans are critically endangered. Therefore it is crucial that all remaining orangutan habitats are conserved,” WWF Malaysia told CNN in a statement.

A commitment to improving forest management and the sustainable production of palm oil would be “the best way to showcase Malaysia’s commitment to biodiversity conservation,” WWF Malaysia said.

“Orangutan conservation is best achieved by ensuring the protection and conservation of their natural habitats – and that no further forest conversion into palm oil plantations is allowed.”

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US and China Seek Collaboration on Climate Despite Trade Rift
Jennifer A. Dlouhy
Fri, May 10, 2024 at 11:04 a.m. MDT·3 min read





(Bloomberg) -- Climate negotiations between the world’s top two greenhouse gas emitters this week ended with intentions for the US and China to collaborate on phasing down coal consumption and boosting the deployment of renewable power.

The “in-depth” and “substantive” discussions spanned an array of issues, including technical sessions on addressing the potent planet-warming gas methane, the energy transition and subnational action to contend with global warming, said John Podesta, the US senior adviser to the president for international climate policy.

“We have to get the climate problem under control, and there are no more important countries than the US and China to lead the way,” Podesta told reporters Friday. “Even as our overall relationship between our two countries has increasingly been characterized by fierce competition, we have an obligation to our citizens and the people of the world to communicate, cooperate and collaborate where we can to tackle the climate crisis.”

The two days of talks — including a Wednesday evening dinner at Podesta’s home — brought together the top US climate negotiator and his Chinese counterpart, Liu Zhenmin. The sessions were the first extensive, in-person meetings since both men took the roles earlier this year and ahead of the global COP29 summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November.

The discussion came against a backdrop of simmering trade tensions, and as President Joe Biden prepares to unveil plans for China tariffs first imposed in 2018, including targeting key strategic sectors such as electric vehicles with new levies. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that Chinese excess capacity and record exports of green technology are distorting the global economy. Liu has countered that efforts by the US and European Union to stem China’s dominance risk slowing the fight against climate change.

Issues around overcapacity in the Chinese economy were discussed, including in steelmaking and the country’s still-expanding fleet of coal-fired power plants, said a senior administration official, speaking anonymously to provide more details on the private talks. There was in-depth discussion on how China could seriously consider slowing its construction of new coal plants while still meeting domestic power reliability goals, the official said.

Talks also touched on solar panels and batteries, potential targets for new US tariffs. US officials reasserted that flooding global markets with artificially cheap clean-energy products undercuts clean- energy manufacturing in other countries, further concentrating supply chains in China and threatening good-paying jobs in the US and beyond, the official said.

The discussions included a shared commitment to promote bilateral cooperation and build capacity to measure and limit emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, in order to achieve “significant” reductions this decade, the US State Department said Friday.

The two countries also welcomed a commitment reached in December at UN climate talks in Dubai to ensure that the next round of emissions-cutting pledges are economy wide, cover all greenhouse gases and are aligned with what’s necessary to keep warming from exceeding 1.5C, a key tipping point.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

Protesters return to streets across Israel, demanding hostage release

Reuters
Sat, May 11, 2024




Protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, in Tel Aviv

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Thousands of Israelis took to the streets on Saturday demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government do more to secure the release of hostages being held in the Gaza Strip by Islamist group Hamas.

Family members of the hostages, carrying pictures of their loved ones still in captivity, joined the crowds that demonstrated in Tel Aviv.

One of them was Naama Weinberg, whose cousin Itai Svirsky was abducted during Hamas' Oct. 7 assault on Israeli towns and, according to Israeli authorities, was killed in captivity. In a speech she referenced a video Hamas made public on Saturday, claiming that another of the Israeli captives had died.

"Soon, even those who managed to survive this long will no longer be among the living. They must be saved now," Weinberg said.

As the evening progressed, some protesters blocked a main highway in the city before being dispersed by police, who used water cannons to push back the crowd. At least three people were arrested.

Hamas' Oct. 7 attack sparked the devastating war in Gaza, now raging for nearly seven months.

(Reporting by Christophe Van Der Perre and Miro Maman in Tel Aviv; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

FRIENDLY FIRE

US Marine officer claims 40% of drones the IDF has shot down were their own, report says

Rebecca Rommen

BUSINESS INSIDER
Sat, May 11, 2024 


A US Marine officer said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has been shooting down some of its own drones.


The officer said the IDF had been taking out 40% of their own UAVs, per The War Zone.


An IDF spokesperson told BI they had increased "coordination processes" for aerial drones.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have been shooting down almost half of their own drones, a US Marine Corps officer has said.

Speaking at the Modern Day Marine exposition last week, Lt. Col. Michael Pruden told attendees that "40% of the UASs ... knocked out" by the IDF are cases of "friendly fire," The War Zone reported.

