Facebook restricts war-related content in Palestinian territories, BBC investigation claims

A similar investigation by Arab News revealed widespread reports of pro-Palestinian posts and accounts being suspended or banned during Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. (AFP/File)

Arab News
December 18, 2024

Local news outlets report 77% drop in audience engagement

‘Any implication that we deliberately suppress a particular voice is unequivocally false,’ Meta says


LONDON: A BBC investigation has claimed that Facebook significantly restricted access to news in Palestinian territories, limiting local news outlets’ ability to reach audiences during the ongoing Israel-Gaza war.

Research conducted by the BBC Arabic team found that 20 newsrooms in Gaza and the West Bank reported a 77 percent decline in audience engagement — a measure of the visibility and impact of social media content — following the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, 2023.

In contrast, Facebook pages belonging to 20 Israeli news outlets, including Yediot Ahronot, Israel Hayom and Channel 13, saw a 37 percent increase in engagement for similar war-related content during the same period.

“Interaction was completely restricted and our posts stopped reaching people,” said Tariq Ziad, a journalist at Palestine TV, which experienced a 60 percent drop in engagement despite having 5.8 million Facebook followers.

With international journalists restricted from accessing Gaza due to Israeli-imposed limitations, local media and social platforms have become critical sources of information around the world. But the disparity in engagement has underscored concerns about a growing “war of narratives” on social media.

Facebook’s parent company, Meta, has previously faced allegations of “shadow banning” Palestinian content. Critics, including human rights groups, claim the platform fails to moderate online activity fairly.

According to an independent report commissioned by Meta in 2021, the company said the loss of engagement was never deliberate, attributing it to a “lack of Arabic-speaking expertise among moderators,” which led to some Arabic phrases being inadvertently flagged as harmful or sensitive.

To test these claims, the BBC analyzed 30 prominent Facebook pages from Arabic news outlets and found an almost 100 percent increase in engagement.

Meta admitted to increasing moderation of Palestinian user comments in response to a “spike in hateful content” but rejected allegations of bias.

A spokesperson told the BBC: “Any implication that we deliberately suppress a particular voice is unequivocally false.”

However, internal communications reviewed by the BBC showed that Meta-owned Instagram’s algorithm had been adjusted shortly after the conflict began, with at least one engineer raising concerns about potential new bias against Palestinian users.

“Within a week of the Hamas attack, the code was changed essentially making it more aggressive toward Palestinian people,” the engineer told the BBC.

Although Meta said these policy changes were reversed, it did not specify when.

A similar investigation by Arab News revealed widespread reports of pro-Palestinian posts and accounts being suspended or banned during Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 144 media workers have been killed since the start of the conflict, 133 of whom were Palestinians, making it the deadliest conflict for journalists in recent history.

'There's no willingness to understand': Exposing the wellbeing industry's silence on Palestine

Since the onset of Israel's war on Gaza, the wellbeing industry's silence on the crisis highlights a failure to uphold empathy, social justice, and support

Yanar Alkayat
04 December, 2024

For over a year, my psychotherapy sessions have been dominated by one central issue – Gaza and Palestine. From the grief of witnessing harrowing scenes daily to navigating friendships that have gone silent, I’ve had space to discuss it all.

This contrasts sharply with Seth* from London, whose therapist quickly changed the subject when he brought up Gaza.

“When I explained the massacres were what I wanted to discuss, they visibly disconnected and looked bored. In my next session, they said, ‘We’re here to talk about you, not other people’. That’s when I knew I had to leave that therapist.”

"The professions of psychiatry, psychology and social work are based on the basic principle of empathy, to put yourself in other people's shoes and feel their pain, their anguish and emotional difficulty, which is completely lacking in this situation. They are not adhering to their basic ethical duties at this point"

It’s not just in the therapy room where politics has been met with bias. In November 2023, during a stay at a yoga ashram in India, I faced a similar dissonance: while figureheads expressed condolences for Israelis, they failed to acknowledge the killing of more than 10,000 Palestinians by then. This omission was glaring and concerning.

