6.8 magnitude earthquake jolts Japan
No tsunami warning issue by weather agency

Anadolu Staff |10.08.2024 - 


ANKARA

A strong earthquake of magnitude of 6.8 hit northern and northeastern Japan on Saturday, local media said.

However, the weather agency has not issued tsunami warning, Tokyo-based Kyodo News Agency reported.

The epicenter of the quake was about 490 kilometers (304 miles) below the surface of the earth, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

So far, no damage has been reported from the affected region of Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido.

Japan is already on mega-earthquake alert since a magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit southwestern Japan on Thursday.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid

Japan issues first-ever 'megaquake' advisory: Prepare for the worst

The advisory, issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency in light of the 7.1-magnitude earthquake on Thursday, warns people to prepare for a possible second earthquake of magnitude 8 or even 9.


The Japan Meteorological Agency has issued its first-ever warning of the risk of a huge earthquake. (AFP/Representational)


India Today News Desk
Tokyo,

UPDATED: Aug 10, 2024 
Written By: Aryan Rai

In Short

Advisory prompted by last week's 7.1 magnitude earthquake

People hoarding supplies, nuclear stations asked to be vigilant

Megaquake could possibly be of 8.0 or 9.0 magnitude


Japan has sent out a first of its kind "megaquake" advisory, prompted by the 7.1-magnitude earthquake off the southern coast of the country on Thursday, which injured 14 people.

In light of the advisory, panic has spread, with people rushing to hoard supplies and seek safety shelters, AFP reported. Even the Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, cancelled his four-day trip to Central Asia after the alert was sounded.

"As the prime minister with the highest responsibility for crisis management, I decided I should stay in Japan for at least a week," Kishida told reporters.

AFP reported that bullet trains between cities are running at lower speeds and nuclear plants around the country have also been instructed to double-check their disaster preparations.

The earthquake in question is considered a once-in-a-century phenomenon and, if it occurs, can trigger tsunamis too.

WHAT IS THE ADVISORY?

Firstly, scientists can't predict earthquakes. Over the years, with the right equipment, however, they have learnt to make accurate forecasts about higher risk periods of when one might hit.

"The likelihood of a new major earthquake is higher than normal, but this is not an indication that a major earthquake will definitely occur," the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.

Regardless, residents have been asked to prepare for the worst, to review evacuation routes, and be attentive to any other warning that might come.

THE FEARED QUAKE

Japan geographically sits atop the Ring of Fire, causing the country to experience around 1,500 earthquakes a year, although most of them are mere tremors and harmless.

This one might be different.

The advisory pertains to the Nanakai Trough 'subduction zone' between two tectonic plates in the Pacific Ocean. In technical terms, subduction zone faults build stress over time and a megaquake occurs when one of those faults slips and releases that stress. Scientists believe it can cause an earthquake of a magnitude more than nine.

Japanese warning guidelines say that the probability a large earthquake will follow a magnitude-7 within a week is roughly "once per a few hundred times", according to a study last year. Although the probability is high enough to warrant an advisory, it is entirely possible that the recent tremors will not trigger a megaquake.

According to AFP, the central government had predicted in 2022 that an earthquake of that scale would hit in the next 30 years with a rough 70 per cent probability. Experts believe a quake of this scale will result in the loss of thousands of lives and trillions in damage - a frightening prospect.

PERIOD POLITICS

Wu Yanni comes up short in hurdles repechage after coach blames period

WORD OF THE DAY

Paris 2024 Olympics - Athletics - Women's 100m Hurdles Repechage Round - Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France - August 08, 2024. Yanni Wu of China reacts during heat 3. REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel

Paris 2024 Olympics - Athletics - Women's 100m Hurdles Repechage Round - Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France - August 08, 2024. Lotta Harala of Finland crosses the line to win heat 3 ahead of Liz Clay of Australia, Denisha Cartwright of Bahamas, Yanni Wu of China and Luca Kozak of Hungary 

REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier

Aug 08, 2024,

PARIS – China's Wu Yanni met fresh disappointment in the 100 metres hurdles repechage on Aug 8 when she failed to advance after her coach said her performance had been affected by her period.

Wu's sixth-place finish in the opening stage of the competition trended on Chinese social media after her coach said she had been struggling with physical challenges related to her menstrual cycle.