"As Israel's engaging in Gaza, and they're on their front line, they see a small UAS, what are they going to do if it's not identified immediately?" Pruden said. "They're going to shoot it down."

Pruden did not clarify where or when such incidents had occurred, but the implication was that it came from Israel's recent military operations in Gaza, which began after Hamas' October 7 attacks on Israel, the report said.

Following the attacks, Israel has continued to carry out airstrikes on the territory, as well as launching a ground offensive. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed as a result of the operations so far, per the Gaza health ministry.

The Marine Corps told Business Insider that The War Zone report was accurately contextualized but declined to provide additional information.

The self-inflicted drone losses are the latest costly blunder of the IDF's operations in Gaza. Other incidents have included instances of friendly fire, with both Israeli soldiers and hostages reported to have fallen victim to such incidents.

An IDF spokesperson told BI that "there were several incidents in which IDF drones were shot down by troops during combat" at the start of the Gaza conflict.

"These incidents primarily occurred early in the conflict near an event where troops were hit by an enemy drone," they continued. "In the months that followed, these incidents dramatically decreased due to the establishment of coordination processes for flying drones."

The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank has said Israel is "one of the world's leading UAV users and manufacturers."

IDF soldiers in Gaza.IDF

Other IDF mistakes have cost lives rather than just valuable equipment.

In April, two IDF reservists were killed after an Israeli tank shell hit the building where they were staying in an apparent case of mistaken identity, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

Another report in Haaretz earlier this week said that 22 IDF soldiers have been killed and 54 have been injured by friendly fire in the conflict so far.

In December, the IDF said it had accidentally killed three Israeli hostages after troops had "mistakenly identified" them as threats.

The IDF said in a statement following the incident that it expressed "deep remorse over the tragic incident and sends the families its heartfelt condolences."

Reports have also emerged suggesting that the IDF had likely accidentally killed Israeli citizens during Hamas' attacks on October 7.

An IDF investigation found that 68-year-old Efrat Katz had likely been killed by Israel Air Force helicopter fire as she was being abducted by Hamas gunmen.

Opinion

Why are Gen Z voters souring on Biden? I decided to ask them about that frustration.

Sara Pequeño, USA TODAY
Sun, May 12, 2024

If you ask any person who follows politics, they’re likely to say that Gen Z voter turnout is making them anxious. At least, that’s what the headlines and polls are telling us.

A February Axios poll found that 58% of voters ages 18-34 are unsure if they’ll vote in November. A March Harvard youth survey found that just 53% of 18- to 29-year-olds definitely plan to vote this fall, compared with that age group’s 2020 voter turnout rate of 68%.

That means roughly half of those ages 18-29 are on the fence about voting or do not plan to vote in November. While polls don't always translate to real life, these numbers should concern Democrats who relied on younger voters in 2020 and beyond.


With the help of Twitter and Instagram, I heard from three Gen Z members who don’t intend to vote in this presidential election. All three happen to be from North Carolina, where there’s also a consequential governor’s race and other local elections this fall.

Here’s what they had to say about why they're on the fence this year. I was surprised at how much each had considered this decision. After speaking with them, I think it's perfectly reasonable for President Joe Biden to be fearful of losing the presidency in November because to win, he'll need Generation Z, those born between 1997 to 2012.
The Gen Z voter who is standing on principles

Michael Murphy, 27, is a bartender and member of the Triangle chapter of Democratic Socialists of America. He says he voted for Biden out of pragmatism in 2020, but the country’s aid to Israel has changed his tune.

“Seeing the complicity and active engagement in the bombing of Palestinians, our brothers and sisters overseas – it's abominable,” Murphy tells me. “I think it's truly disgusting.”

He plans to vote in races down the ballot but not for any elected officials taking money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, including Rep. Valerie Foushee, who represents his district in the U.S. Congress.

College protests: Columbia cancels graduation ceremony because of student protests. It's the wrong choice.

He would change his vote if there were policy changes to stop sending weapons to Israel but fears it’s too late for that to happen. Since our conversation, the president has said that he'll pause a weapons shipment to Israel if it invades Rafah, where more than a million Palestinian civilians are sheltering in southern Gaza. Murphy says it’s a “small bit of hope,” but he still isn’t ready to support the president.

“We understand the stakes are high, but politics is about principles and materiality,” Murphy tells me.
The Gen Z voter who won't automatically vote blue this year

Teresa Purello, 23

Teresa Purello, a 23-year-old graduate student, never used the phrase “vote blue no matter who,” but it is how they felt in 2020. They texted friends to make sure they knew which precinct they were assigned. It was the first time they could vote in a presidential election.