I’m not alone in noticing such exclusive compassion. Gabor Mate, a prominent voice in trauma psychology, has openly criticised therapy and spiritual leaders for their silence on the grief, rage and despair felt by those within and beyond Gaza.


The psychological need extends beyond those directly impacted by unimaginable loss, forced displacement, starvation and siege.

Millions worldwide bear the emotional weight of collective grief. This is further compounded by the denial, censorship, ignorance and apathy of governments, workplaces and society.

“There’s a raw exposure to these atrocities… [people are] seeing it on their cell phones …and they’re not able to express themselves because many providers are hesitant to discuss these issues in therapy [because of] so-called neutrality,” says Mansoor Malik, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.

Pro-Palestine activists took to the streets of London in November for the National Demonstration for Palestine calling for a ceasefire and a stop to arming Israel [Getty]

Mansoor critiques the profession for abandoning its core principle of empathy, stating, “The professions of psychiatry, psychology and social work are based on the basic principle of empathy, to put yourself in other people's shoes and feel their pain, their anguish and emotional difficulty, which is completely lacking in this situation. They are not adhering to their basic ethical duties at this point.”

When such needs are met with silence or inadequate support from professionals and institutions meant to foster mental wellness, the harm is magnified.
Related

As a wellness podcaster, here's how the Gaza genocide changed me

Narrated

Layla Maghribi

Palestinian trauma ignored

After 7 October 2023, key medical and psychiatric associations in the UK and US released position statements only condemning the Hamas attack and loss of life in Israel.

The World Psychiatric Association (WPA), condemned the “unimaginable slaughter and hostage-taking” while the American Psychiatric Association (APA), explicitly condemned “the brutalities of Hamas”, expressing allegiance with Jewish people.

Both statements raise questions about neutrality.

The WPA has since expressed no concern for the catastrophic suffering in Gaza, while the APA’s follow-up statement in April 2024 spoke of escalating mental health concerns but refrained from naming Israel as the aggressor, highlighting inconsistencies in language and tone. The New Arab questioned the WPA and APA about this but has yet to receive a response.

Speaking to this, Mansoor says, “Either they should not have condemned [the Hamas attacks], and if they did, they cannot now hide behind the facade of neutrality when even worse atrocities have been happening every day for over a year.”


Mansoor adds, “I think there is a lot of pressure from funders of these organisations; they do not want [criticism of] Israel…whatsoever. That is what we are running up against.”


"Western psychology is rooted in white-cis-hetero supremacist delusion, seeking to not only gain dominance over but to eliminate those that do not fit into its narrow, nonsensical supremacist ideals"

In contrast, a few organisations and institutions have publicly recognised the suffering of Palestinians and called for immediate action. These include the American Public Health Association, Physicians for Human Rights Israel, the American Medical Students Association and the World Medical Association.

This disparity highlights the deeper systemic issues at play. Melody Li, licensed marriage and family therapist and founder of Inclusive Therapists, in an open letter with Dr Jennifer Mullan, founder of Decolonizing Therapy and Hammam Farah, therapist and activist at Elham Fund, call out the mental health field’s complicity.

“Western psychology is rooted in white-cis-hetero supremacist delusion, seeking to not only gain dominance over but to eliminate those that do not fit into its narrow, nonsensical supremacist ideals,” says Melody.

“The fact that the mental health industrial complex, including academic institutions, refuse to respond to the traumas of Palestinians is on one hand, predicted (this is by colonial design) and on the other, is deeply cruel, hypocritical, and shameful,” she adds.
Related


In Gaza's mental health crisis, no respite from the trauma
Voices
Emad Moussa
No grief should be sidelined

How professional bodies position themselves matters and silence is a stance.

The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)’s philosophy states a “desire for social justice determines everything we do”.

At the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war, it released a solidarity statement acknowledging “devastating human tragedy” and that “people will be dealing with indescribable losses”.

A few weeks later, the BACP organised an emergency summit to contribute to “global peace and justice” and continued to share psychological support for practitioners and clients.

Yet, despite the death and destruction being exponentially greater than in Ukraine – The Lancet estimates life lost in the Gaza Strip at around 7-9% of the population – the BACP has remained silent.