Asia's second-fastest hurdler this year, Wu was not at her best level again in the repechage. She made a slow start and finished fourth in her heat in 12.98.


The top two finishers in each of the three repechage heats moved on to the semi-final on Aug 9.

The repechage round – which gives athletes a pathway to the semi-finals if they fail to qualify on the first try – was introduced to the programme this year to largely positive reaction.

American hurdler Freddie Crittenden completed a circuitous route to the 110m hurdles final on Aug 7 after a calculated decision to take it easy through his opening heat, allowing himself a couple of days' extra rest for an aggravated groin muscle.


Bahamian twice 400 champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo took a shot in the repechage on Aug 6 in an injury-plagued season, after she pulled up midway and finished last in her preliminary. She did not advance. REUTERS

U.S. sees rallies condemning Zionist massacres against Palestinians

NEW YORK August 10. 2024 (Saba) - Human rights institutions and popular organizations on Saturday announced the organization of marches in several American cities, in rejection of the ongoing Zionist massacres in the Gaza Strip.

According to the Palestinian News Agency, the institutions issued numerous calls for marches and protest activities against the continuation of massacres, and the failure of the US administration to exert sufficient pressure on the Zionist entity to stop its brutal aggression on Gaza.

Activists published pictures and video clips on social media of the massacres committed by the usurping entity in the Gaza Strip during the past 24 hours only, which led to the martyrdom and injury of large numbers of Palestinian citizens, including children and women.

Israel arrests over 10,000 Palestinians in West Bank since October, prisoner groups say

Over 10,000 Palestinians have been arrested in the occupied West Bank since October, Palestinian prisoners groups have said in a statement.

The New Arab Staff
10 August, 2024

Over 10,000 Palestinians have been arrested in the occupied West Bank since October, prisoner groups say [Getty]


Israeli forces have arrested over 10,000 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since the start of the war on Gaza in October, Palestinian prisoner groups said.

A joint statement published on Saturday by the Prisoners Affairs Authority and the Palestinian Prisoners Club added that Israeli forces have arrested at least 40 Palestinians in the past two days, including women, children, and former prisoners who were freed from Israeli jails.

The prisoner groups added that the arrests took place all over the West Bank, and often came following violent attacks on families, as well as vandalism and destruction of Palestinians’ homes and property.

"The total number of arrests since the start of the ongoing war of extermination in Gaza has reached over 10,000 citizens in the West Bank, including Jerusalem," the statement read.

The head of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, Abdullah Al-Zaghri, told Al-Jazeera Arabic that violations against Palestinians in the West Bank continue daily in the West Bank, as well as in Gaza.


"Thousands have been arrested in Gaza, and no one has been able to register them and document their names because the occupation continues to practice a policy of forced disappearance and not disclose any information relating to prisoners in the Strip" he said.

Since October, Israeli forces have also killed 620 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and wounded over 5,400 others, official Palestinian figures state.

Rights groups including Amnesty International have raised alarm over Israel’s increased attacks and arrests on the occupied territory since October.

Earlier this year, Human Rights Watch also said Israeli security forces have “unlawfully used lethal force in fatal shootings of Palestinians in the West Bank.”

"These killings are taking place at a level without recent precedent in an environment in which Israeli forces have no need to fear that their government will hold them accountable," Richard Weir, the senior crisis and conflict researcher at Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

Leaked Israeli prison footage 'shows sexual abuse' of Palestinian detainee

The footage comes as several Israeli soldiers are being investigated for sexually abusing a Palestinian held at the Sde Teiman detention camp.


The New Arab Staff
07 August, 2024


The number of Palestinian held in Israeli jails has doubled since October

 [GETTY/file photo]


A video leaked from an Israeli detention camp purportedly showing the abuse of a Palestinian prisoner has added to mounting allegations of sexual abuse and torture of Palestinian detainees.

The video, aired by Israel's Channel 12 broadcaster on Wednesday, documents Israeli soldiers allegedly sexually assaulting a Palestinian man at Israel’s Sde Teiman, a secret imprisonment camp in the Negev desert set up after 7 October where hundreds of people from Gaza have been held.

It is not clear how the news channel obtained the footage, which appears to be from an internal surveillance camera, or when the incident might have taken place.