This year, they’re considering not voting for the presidency. They voted “no preference” in North Carolina’s Democratic primary election on Super Tuesday and still intend to vote in local races this fall.

“There was hope with voting for Biden in 2020,” Purello tells me. “But voting for him now, it doesn't have that at all. There’s no appeal.”

Biden is beatable: Booing Marjorie Taylor Greene was a good step for Republicans serious about beating Biden

For Purello, the deaths in Gaza and loss of abortion access on Biden’s watch despite his vow to protect abortion rights are reasons they don’t plan on voting for him. Instead, they’re considering third-party candidates, as they also have issues with the two-party system in general.

“Everyone always says voting is a way to get your voice to be heard, which is true,” Purello says of Gen Z constituents. “But thousands of young people are actively choosing to sit out an election – that is also making a statement.”
The Gen Z voter on the fence on Biden

Ellen Perleberg, a 25-year-old graduate student, is on the fence about voting this fall. She says she hated Biden in 2020, and hates him even more now.

“I’m not convinced the Trump response to Gaza would be any worse than Biden’s,” Perleberg tells me. “If you want to sell me on making sure that I vote, making sure that my generation votes, show me meaningful ways that it would be different and not just say rhetoric.”

Despite her dislike of the president, Perleberg votes in local elections. She notes that they matter more in North Carolina than in Washington, her home state.
So what does Gen Z actually care about this election?

These three voters are likely outliers, even among other members of Gen Z. The Harvard youth survey found that the biggest concerns for those ages 18-29 are economic issues, not the Israel-Hamas war.

This isn’t to say that Gen Z doesn’t care about the conflict – 21% of those surveyed say they believe the United States should be more of an ally to Palestinians, and 51% support a permanent cease-fire. It just isn’t the top concern.

The progressives who don’t vote for Biden are making the same decision that Republican moderates who refuse to vote for former President Donald Trump will make this November. They see this as the best option in a system where neither candidate is one they'd like to support. Because of this, Democrats shouldn't necessarily rely on the party's youngest voters this election cycle, just like Trump should not expect every Republican to vote for him.

It doesn’t mean that they are uneducated or apathetic; in fact, none of the people I spoke with are sitting out this election altogether. They just aren’t sure Biden has earned their vote.

Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store.

Each person I spoke with also shared that their friends held similar views about not voting in the presidential election or choosing to vote third party.

It’s possible that the momentum voters felt in 2020 has petered out. Voter turnout among those ages 18-29 increased by 8 percentage points between the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, according to data from the Brookings Institution. It’s possible that the pandemic year was a fluke, and that this year’s voter turnout will be much different.

Although these are just anecdotes, they show that Democrats should genuinely be worried about how their actions now will affect Biden’s electability come November.

Follow USA TODAY elections columnist Sara Pequeño on X, formerly Twitter, @sara__pequeno and Facebook facebook.com/PequenoWrites

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden's stance on Israel continues to frustrate Gen Z voters

McGill University seeks injunction against pro-Palestinian encampment

CBC
Fri, May 10, 2024

The pro-Palestinian activists began setting up the encampment on McGill University's downtown Montreal campus on April 27, and has grown in size since then. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press - image credit)


McGill University is seeking a court injunction against protesters at the pro-Palestinian encampment on its downtown campus, demanding that they dismantle the camp and refrain from any further occupation.

"I would like to emphasize that the order, if granted, would not stop our efforts to continue our discussions with members of the McGill community participating in the encampment," said Deep Saini, McGill's president and vice-chancellor, in a statement Friday afternoon.

"We are committed to doing so in good faith."


If approved, the order would authorize the Montreal police to immediately enforce a provisional injunction to dismantle the camp. The university wishes to see a peaceful and timely resolution of the occupation, Saini said.

The protesters set up the encampment two weeks ago on the front lawn of McGill's downtown campus on Sherbrooke Street. The camp began with about 20 tents and soon grew to cover a large area of the lawn.

People work on a sign during a pro-Palestinian demonstration at an encampment at McGill University in Montreal, Saturday, April 27, 2024.

People work on a sign during a pro-Palestinian demonstration at an encampment at McGill University in Montreal, Saturday, April 27, 2024. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press)

The protesters are demanding that the university cut ties with Israeli academic institutions and pull all investments from companies that operate in the country.

In a news conference earlier this week, the student protesters said they would be staying put until further notice.

"We are waiting for actual divestments and are announcing that the encampment will continue as long as we don't have concrete news of divestment," said encampment protester and Concordia University student Ari Nahman on Monday.

But Sani says in his statement that the university is concerned about the risks that the encampment poses to the safety, security and public health of members of the McGill community and for those participating in the encampment.

The university's application for an injunction states neither McGill nor the Montreal fire service has been able to go into the area to verify compliance with health and safety.