"If mental health providers and therapists are not actively, vocally, and continually protesting against the genocide of Palestinians, we are complicit in upholding these structures of violence and are enacting harm"

A BACP spokesperson stated: “We’re committed to an inclusive, anti-racist stance that reflects the ethics and integrity that is at our professions’ heart.” When questioned about their rationale for ignoring Palestine, they declined to respond.

“The lack of recognition of… [Gaza’s] humanitarian perspective is causing anguish among individual providers… and in patient populations from various backgrounds – not only Muslims,” says Mansoor.

“I have Jewish patients who say they feel very torn about the situation when friends or family support it. We should provide avenues to express and process their feelings. We cannot shut down this internal debate around consciousness. This will only increase their internal distress,” Mansoor continues.

“It’s worth noting that many members of the Jewish medical community, as well as Israeli and human rights organisations, have been vocal in speaking up against the Gaza genocide. The inhumane Israeli actions are fuelling both Islamophobia and anti-semitism in the US, adding to psychological distress,” adds Mansoor.

Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen amid a hunger crisis [Getty]

Melody further emphasises the impact, “If mental health providers and therapists are not actively, vocally, and continually protesting against the genocide of Palestinians, we are complicit in upholding these structures of violence and are enacting harm.”

Mustafa Jayyousi, a Palestinian psychotherapist living in Norway, highlights another barrier to effective support: Western psychology’s emphasis on individualism over collective wellbeing, which he argues, often exacerbates the cultural disconnect and systemic ignorance faced by Palestinians.

“Telling people to switch off the news to look after themselves ignores or fails to realise the need or importance for some people to focus on the Palestinian cause,” he says.

Mustafa sees the gap between his Palestinian pain and the lack of care and attention from his peers as a cultural disconnect. “There’s no willingness to understand. It’s systemic ignorance for us Palestinians.”

When I ask Mustafa about the underlying factors, he highlights the influence of a strong Zionist narrative and the media’s role in failing to convey the truth. He adds: “European guilt for the Holocaust makes it harder for people to distinguish between Judaism as a religion and Zionism.”

Related

Gaza's displaced face harshest winter yet in cold, flooded tents

Society Asad Hammouda

This detachment is echoed by Sheena Sood, a founding member of Yogis for Palestine, set up in 2021 to promote advocacy for Palestinian self-determination.

She notes a similar challenge in the yogic communities, “There’s this aspiration towards enlightenment but when it comes to politics or suffering the approach is reduced to neutrality or prayer without any material action. It becomes a kind of political apathy or inaction.”

Melody underscores the need for appropriate emotional support. “In these critical times, we need aligned spaces to grieve together, to process what we hold in our bodies… as the media and institutions continue to bombard us with propaganda and lies. We must allow ourselves to feel, or risk becoming numb, sick or disconnected.”

Alongside this, there is a strong call for accountability. “I’d like to see these professional bodies held accountable for denying and enabling genocide and colonial violence,” says Melody.

Ultimately, it’s about the sanctity of life and human rights, says Mansoor. “Sanctity of life is enshrined in the Hippocratic Oath and medical ethics, AMA medical ethics principle IX demands that physicians and medical organisations should support access to medical care for all people," he explains.

"Yet there is complete silence about the wanton destruction of healthcare infrastructure in Gaza and the intentional killing of thousands of medics. The lack of condemnation of medical war crimes in Gaza is even more astounding in the case of mental health organisations that claim to espouse the highest standards of professional ethics," Mansoor adds.

"By refusing to support the calls for a ceasefire, medical organisations have violated their basic ethical principles. If there is no safety there’s no health. Sanctity of life precludes any kind of health.”

For those seeking support in the UK, the UK Palestine Mental Health Network engages mental health professionals to take a stance against policies exacerbating the oppression of Palestinians; Healing Justice Ldn provides resources for movements that centre empathy and action and Thrive Ldn provides community-led support for Jewish, Israeli, Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities.

After all, no grief should be sidelined.