The video shows at least 25 detainees lying face-down on the ground in rows as a group of masked soldiers with a dog pick one man out and take him away.

He is then taken to a corner of the yard as soldiers use shields to hide their actions from the camera as he is reportedly sexually abused. The detainee was hospitalised due to injuries caused by an object being inserted into his body, a medical report stated.


The footage comes following several investigations by rights groups, media, and an investigation by Israel's military court into alleged abuses committed by Israeli authorities against Palestinians in detention facilities.

Last week, Israeli authorities detained nine soldiers accused of attacking and raping a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman facility. The doctor who treated the Palestinian at hospital told Haaretz newspaper that the injuries were so horrific he did not initially believe that an Israeli "could do something like that" and felt compelled to speak out.

Their arrests caused large protests by far-right groups and politicians who argued that the soldiers should not be arrested, describing them as heroes.

Five members of the Israeli military's Force 100 Unit are currently facing trial.

Haaretz reported on Tuesday that two of the arrested reservists were found to have lied during a polygraph test as part of the investigation when they were asked if they had sexually abused detainees.

Last week, Israeli media outlets reported that the abused Palestinian detainee had been returned to the Sde Teiman facility.

The investigation comes amid the publication of a major report by Jerusalem rights group B'Tselem which details Israeli prison authorities' extensive abuse of Palestinian men, women, and children, including torture, sexual abuse, sleep and food deprivation, violence and humiliation.

The B'Tselem report released on Tuesday also followed a damning report from the UN Office for Human Rights published last week which condemned Israel’s “incommunicado” detention of Palestinians.

“The testimonies gathered by my Office and other entities indicate a range of appalling acts, such as waterboarding and the release of dogs on detainees, amongst other acts, in flagrant violation of international human rights law and international humanitarian law,” UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said.

Related
Palestinian detainees recount mistreatment while in Israel prison
Video

At least 53 Palestinians are believed to have died in Israeli jails since October, either through torture-induced injuries or from being deprived of medical treatment.

Many of those detained are kept indefinitely without trial or charge, or access to lawyers or family. The UN says this could qualify as enforced disappearance, an international crime.

Israel also blocked visits to the prison from the International Red Cross Committee.

Testimonies disclosing the abuse and torture allegations have been sourced from freed detainees, Israeli whistleblowers or rights groups such as Israel Physicians for Human Rights, who is campaigning for Sde Teiman facility to be shut down, describing it as a violation of Israeli law.

2 more Palestinian journalists killed by Israeli army in Gaza: Media group

Deaths bring number of journalists killed by Israel in Gaza since Oct. 7 to 168

Awad al-Rujoub |10.08.2024 - TRT/AA



RAMALLAH, Palestine

Two more journalists were killed by Israel in the southern Gaza Strip, a media group said Friday.

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate mourned Tamim Muammar and Abdullah al-Susi and said they were killed in separate raids in Khan Younis.

It said Muammar worked for Palestine Voice Radio while al-Susi was employed with the Hamas-run Al-Aqsa Channel.

The Syndicate said the killings are "systematic crimes" by the Israeli army, and it urged the International Criminal Court's prosecutor to open an investigation into Israeli crimes against Palestinian journalists.

Muammar was killed, along with 13 of his family members, in an Israeli airstrike on his family’s home. Al-Susi was killed with several family members, according to the Palestinian news agency, Wafa.

The killings bring the death toll for journalists killed by Israel in Gaza since Oct. 7 to 168, according to Palestinian figures.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an attack in October by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.

Nearly 39,700 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 91,700 injured, according to local health authorities.

More than 10 months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar

Gaza Journalist Tamim Muammar killed in Israeli air strike

Palestine Voice radio journalist Tamim Muammar was killed along with several family members in an Israeli air strike which targeted their home.

The New Arab Staff
10 August, 2024


Over 100 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the start of the war on Gaza [Getty]


Prominent Gaza journalist Tamim Muammar was killed along with several family members in an Israeli air strike which targeted their house in Khan Younis, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

Muammar worked for Palestine Voice Radio and was mourned by other journalists and official Palestinian media outlets.

Social media was also awash with photos of Muammar and his family, with people remembering his work and contributions.