The injunction request will be submitted to Quebec Superior Court on Monday morning. It says the encampment began on April 27 without authorization or advanced notice, and requests the court intervene on an urgent basis.

One of the groups behind the protest, Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), issued a statement Friday.

The group says McGill is taking this legal step despite ongoing efforts by protesters to engage in peaceful negotiations with the university.

"Contrary to the university's previous assurances of negotiating in good faith, this development follows the rejection of an earlier injunction by the court, which recognized the protest as peaceful," the statement says.

The statement is referring to an injunction request to remove the encampment and ban other campus protests filed in Quebec Superior Court by two McGill students. It was rejected on May 1 by Justice Chantale Masse, who said the plaintiffs failed to show it caused them irreparable harm.

SPHR says the encampment is part of a co-ordinated movement of staff and students who stand in solidarity with the people of Gaza. The group accuses Israel of committing genocide.

"We condemn McGill University's shameful actions that demonstrate they will mobilize police violence on its own students and community to prioritize profit and donor money," the statement says.

The encampment at McGill University is one of about dozen such protests in Canada, part of a global wave of campus protests against the war in Gaza.

The encampments at Canadian schools have followed months of protest marches, petitions, sit-ins and hunger strikes by pro-Palestinian activists since Israel's military response to the Oct. 7 attacks.

In the United States, hundreds of campus protests have cropped up, and police intervention there has led to thousands of arrests.

In Canada, Calgary police officers, using riot shields, batons and flashbang explosives, forcibly removed a group of protesters Thursday night from an encampment set up on the University of Calgary campus.

EDMONTON 

Police crackdown on Gaza protest encampments on campus sparks outcry

The Canadian Press
Sat, May 11, 2024



Edmonton police dismantled a pro-Palestinian encampment on the University of Alberta's campus on Saturday, prompting outrage from students and academics who described the operation as violent and contested allegations that demonstrators were breaking the law.

Organizers said police fired tear gas and pepper-spray balls and wielded batons against students at the university's north campus quad shortly after arriving at 4:30 a.m., resulting in one hospitalization and several attendees placed in zip-tie handcuffs.

Videos posted to social media show a line of police members clashing with protesters in the dawn light, as young people shout "Free, free Palestine" before officers advance chanting "Move" and shoving and striking some students with billy clubs.


The footage aligns with descriptions from political science professor David Kahane, a member of the Edmonton chapter of Independent Jewish Voices Canada who was on-site with the demonstrators and called the experience "violent" and "gutting."

"I personally saw quite a heavily bleeding surface wound that came from a baton strike. I personally saw — this was after the police engagement was over — bruises from non-lethal projectiles that people were showing on their legs and arms," Kahane said in a phone interview.

"It was not peaceful."

The scene portrayed by participants stood in stark contrast to the picture painted by authorities.

Police said no tear gas was deployed, no one was hospitalized and use of force was limited.

"Our response was specifically directed at three individuals who were being aggressive with EPS members, one of whom assaulted an officer," said spokesman Scott Pattison in an email.

University president Bill Flanagan echoed police in saying "almost all of the occupants of the encampment peacefully dispersed."

In a statement Saturday, he cited fire hazards and the risk of escalation and violent clashes with counter-protesters among the reasons for the police action at the two-day-old camp.

"Of great concern, some members of the group brought in wood pallets, materials known to be used as barricade-making materials — actions that are counter to peaceful, law-abiding protests," he said.

"Overnight protests are often accompanied by serious violence and larger crowds amplify those inherent risks — especially as they attract counter-protesters or outside agitators."

Flanagan said "approved, peaceful protests are welcome" but must comply with university policies and public safety rules. "Every University of Alberta student, faculty and staff member has the right to feel secure and welcomed ... on our campuses."

About one quarter of the 50 protesters were University of Alberta students, he said.

Kahane countered that many others were alumni, organizers had already removed the handful of pallets from the site and concerns about disrupting lectures or encroaching on community members' rights were "inaccurate."

"I was one of a large group of Jews who led a Shabbat service for the whole camp yesterday evening. Students were reading, discussing being kind to one another," he said.

"It looked more like a picnic with some tents than it did like some kind of fortified encampment."

Organizers called for the resignation of the University of Alberta's president and an apology from the administration.

Following the lead of protesters on U.S. campuses, demonstrators in Canada have erected encampments at universities in Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver as well as Calgary, where police forcibly removed participants from campus on Thursday night. The head of the University of Calgary said the dismantling operation devolved into a clash with officers because of counter-protesters.

That incident, along with Saturday's clearance in Edmonton, prompted a group of about 500 mostly Canadian academics to call for censure of the two Alberta institutions.

"In light of the undemocratic and harmful actions taken by the University of Calgary and University of Alberta, we, the undersigned, demand an immediate academic boycott of the institution," the group said in a statement Saturday.