Yanar Alkayat is a health and fitness content editor for magazines such as Women's Health, Runner's World, and Men's Health. She is also a registered Yoga Therapist

Follow her on Instagram: @yanarfitness

WAR IS ECOCIDE

To confront famine in Gaza, Palestinians are hunting wild birds as a last resort

"I realise that what I am doing is an adventure that carries great risks, but there is no other option to provide food for my children," said Tariq Al-Sheikh.

Rasha Jalal
Gaza
19 December, 2024

A Palestinian man is seen preparing for bird hunting with a net near the Israeli border, in the east of Gaza City, Gaza on 22 August 2022. [Getty]

32-year-old Tariq Al-Sheikh is forced to resort to hunting wild birds to feed his children's hunger amid the famine prevailing in the Gaza Strip.

Every morning, Al-Sheikh leaves his tent in the Al-Mawasi area west of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, to hunt. Since he and his family of six were forcibly displaced from their home in Gaza City to Khan Younis due to Israel's genocidal war, he has been unemployed after an Israeli strike destroyed his home and his small grocery store.

Al-Sheikh places some grain on the ground, then raises a net on top of them with a stick tied to a long rope, making a trap. He moves away from the site holding the end of the string, waiting for the birds to start discovering the grains and then descend to them. At a crucial moment when the birds multiply under the trap, he pulls the rope, closing the net on them.

"I catch about 30 birds each time, then I take them to my wife to prepare food for us from them, as the meat of the birds is special and delicious," he told The New Arab,

Gaza's residents are experiencing the most severe famine since the beginning of the war on 7 October 2023 since Israel restricts humanitarian aid, while it completely prevents the entry of meat such as poultry and beef. Israel claims it is doing this to fight the sources of Hamas's money.


Al-Sheikh learned to hunt birds during his childhood, accompanying his relatives on the eastern border of the Gaza Strip.

The most prominent challenge facing him while hunting birds is the lack of empty spaces west of Khan Younis because of the overcrowding of displaced people, which forces him to move east near the presence of the Israeli army where the agricultural lands are destroyed.

"I fear that the [Israeli] planes deployed in the air will bomb me. I realise that what I am doing is an adventure that carries great risks, but there is no other option to provide food for my children," he remarked.
'Terrible daily struggle'

Ajith Songhai, head of the United Nations Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territories, said in a press conference in Geneva via video link from Jordan on 29 November 2024, "Large groups of women and children are searching for food amidst piles of garbage in parts of the Gaza Strip."

"Accessing basic necessities has become a terrible daily struggle for survival," he added.

In the northern Gaza Strip, the practice of bird hunting to combat famine is more widespread than in the south due to the Israeli military ground invasion in the area since this past October, followed by a strict siege policy against the people. Those remaining in northern Gaza Strip were previously forced to eat chicken and rabbit feed to avoid starvation.

In order to combat famine, Salah Shahin, a 34-year-old resident of the town of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, also hunts for wild birds to feed his family.

"There is no food in the northern Gaza Strip except for some types of canned food such as peas preserved with preservatives," Shahin told TNA.

He added that the Israeli army sometimes allows some types of vegetables to enter northern Gaza in order to avoid international pressure, "but they are small quantities and expensive, making it difficult for most of the population to buy them."

He explained that he and his family of five have not eaten meat for several months, "We have lost a lot of weight and our bones have become visible."


Shaheen pointed out that eating sparrow meat "of course does not make us feel full, but it is important in order to obtain the protein needed to fight famine."

Shaheen divides the sparrows he hunts into two parts, one that he feeds his children and the other he sells in local markets.

"I sell what I catch to people for a low price, as a pair of birds costs only seven shekels ($2)," he remarked.

A policy of starvation

Food security and human health expert Zayed Abu Bakr remarked to TNA that the ongoing Israeli genocidal war on the Gaza Strip "has caused a loss of food security and malnutrition among Palestinians, who have become dependent on aid as their main source of food."

Abu Bakr further elaborated that most food aid are canned food containing grains and legumes preserved with preservatives, "which is unhealthy because it contains chemical preservatives, and does not contain essential nutrients such as protein and vitamins."

He explained that Israel imposes a policy of starvation on the residents of the northern Gaza Strip, "as a form of collective punishment because they refused the army's orders to move and evacuate to the southern Gaza Strip."