"He trained me on how to write the news at the Palestine Voice radio - the respected and intelligent journalist Tamim Muammar, was martyred after his home and his family members were directly targeted in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis. I can’t comprehend how I am writing the news of the death of the person who taught me how to write news. Damn this vile world," one social media user wrote.

According to local Palestinian media, another journalist, identified as Abdallah Al-Soussi, was also killed in a separate airstrike at the same time. Al-Soussi worked for Al-Aqsa TV and lived in the Al-Tahlia neighbourhood of Khan Younis.

Official Palestinian media issued a press statement stating that Palestinian journalists have continually been targeted along with their family members, and that media personnel will continue to convey the suffering of people in Gaza despite the attacks and challenges up against them.

The statement called on international media and humanitarian organisations to take immediate action and hold Israeli officials and soldiers responsible, urging them to do more than issue press statements.

The Palestinian Press Syndicate also issued a statement, calling the air strikes and targeting of journalists a "systematic crime" by the Israeli army and demanded the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court urgently begin investigation procedures into the killing of media personnel in Gaza.

At least 168 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, according to official Palestinian figures.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed over 39,699 Palestinians since October and wounded over 91,722 others.

Canada 'fully supports' Gaza cease-fire efforts by Egypt, Qatar, US

'We need an immediate ceasefire in Gaza,' says Justin Trudeau

 10/08/2024 Saturday

File photo

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau welcomed mediation efforts Friday by Egypt, Qatar and the US to secure a “permanent cease-fire in Gaza.”

"The agreement led by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar can achieve this. Canada fully supports their efforts to release the hostages, end the humanitarian crisis, and return to a path of peace," Trudeau wrote on X.

On Thursday, Egypt, Qatar and US mediators urged Israel and the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, to resume talks in Doha or Cairo next week.

Cease-fire efforts come after nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and over 91,700 injured in Israel's response to an attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, according to local health authorities.

More than 10 months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

Harris tells pro-Palestine protesters ‘now is time for ceasefire’ in Gaza

People chanted ‘free, free Palestine’ during Democratic presidential candidate’s speech at Arizona rally.

Harris speaks to an estimated 15,000 supporters at a campaign rally in Glendale, Arizona [Julia Nikhinson/AP]

Published On 10 Aug 2024

United States Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has told pro-Palestine protesters who interrupted her campaign rally in Arizona that now is the time for a ceasefire deal in Israel’s war on Gaza.

The demonstrators shouted, “Free, free Palestine” as Harris spoke to an estimated 15,000 people in the city of Glendale in Arizona, one of the states she’s vying to win to defeat her Republican opponent Donald Trump.

Pausing her speech on Friday to directly ddress the protesters, Harris said: “I have been clear: now is the time to get a ceasefire deal and get the hostage deal done.”

Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Phil Lavelle said that while Vice President Harris and President Joe Biden had expressed support for a ceasefire, their administration is sending more military aid to Israel as it continues its bombardment of Gaza.

“In her role as vice president, she supports the Biden administration. But her team is also keen on making sure that she’s the one who can push through a ceasefire. It’s like two parallel worlds,” Lavelle said.



Harris also told the protesters, “The president and I are working around the clock every day to get that ceasefire deal done and bring the hostages home. I respect your voices, but we are here to now talk about the race in 2024.”

The latest incident highlights the balancing act she has to make to address a segment of her party’s constituency opposed to Israel’s war in Gaza while avoiding alienating the general electorate sympathetic to Israel.

Harris’s response was blunt. “You know what, if you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking.”

While a video clip of that Michigan event went viral, some critics said that Harris failed to address the question about the ceasefire and appeared dismissive of the young protesters present.

“Harris is also aware of the public mood, especially in swing states like Michigan,” said Al Jazeera’s Lavelle.

“While Gaza is not getting as much airtime domestically as it is internationally, Harris knows that in states like Michigan, which have huge Arab-American populations, there is a real frustration with the lack of progress. And she’ll be very keen to address that,” he added.

In July, when Harris met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, DC, the vice president had said that her commitment to Israel’s existence and security was “unwavering”, but that she “will not be silent” in the face of the “tragedies” in Gaza.

Qatar, Egypt and the US have called on Israel and Hamas to resume talks on August 15 to reach a ceasefire.