The professors said the boycott should remain in place until administrators rescind "legal and administrative measures" against student protesters and respond to their demands.

Protesters in Edmonton called on the university to divest from Israeli institutions, give "amnesty" to encampment participants, condemn Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip as a "genocide" and demand that the federal government end any military contracts with the country.

The Indigenous Students' Union also decried the actions by administrators and police as "unacceptable."

The University of Alberta said no students were suspended and no community members banned in connection with the encampment, despite what some participants say they were told by an official who was on-site.

Meanwhile, McGill University has sought a court order to clear an encampment at the heart of its campus in Montreal, saying safety and security are at stake.

In a judicial application for an injunction filed Friday, the university framed its request around sanitary concerns and what it described as the "risk of violence and intimidation."

The filing cites "fierce verbal exchanges" between protesters and counter-protesters earlier this month, barrels of "human waste" on site, possible fire code breaches such as a single point of exit and the encampment's potential as a "magnet" for further clashes.

On top of a doubling of the security detail on the quad, McGill said it will likely have to spend more than $700,000 on an alternate venue for spring convocation ceremonies that are typically held on the grounds partially occupied by the protesters.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 11, 2024.

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press

3 men arrested as Edmonton police cleared pro-Palestinian encampment at U of A campus

CBC
Sat, May 11, 2024 

More than 100 students, staff and supporters gathered at the University of Alberta on Thursday to start a pro-Palestinian encampment in support of Gaza. 

(Mrinali Anchan/CBC - image credit)

Edmonton police arrested three people while clearing a pro-Palestinian encampment on the University of Alberta campus early Saturday morning.

Amid the months-long conflict in the Middle East, more than 100 students, staff and allies set up camp Thursday in support of Gaza and demanded that the university disclose its investments and cut any ties with Israel.

Communication with the demonstrators about what was allowed was unsuccessful and "escalating actions put the university community's safety at risk," according to university president Bill Flanagan. The university had to call on police to vacate its property.

"I know the last two days have been particularly challenging for many in the university's diverse community. The activity on our campus today was not taken lightly and there was no easy path forward for anyone involved," Flanagan said in a public statement issued Saturday.

The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) arrived at the north campus quad early Saturday morning, after the university had warned protesters several times that they were violating university policy and trespassing, according to a statement police issued Saturday morning.

The final warning was issued shortly after 4:30 a.m. MT Saturday, police said. Officers arrived later, warned the remaining protesters to leave, then cleared those who remained off campus.

Most protesters left after a third trespass notice was issued, Flanagan said. When it was cleared, there were about 40 tents and 50 people — less than a quarter of whom were U of A students, he said.

Police arrested three men Saturday: a 23-year-old from Edmonton, a 30-year-old whose address is currently unknown and a 30-year-old Australian, an EPS spokesperson told CBC News. None of them were registered U of A students.

The men were charged and released on a promise to appear in court, the spokesperson said.

Videos taken by demonstrators at the scene showed some officers using batons and, at one point, a gas emanated as police moved the crowd.

The EPS spokesperson confirmed that some officers deployed "special munitions" to deal with the three men who were arrested, one of whom is charged with assaulting a peace officer. They denied that tear gas was used.

People gather on the legislative grounds for a pro-Palestinian protest in Edmonton. The previously scheduled protest on May 11, 2024, happened hours after police cleared an encampment at the University of Alberta that was in support of Gaza. (Emily Fitzpatrick/CBC)

No major injuries were reported to paramedics on scene by demonstrators or police, the spokesperson said.

Social media posts from protesters suggested they were off the university campus by approximately 7:30 a.m.

The People's University for Palestine, the group that organized the encampment, posted a statement about the situation Saturday afternoon.

It said four students were injured to "various degrees," including one who was sent to hospital after being found on the ground near campus.

Nour Salhi, a University of Alberta student, has acted as the encampment’s spokesperson. She described the scene Saturday morning as 'surreal.' (Maxime Lamache/Radio-Canada)

Nour Salhi, a U of A student who acted as the encampment's spokesperson, was on campus Saturday morning when police arrived. She described the ensuing sweep as "surreal."

"It's absolutely unacceptable what happened today and the entire city of Edmonton should be appalled," Salhi told reporters Saturday afternoon.

Campus encampments

The U of A encampment is one of several that popped up on university campuses across Canada, including the University of British Columbia, the University of Calgary, the University of Toronto, the University of Ottawa and McGill University in Montreal.

Calgary police cleared an encampment at the U of C this week. Police used force to remove demonstrators who hadn't left the site; five people were arrested.

In Montreal, McGill University is seeking a court injunction against an encampment on its downtown campus.