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that Israeli authorities "facilitated just over 40 per cent of the approximately 320 humanitarian movements through the Gaza Strip during November 2024, with the rest denied, obstructed or cancelled."

In the same time, a UN report confirmed that the entire population of Gaza—some 2.2 million people—"are experiencing crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity."

The report said that the threshold for acute food insecurity for famine has been significantly exceeded, and that acute malnutrition among children under five is advancing at a record pace towards the second threshold of famine.

The report stated that half the population, 1.1 million people in Gaza, have completely exhausted their food supplies, coping capacities, and are suffering from catastrophic hunger (IPC Phase 5) and starvation.

Israel’s deprivation of water in Gaza is act of genocide – Human Rights Watch

The Human Rights Watch report said the Israeli government stopped water being piped into Gaza and cut off electricity and restricted fuel which meant Gaza’s own water and sanitation facilities could not be used. (AFP)

Reuters
December 19, 2024

‘What we have found is that the Israeli government is intentionally killing Palestinians in Gaza by denying them the water that they need to survive’

Israel’s campaign has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, displaced most of the 2.3 million population and reduced much of the coastal enclave to ruins


THE HAGUE: 

Human Rights Watch said on Thursday that Israel has killed thousands of Palestinians in Gaza by denying them clean water which it says legally amounts to acts of genocide and extermination.

“This policy, inflicted as part of a mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, means Israeli authorities have committed the crime against humanity of extermination, which is ongoing. This policy also amounts to an ‘act of genocide’ under the Genocide Convention of 1948,” Human Rights Watch said in its report.

Israel has repeatedly rejected any accusation of genocide, saying it has respected international law and has a right to defend itself after the cross-border Hamas-led attack from Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023 that precipitated the war.

Although the report described the deprivation of water as an act of genocide, it noted that proving the crime of genocide against Israeli officials would also require establishing their intent. It cited statements by some senior Israeli officials which it said suggested they “wish to destroy Palestinians” which means the deprivation of water “may amount to the crime of genocide.”

“What we have found is that the Israeli government is intentionally killing Palestinians in Gaza by denying them the water that they need to survive,” Lama Fakih, Human Rights Watch Middle East director told a press conference.

Human Rights Watch is the second major rights group in a month to use the word genocide to describe the actions of Israel in Gaza, after Amnesty International issued a report that concluded Israel was committing genocide.

Both reports came just weeks after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense chief for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. They deny the allegations.

The 1948 Genocide Convention, enacted in the wake of the mass murder of Jews in the Nazi Holocaust, defines the crime of genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”

The 184-page Human Rights Watch report said the Israeli government stopped water being piped into Gaza and cut off electricity and restricted fuel which meant Gaza’s own water and sanitation facilities could not be used.

As a result, Palestinians in Gaza had access to only a few liters of water a day in many areas, far below the 15-liter-threshold for survival, the group said. Israel launched its air and ground war in Gaza after Hamas-led fighters attacked Israeli communities across the border 14 months ago, killing 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel’s campaign has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, displaced most of the 2.3 million population and reduced much of the coastal enclave to ruins.

Amnesty honours Gaza journalists with 2024 Human Rights Defenders Award


December 12, 2024 

by MEMO



Amnesty Australia has recognised Palestinian journalists with its 2024 Human Rights Defender Awards.

Naming a number of journalist who have continued to highlight the situation in Gaza during the ongoing genocide, Amnesty International said the award was also for all those who have lost their lives while covering events on the ground.

“To honour the extraordinary resilience, bravery and courage of journalists working in the most perilous conditions,” the rights group explained.

Bisan Owda, Plestia Alaqad, Al Jazeera’s Anas Al-Sharif were named during the ceremony. While journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin was also honoured individually for his work.

The rights watchdog said this year’s award recognise journalists based on the significant impact of their fearless reporting on the genocide in Gaza, their innovative use of social media and citizen journalism to challenge traditional narratives and their ability to inspire action for justice.

Al-Sharif dedicated the award to “every Palestinian journalist who has covered the events and crimes of the Israeli occupation in light of the ongoing war and siege on the Gaza strip” including his colleague, wounded Al Jazeera cameraman Fadi Al-Wahidi.