At the same time, the US continues to send billions of dollars in military aid and weapons to Israel as the war in Gaza continues into its 10th month.

Gaza’s Ministry of Health said on Saturday that at least 39,790 people have been killed and 91,702 wounded in Israel’s war on the enclave. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7 and more than 200 were taken captive.

Harris has been on a weeklong tour after naming her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, with a focus on building momentum for her campaign in seven states that could tip the November 5 election.

Source: Al Jazeera

Palestine urges international action to stop genocide, address threats to global peace by Israel

Israeli actions 'against Palestinian people, especially in Gaza, violate all prohibitions outlined in Genocide Convention, committing war crimes, crimes against humanity in occupied Palestinian territories,' says Palestine's Permanent Observer to UN

Awad al-Rajoub |10.08.2024 - TRT/AA



Ramallah

Palestine renewed its call Friday for international action to halt the genocide in the Gaza Strip and address the threat "posed by Israel to international peace and security."

It was made in letters sent by Palestine's envoy to the UN, Riyad Mansour, to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, General Assembly President Dennis Francis and the President of the Security Council for August, Sierra Leone.

Mansour reiterated calls to the international community, particularly the Security Council and General Assembly, to take immediate action to hold Israel accountable for its crimes and achieve justice for the Palestinian people.

He wants to end the threat posed by Israel to international peace and security to save endangered lives and complete the prospects for a just resolution to the grave injustice.

Mansour said Israel's actions are "against the Palestinian people, especially in Gaza, violate all prohibitions outlined in the Genocide Convention, committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and other occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, on an unprecedented scale that shocks human conscience."

"For 10 months, the world has watched this horrific genocide and witnessed the most heinous atrocities, yet has failed to act to protect Palestinian civilians, neglecting the most serious commitments under the Charter and customary international law binding on all nations," he said.

Mansour noted that Israel targets Palestinian civilians with "all forms of lethal weapons, violating every rule of international law designed to protect civilians in armed conflict."

He said Israel’s targeting civilians is "systematic and deliberate” and pointed out that the destruction of schools, including the demolition of 190 UN Refugee Agency facilities, has left more than 600,000 children without access to education, and the destruction of Gaza's 19 universities has deprived over 88,000 young people of higher education, "jeopardizing the future of an entire generation."

Mansour informed officials that the death toll in 10 months of the Israeli onslaught is extremely high, mostly women and children and Tel Aviv has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians.

"This horrific list of victims does not include 10,000 people estimated to be missing, most of whom are believed to be buried under rubble or in mass graves," he said.

He emphasized that the international community’s failure to hold Israel accountable for its blatant violations of resolutions and grave violations of international law, including humanitarian and human rights law, has only increased Israel’s impunity, leading to catastrophic consequences.



*Writing by Alperen Aktas from Istanbul

Israeli attack on Gazan worshippers stems from world’s failure to halt Gaza genocide: Palestine

At least 100 worshippers killed when Israeli army targeted school where displaced Palestinians performed prayers, according to Gaza Media Office

Awad Rjoub |11.08.2024 - 



RAMALLAH, Palestine

Palestine said Saturday that it considered the failure of the international community and its institutions to be the reason for a deadly Israeli attack on the Al-Tabin School in Gaza City.

At least 100 worshippers were killed and several injured when Israeli aircraft targeted Palestinians performing fajr (dawn) prayers at the Al-Tabin School in the Al-Daraj neighborhood.

“The massacre at the Al-Tabin School is a result of the failure of the international community and its institutions, including the (UN) Security Council, to fulfill their responsibilities in stopping the genocide against the Palestinian people,” the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

It said that “the illegal Israeli occupation is inhumane and must be held accountable and punished for its crimes, along with any states or entities complicit in these atrocities.”

The foreign ministry demanded an immediate convening of the UN Security Council “to implement its resolutions and compel Israel, the illegal occupying power, to comply with international law and UN resolutions.”

With the bombing of the Al-Tabin school, the number of schools targeted by Israel in Gaza City in the last week has increased to six, according to an Anadolu tally.

Despite appeals Thursday from mediators, including Egypt, the US and Qatar, to stop hostilities, reach a cease-fire and a hostage exchange agreement, Israel persists with its deadly onslaught against Gaza.