The encampments are a response to the war between Israel and Hamas, the Islamic militant group that has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007.

Health authorities in Gaza say the conflict has killed almost 35,000 Palestinians and injured more than 78,000 others since the conflict started on Oct. 7, when Hamas attacked Israel. According to Israeli tallies, Hamas killed some 1,200 people in Israel and took 253 hostage that day.

Flanagan's statement suggested U of A officials were watching what was happening elsewhere. He said that overnight demonstrations can escalate quickly.

The statement also suggested the demonstration was an unapproved event that contradicts university policy.

The university allows people to apply to book events on its property, regardless of whether the hosts are affiliated with the school. It has operating procedures for events that are not approved, however.

Its campus is considered private property, so any unapproved events are considered trespassing, the policy states.

The school was clear from the jump that demonstrations could not break the law or violate university policy, Flanagan said.

University officials "repeatedly informed" the group — verbally and in writing — about its procedures, he said, adding that they told the group they could protest on campus if they did not erect temporary structures, including tents and barricades, and did not stay overnight.

Some demonstrators also brought in wood pallets, Flanagan said, which could be used as "barricade-making materials — actions that are counter to peaceful, law-abiding protests."

The fire inspector examined the scene and declared the pallets a fire hazard, he added.

In its statement, the People's University for Palestine accused the university of being misleading about Saturday's sweep. The group also denied that the administration tried communicating with demonstrators, saying only campus police delivered notice.

David Kahane, a member of the Edmonton chapter of Independent Jewish Voices Canada, is a political science professor at the University of Alberta. He said he was speaking with campus security on behalf of the encampment. (Maxime Lamache/Radio-Canada)

David Kahane, a member of the Edmonton chapter of Independent Jewish Voices Canada, an anti-racism organization that advocates for justice and peace for Israel and the Palestinian territories, had spent time at the camp. He was also skeptical of Flanagan's statement.

Kahane, a U of A political science professor, told reporters Saturday that he was speaking with campus security on behalf of the encampment about any possible issues, including safety. Initially, the dialogue was amicable, he said, but that changed after the University of Calgary encampment was cleared.

"I am outraged and devastated," he said Saturday afternoon.

"Rather than the university saying, 'This is a legitimate protest, it is asking legitimate questions on which we will engage' … [it] instead called in the police."

Opposition NDP justice critic Irfan Sabir and advanced education critic Rhiannon Hoyle issued a joint statement to news media Saturday, decrying the response by Edmonton police as "completely disproportionate to student actions."

They condemned the campus protests in Edmonton and Calgary being treated as public safety issues, and are "deeply saddened" that the institutions "appear to abandon the rights of its students to free speech and to demonstrate.

Palestinians seeking passage to Canada fight despair as Rafah campaign closes off their exit

CBC
Sun, May 12, 2024 

Palestinians mourn their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip at a hospital in Rafah, Gaza on Friday, May 10, 2024. (Ismael Abu Dayyah/Associated Press - image credit)


Nearly 200 Palestinians have managed to escape Gaza and obtain approval to travel to Canada — but they had to pay thousands of dollars to smuggle themselves into Egypt.

That avenue is now closed off, due to the Israeli military campaign underway in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

On Monday, Hamas announced that it had agreed to a ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar. Israel rejected the deal — which it said contained elements it could not accept — and began its incursion into Rafah, where more than a million Gazans have sought shelter from the war.


Among them are the members of Hazim Al Masri's family, who have been travelling from Gaza City to Deir el Balah, a town neighbouring Khan Younis, since October.

"We were always stressed and very sad and always worried," said Al Masri, a resident of Kitchener, Ont. He is still waiting on word from the Canadian government on whether he'll be allowed to bring his siblings and their families to Canada.

Prior to the war, Al Masri had plans to fly to Gaza this month for a family reunion. The eruption of hostilities on October 7 put an end to those plans and started him thinking about getting his loved ones out instead.

In January, the Canadian government announced a new program — the Special Measures for Extended Families of Palestinian Canadians in Gaza — meant to allow relations of Palestinian-Canadians in the war zone to move here temporarily to escape the conflict.

"The day they announced the program, it was a celebration in my house and the kids in Gaza. They were crying from happiness," Al Masri said.

But the program depends on the governments of Israel and Egypt approving individuals for travel through the Rafah crossing into the latter country, once they are placed on a list by Canada.

The Al Masris' home in Gaza City was hit by an airstrike strike during the war. (Hazim Al Masri/CBC News)

Canada has submitted multiple lists of approved candidates for the program to Israel and Egypt, but — for reasons that have not been disclosed — all of those names have been rejected to date. Now, the incursion launched by Israel this week into Rafah has made any further movement into Cairo impossible.