He noted that he is receiving this award on the commemoration of his father’s death in their home as a result of Israeli army fire a year ago. “I dedicate this award to the soul of my father; may God have mercy on him,” Al-Sharif said.

Shihab-Eldin said: “I am honoured and humbled to be included amongst the bravest journalists I know who are risking it all to keep us informed. They have taught me so much about what it means to bear witness, and what it means to be human.”

While Alaqad dedicated her award to “every Palestinian child… every mother who refuses to give up hope, and every voice that refuses to be silenced.”

Gaza protesters disrupt Blinken's testimony in Congress

December 11, 2024 

by MEMO

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators with their hands painted the colour of blood hold a demonstration to call for a ceasefire in Gaza as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, United States on December 11, 2024

 [Celal Güneş/Anadolu Agency]

A group of pro-Palestinian protestors repeatedly disrupted Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s testimony, Wednesday, before a House of Representatives panel on the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Anadolu Agency reports.

One protester shouted: “Bloody Blinken” and “Butcher of Gaza” as Blinken began his remarks.

A second demonstrator, holding a sign that read: “Stop Bombing Kids”, yelled: “Stop killing kids in Gaza” and “I don’t know how you can sleep at night when you’re killing so many kids in tents.” The protester was arrested and removed from the chamber.

Blinken continued his testimony, despite the disruptions.

The US, Israel’s primary supporter, provides nearly 70 per cent of its weapons, along with significant diplomatic backing. The support has drawn growing criticism amid the escalating civilian death toll in the Gaza Strip from Israel’s ongoing military onslaught.

Israel’s offensive has killed more than 44,800 people, mostly women and children, since a 7 October, 2023 attack by the Palestinian Resistance group, Hamas.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last month for Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his former Defence chief, Yoav Gallant, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on Gaza.

Opinion

Haaretz tells Israelis, ‘It’s time to choose life over death’

December 18, 2024 

by MEMO

Thousands of Israelis gathering with banners and Israel flags to protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government for not signing the ceasefire agreement with Gaza in Tel Aviv, Israel on September 14, 2024 

[Saeed Qaq – Anadolu Agency]

The self-declared “liberal and progressive” Israeli newspaper Haaretz is committed to “in-depth reporting and insightful analysis” of Israel’s domestic issues and international affairs. And despite it being founded by “Zionist immigrants” in Jerusalem in 1919, it is true to say that you can read criticism of the Zionist state and its leadership on its pages of a kind that would be self-censored by the so-called free press in the West.

It comes as no surprise, therefore, that in what one reader has called a “courageous” editorial yesterday, Haaretz reminded its readers that what is being seen today in Gaza is “terrifying”, under a headline that proclaims: “Israel has reached a pivotal crossroads in Gaza. It’s time to choose life over death.”

It goes on to point out that, “Two million people in Gaza, the overwhelming majority of whom are innocent civilians, are witnessing one of the most dangerous humanitarian disasters in the world today.” This, said Haaretz, is because around “90 per cent of them have been displaced from their homes and are crowded into large tent cities, without sufficient food, clean water, health services, or means to face the winter.” All of this is happening while the Israeli army continues to bomb them killing “dozens” almost daily, “including many women and children.”

Most “Gazans” — the newspaper doesn’t describe them as Palestinians, despite its “liberal and progressive” credentials — “have lost their sense of personal security, honour, privacy, property and hope for the future. They have lost everything that makes human beings human.”

The editorial noted that “Israel created a ‘humanitarian zone’ where Gazans could flee to save their lives.” However, the IDF has recently intensified its bombing, even in the humanitarian zone, killing “dozens of civilians”. Indeed, said Haaretz, “Two days ago, the IDF admitted in response to a question from Haaretz that this isn’t a safe zone, but merely a ‘safer’ place than other parts of Gaza.”

According to the Israeli newspaper, “The bloody Netanyahu government, which dragged Israel into the worst disaster in its history, has also failed in this war — namely, in its ability to provide its citizens with security while complying with Israeli and international law and preserving Israel’s image and standing overseas and Israeli society’s moral backbone.”