The Israeli onslaught has killed nearly 39,800 victims since October following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.​​​​​​​

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala​​​​​​​

US ‘deeply concerned’ in growing condemnation of Israel’s deadly school hit

AAP
Aug 11, 2024

The West has united in its condemnation of an Israeli air strike on a Gaza school. 

Photo: AAP

The White House says it is “deeply concerned” about an Israeli air strike on a Gaza City school compound that local civil defence officials say killed 100 people, adding to condemnation of the attack from several Arab states, Turkey, Britain and the European Union’s foreign policy chief.

The school compound in Gaza City housed displaced Palestinian families. The Gaza Civil Emergency Service, which has a credible record stating casualty numbers, said about 100 people were killed in Saturday’s strike. Israel said around 20 militants had been operating at the compound.

Video from the site showed body parts scattered among rubble and more bodies being carried away and covered in blankets.

“We are deeply concerned about reports of civilian casualties in Gaza following a strike by the Israel Defense Forces on a compound that included a school,” the White House said in a statement, adding Washington was in touch with Israel to seek more information.

Washington has faced mounting domestic and international criticism, including from human rights groups, for its military support for Israel. Saturday’s air strike came a day after a State Department spokesperson said the US will provide Israel $US3.5 billion ($5.3 billion) to spend on US weapons and military equipment after Congress appropriated the funds in April.

“We know Hamas has been using schools as locations to gather and operate out of, but we have also said repeatedly and consistently that Israel must take measures to minimise civilian harm,” the White House added.

Palestinians flee new Israeli assault in Khan Younis


Israeli strikes hit Gaza schools, hospital

The White House statement also said “far too many civilians continue to be killed and wounded” in the Gaza war and reiterated its calls for a ceasefire.

The US comments followed condemnation of the attack from Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he was horrified by the images from the school, while British foreign minister David Lammy said he was “appalled” by the strike.

Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought shelter in Gaza’s schools, most of which have been closed since the war began 10 months ago.

The strike marked the latest deadly attack in Israel’s assault on Gaza which the health ministry in the Hamas-governed enclave says has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians while also displacing nearly the entire population of 2.3 million, causing a hunger crisis and leading to genocide allegations at the World Court that Israel denies.


The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on October 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

President Joe Biden laid out a three-phase ceasefire proposal in an address on May 31. Washington and regional mediators have since tried arranging the Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal but have run into repeated obstacles.

There has separately been an increased risk of a broader Middle East war after recent killings of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut drew threats of retaliation against Israel.

—AAP

Israel’s school massacres are part of a deliberate policy

The US is providing huge new weapons shipments to Israel and Saudi Arabia

The aftermath of Saturday’s school missile strike

By Charlie Kimber
Saturday 10 August 2024

SOCIALIST WORKER Issue

An Israel missile strike killed at least 93 people sheltering in a school in Gaza on Saturday. It was the fourth and most deadly Israeli attack on a school in two weeks.

Civil defence agency spokesperson Mahmud Bassal said three Israeli rockets hit Gaza City’s al-Tabin school which was housing displaced Palestinians.

He described the scene as a “horrific massacre” saying crews were trying to control a fire in order to rescue the wounded and retrieve bodies.

Hani Mahmoud of Al Jazeera news said, “There is a huge influx of people pouring into the al-Ahli hospital after the attack on the school. Many of those arriving are in critical condition.

“But the hospital lacks enough staff and medicine, so it cannot provide adequate medical care. It’s on the brink of collapse. Many are arriving either soaked in blood or already pronounced dead.”

The particular bombs used sent shrapnel flying that cut through flesh.

Footage of the attack that reporters saw showed people being picked up from the ground in pieces.

Francesca Albanese, a United Nations official on the Occupied Palestine territories, commented, “In the largest and most shameful concentration camp of the 21st century, Israel is genociding the Palestinians one neighbourhood at a time, one hospital at a time, one school at a time, one refugee camp a the time, one ‘safe zone’ at a time.

“It’s doing it with US and European weapons and amid the indifference of all ‘civilised nations’.”

Hassan Barari, professor of international affairs at Qatar University, said that these attacks are part of Israel leader Binyamin Netanyahu’s calculation about the ceasefire talks that are supposed to start next week.