Al Masri said he has raised enough money to get some of his family members out, but others, like his brother Nael, are still stuck on the Gaza side.

Nael Al Masri recently met with a freelancer working for CBC News in Deir El Balah. He said he and his family finally found a small apartment to rent after being constantly on the move since October. Now they're waiting for their applications to come to Canada to be approved.

"They bombed the house beside us and 18 people were martyred," he said. "It was terrifying for the entire family."

Nael Al Masri (right) sits with an unidentified neighbour in his home in Deir el Balah. (CBC News)

In January, Hazim Al Masri filed applications for his three siblings and their families to get them out of Gaza through the program. Two of the three have received codes from the Canadian government — the first step in the application process, which allows them to apply for a visa. But Nael and his family have yet to receive anything from Canada.

"The purpose of applying to this program is to save our souls from death," said Nael. "We were hopeful and happy and the kids were happy, but then … the process is slow."

He said he's lost all hope of escaping the war.

"Right now, I feel like it doesn't really matter to me… Open the border, close the border, either way I'm stuck in the Gaza Strip," he said.

Hope isn't the only thing the Al-Masri family has lost. About a week ago, their uncle, who had made it across the border to Cairo, died after undergoing surgery to amputate an infected leg.

Mike Morris, Green Party member of Parliament for Kitchener South, said he knows Immigration Minister Marc Miller is in a "difficult" position — but he needs to maintain diplomatic channels to get as many people out of Gaza as possible.

"Everything about this program, as you know, has been broken from the start," said Morris. "So, we want to see him continue to prioritize all diplomatic channels to do better by families like Hazim's and so many others across the country."

In a statement, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said the department is very concerned about the plight of people in Gaza and is aware that some are exiting Gaza "on their own."

The department says it does not recommend the use of such people-smuggling services and continues to call for Egypt and Israel to approve applicants for exit.

IRCC said that as of April 29, 179 people have completed the process and have been approved to come to Canada. None were evacuated from Gaza through official channels.

Truckers stuck at Rafah crossing fear food won't reach hungry Gaza

Reuters
Fri, May 10, 2024 

A drone picture of part of a line of trucks waiting on an Egyptian road along the border with Israel, near the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip


RAFAH, Gaza Strip/ARISH, Egypt (Reuters) - Truck drivers stuck at Egypt's border with Gaza say the food they are taking to the Palestinian enclave could spoil as they wait, exacerbating a hunger crisis among Gazans as war rages on.

Israeli forces seized control of the Rafah border crossing this week and are preparing for a widely expected assault on the city next to the frontier where about 1 million people uprooted by the war have been sheltering.

"The closure of the border crossing is not good for all these trucks because these are fridges, which means machine failure doesn't give a warning. If the (fridge) stops working, then all of the food inside will be ruined," said trucker Ahmed al-Bayoumi.

"Here, there’s no (technician) available to fix things and then we will have to handle the packages again. In any country in the world, food in fridges has priority to be delivered."

Humanitarian workers sounded the alarm this week over the closure of both the Rafah crossing with Egypt and the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza for aid and people.

Dwindling food and fuel stocks could force aid operations to grind to a halt within days in Gaza as vital crossings remain shut, forcing hospitals to close down and leading to more malnutrition, United Nations aid agencies said on Friday.

The Israeli military says that what it calls a limited operation in Rafah is meant to kill fighters and dismantle infrastructure used by Hamas, the militant Islamist group that governs Gaza.

Those words offer little comfort to idle truck drivers.

"Every day, trucks would go in and out of the border crossing and things were flowing," said truck driver Abdallah Nassar.

"But now that the border crossing is closed, we don’t know what our situation is now. And of course, we have food, and these things have expiry dates, and it can go bad."

Most aid for Gaza has been delivered through the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings, where aid trucks last entered on May 5.

Before that, several dozen trucks had been crossing through Rafah most days, including the only supplies of fuel going into the enclave.

In April, 1,276 trucks entered through Rafah and 4,395 trucks entered through Kerem Shalom, according to UNRWA, the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency.

NO RELIEF IN SIGHT

The truck drivers face uncertainties as Israel sets out to achieve its goal of destroying Hamas.

Ceasefire talks broke up on Thursday with no agreement to halt the fighting and release hostages captured in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks on Israel that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and precipitated the conflict.

More than 34,000 Gazans have been killed in seven months of war, according to health authorities in the Hamas-controlled enclave who say thousands more dead are probably buried under rubble. Much of the Gaza Strip has been reduced to rubble.

Residents described almost constant explosions and gunfire east and northeast of the city on Friday, with intense fighting between Israeli forces and militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

"The aid going into (Gaza) through Rafah and Kerem Shalom border crossings is like a lifeline for the people there," said Mohamed Rageh Mohamed, head of the north Sinai office of Misr El Kheir Foundation charity.