“Just yesterday, Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said that going to Doha or Cairo is a kind of capitulation and that Israel should not go and conduct negotiations over a ceasefire.

“So Netayhahu is trying to appease those people in his own government”.

Barari added that Netanyahu does not want a ceasefire, and takes every chance he can to undermine talks.

“It is part of a game. Every time we have hopes of a ceasefire, the Israelis will commit some kind of atrocity and that will undermine the talks,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Labour government dithers over whether to stop any arms sales to Israel. With every day that passes, its failure to halt the weapons means Keir Starmer, David Lammy and the rest are complicit in mass murder.

The Stop the War Coalition said, “There is seemingly no limit to Israel’s barbarity. The genocide enablers in Whitehall and Washington once again have blood on their hands.”

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign added, “This is the third worst massacre since Israel began its genocide against Palestinians. The UK government must immediately stop arming Israel and end all complicity in its violence and apartheid.” Next national march for Palestine, Saturday 7 September, 12 noon, London. End the Genocide – Stop Arming Israel – No Middle East War – No to Islamophobia. Details here

A pattern of school attacks

On 4 August an Israeli missile strike killed dozens of displaced people sheltering in two schools in Gaza.

Palestinian media said at least 30 people died in the strikes. Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Civil Defence, said most of the dead were women and children.

He added that more people were believed to be buried under the rubble.

The attack on the al-Nasr and Hassan Salama schools came on the day of an attack on a camp for displaced people in a hospital in central Gaza, which killed at least five people.

On 3 August an air strike on Hamama School in Gaza City killed at least 17 people.

Days earlier, an Israeli strike on Dalal al-Mughrabi School killed 15.

Why Israel kills children

It is central to imperialism that the lives of colonisers are worth far, far more than the lives of those they oppress and eliminate.

That murderous arrogance is allied with racism—the white invader is more human, more advanced than the black and brown people he rules.

That disgusting calculus is not some ancient prejudice. It is as modern as the Israel attacks on Gaza schools.

Israel claims its school attacks are targeting a small number of Hamas fighters. That is often a lie. But even if it were true, Israel knows that a large number of civilians will die.

Saturday’s strike was on a prayer hall, at a time of prayer when everyone was gathered there.

But in its depraved desperation to crush resistance, the Israeli reckoning is that removing a few fighters is worth the elimination of dozens or even hundreds of civilians.

To reduce its humiliation, Israel readily accepts murdering children.

There is a direct ideological and physical line from the mass “elimination of the natives” in Australia, Canada and the Americas to imperialist-backed murder in Israel today.

There is a blood-connection between the actions of British imperialism in Kenya and India and Ireland and the way British-backed Israel kills in Gaza.

This is how imperialism and colonialism have always behaved, and this won’t stop until revolution destroys the system that spawned such vile actions.

More arms from US for Israeli and Saudi killers

Trampling on talk that it is pressuring Israel into a ceasefire, the United States government revealed on Friday it will send an additional $3.5 billion (£2.8 billion) to Israel to spend on US-made weapons and military equipment.

The cash comes from a £11.4 billion supplemental funding bill for Israel passed by the Congress in April.

Part of the new financial aid will go to an Israeli military unit, which is accused of carrying out human rights abuses against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

The US state department said it had decided against sanctioning the unit—which would have been the first-ever blocking of aid to the Israeli military—saying it was satisfied with Israeli efforts to address “violations by this unit” which have been “effectively remediated”.

While the US has not publicly named the unit, it is believed to be Israel’s Netzah Yehuda battalion.

The battalion and some of its members have been linked to the abuse of Palestinian civilians, including the death of a 78-year-old Palestinian-American man after his detention by the unit in 2022.

The Joe Biden administration has decided to lift a ban on US sales of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia, reversing a three-year-old policy allegedly to pressure the kingdom to wind down the Yemen war.

A senior state department official confirmed the US was lifting its suspension on certain transfers of air-to-ground munitions to Saudi Arabia.

This is in preparation for the wider war that could be triggered after the expected—and fully justified— Iranian and Hezbollah response to a series of Israeli assassinations.Earlier this week, the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem published a report describing the Israeli detention facilities for Palestinians as “a network of torture camps.” The organisation said physical, psychological, and sexual abuse of Palestinian prisoners is routine. Read the report here