"There’s no way of living or for these people to survive except if the aid enters Gaza on daily basis."

(Writing by Michael Georgy, Editing by Timothy Heritage)


Israel orders Palestinians to evacuate from more areas of Gaza's Rafah

Updated Sat, May 11, 2024 
By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Maytaal Angel

CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel called on Saturday for Palestinians in more areas of Gaza's southern city of Rafah to evacuate and head to what it calls an expanded humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi, in a further indication that the military is pressing ahead with its plans for a ground attack on Rafah.

The Israeli military also called on residents and displaced people in the Jabalia area of northern Gaza to clear out, saying it was returning to operate there after it noticed Hamas trying to re-establish its control of the area.

The Palestinian health ministry said at least 37 Palestinians, 24 of them from central Gaza areas, were killed in overnight airstrikes across the enclave, including in Rafah, the Strip's southernmost city bordering Egypt. It does not distinguish how many were civilians or militants.

"They threw fliers on Rafah and said, from Rafah to al-Zawayda is safe, people should evacuate there, and they did, and what has become of them? Dismembered bodies? There is no safe place in Gaza," Khitam Al-Khatib, who said she had lost at least 10 of her relatives in an airstrike on a family house earlier on Saturday, told Reuters.

Al-Zawayda is a small town in central Gaza Strip that has been crowded by thousands of displaced people from across the enclave.

The Israeli military said its aircraft struck tens of targets across Gaza over the past day, adding its ground troops had eliminated some 30 fighters in Zeitoun.

An Israeli airstrike killed at least seven people in a house in Beit Lahiya town in the northern Gaza Strip, all from the same family, medics said. Residents said Israeli tanks have been stationed in the town.

In Rafah, where the health ministry said 16 people were killed, residents told Reuters the new evacuation orders by the Israeli military covered areas in the centre of the city and left little doubt Israel planned to expand its ground offensive there.

"The situation is very difficult, people are leaving their homes in panic," said Khaled, 35, a resident of the Shaboura neighbourhood, an area where the new orders to leave have been issued.

The Israeli military said it was continuing operational activity against Hamas fighters in eastern Rafah and on the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing.

RAFAH INCURSION

Despite heavy U.S. pressure and alarm expressed by residents and humanitarian groups, Israel has said it will proceed with an incursion into Rafah, where more than 1 million displaced people have sought refuge during the seven-month-old war.

Israeli tanks captured the main road dividing Rafah's eastern and western sections on Friday, effectively encircling the eastern side in an assault that has caused Washington to hold up the delivery of some military aid to its ally.

Israel says it cannot win the war without rooting out thousands of Hamas fighters still deployed in Rafah.

About 300,000 Gazans have so far moved towards Al-Mawasi, according to Israeli military estimates released on Saturday.

The war was triggered by a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7 in which some 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 people taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's military operation in Gaza has killed close to 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry. The bombardment has laid waste to the coastal enclave and caused a deep humanitarian crisis.

Two crossing points vital for delivery of aid to Gaza were still closed on Saturday. The Palestinian WAFA news agency said the Rafah crossing from Egypt was closed for a fifth day, while another crossing, Kerem Shalom from southern Israel, has been shut for around a week.

The latest evacuation orders came hours after internationally mediated ceasefire talks appeared to be faltering. Hamas said Israel's rejection of a truce offer it had accepted returned things to square one. Israel said the terms did not meet its demands.

The Palestinian militant group also hinted it was reconsidering its negotiation policy. It did not elaborate on whether a review meant it would harden its terms for reaching a deal, but said it would consult with other allied factions.

Israel says it wants to reach a deal under which hostages would be released in exchange for the freeing of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, but that it is not prepared to end the military offensive.

'EXHAUSTED'

In Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, where hundreds of thousands were sheltering, Palestinians mourned relatives during funerals on Saturday.

"Here they are, in pieces, here is my sister-in-law, without a head, my aunt is without a head, what is this injustice? Until when will this go on? We are exhausted, by God we are exhausted, I have lived in tents for the past seven months," said Khatib, sitting near bodies wrapped in white shrouds bearing the names of the dead men and women.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is under increasing pressure over its military campaign, including from longtime ally the United States.

The Biden administration said on Friday Israel's use of U.S.-supplied weapons may have violated international humanitarian law during its Gaza operation, in its strongest criticism to date of Israel.

But the administration stopped short of a definitive assessment, saying that due to the chaos of the war it could not verify specific instances where use of those weapons might have been involved in alleged breaches.

(Reporting by Maytaal Angel in Jerusalem and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo; Additional reporting by Hatem Khaled in Gaza; Editing by Mark Potter, Frances Kerry and Alex Richardson)