Instead, said Haaretz, the government is relying on Israelis to accept “revenge, at the expense of tens of thousands of Gazan civilians as well as 100 Israeli hostages.” It calls out the “abysmal apathy” of “most Israelis” to the “disaster [that] the government is perpetrating in their name.” In a damning critique of Israeli society, it notes that, “On social media, thousands have even voiced joy over the terrible human suffering in Gaza.” The need to fight Hamas, it added, “cannot justify everything the IDF has done” in the coastal enclave.

The “pivotal crossroads” that Israel is now facing, concluded the editorial, is this: “One road would lead to the hostages’ deaths, more war crimes, a cycle of bloodshed and revenge, international isolation and a deep economic crisis. The other would lead to saving the hostages who are still alive, ending the war and starting the reconstruction of both Israel and Gaza. At this moment, the Israeli public must take to the streets and demand, using every nonviolent tactic possible, that the government choose the right road.”

READ: Stray dogs mauling bodies of lifeless Palestinians in northern Gaza amid Israeli assault, video shows

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.

Lebanon ceasefire panel meets as Israeli settlers cross border

Three weeks since the ceasefire came into effect, Israel has shown no signs of ending its violations in southern Lebanon as it continues to destroy villages.

The New Arab Staff
19 December, 2024

Naqoura's mayor said the destruction in his town had doubled since the ceasefire came into effect with Israel's ongoing attacks [AFP/Getty]

A committee overseeing the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah met Wednesday, as Israeli forces bulldozed a village and settlers crossed into southern Lebanon in a gross violation of the deal.

The committee monitoring the US-brokered deal, which came into effect on 27 November, met in Ras Naqoura near the Israeli border. The multinational panel includes generals from the US - which is leading the committee - France, Israel, Lebanon, and the UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL.

The meeting took place as Israel continued to demolish Lebanese border towns and villages, violating the ceasefire with airstrikes and shelling. Under the deal, Israel has 60 days by the end of January to withdraw its military entities still present in parts of southern Lebanon.

Israeli drones and war planes have also continued to conduct reconnaissance flights over the Lebanese capital.

"The United States, France, UNIFIL, LAF, and IDF met again on December 18 in Naqoura. UNIFIL hosted the meeting, with the United States serving as chair, assisted by France, and joined by the LAF and IDF," a joint statement read.

"The Mechanism will continue to meet in this format regularly and coordinate closely to support implementation of the ceasefire agreement and UNSCR 1701."

UN Security Council Resolution 1701 was adopted in 2006 to end the summer war that year between Hezbollah and Israel was but was never implemented.

Hezbollah and Israel began firing at each other on 8 October last year in a fallout over the Gaza war, but the fighting escalated into a full-blown war on 23 September, which saw swathes of southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs and the eastern Baalbek-Hermel region devastated.

Israeli forces then invaded southern Lebanon on 1 October, claiming it was a "limited incursion" to push Hezbollah back from the border.

Thousands were killed in Lebanon and the war triggered the country’s worst displacement crisis with more than a million being forced to leave their homes.

While the Israeli military gradually pulls out of south Lebanon, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) must be deployed in their thousands, especially south of the Litani River, UNIFIL’s area of operations. Hezbollah must move its fighters and heavy weaponry behind the river.

Related

Will Lebanon's army be able to uphold the ceasefire with Israel?

Analysis

Dario Sabaghi

'Naqoura is 70 percent destroyed'

Continuing its scorched earth policy, Israel claims it is clearing southern Lebanon of all installations belonging to Hezbollah, and says its airstrikes are targeting the Shia militant group’s military infrastructure and personnel.

While the LAF and UNIFIL are both obliged to dismantle what remains of Hezbollah’s infrastructure in the region, and the Lebanese army must stop any weapons being smuggled into the country and disarm all militias, observers say Israel is taking advantage of the 60-day deadline to destroy what it can.

Israel had warned that it would continue to target what it deemed "active threats" from Lebanon even if a ceasefire deal was reached. A side deal between Washington and Tel Aviv is believed to have given Israel the right to strike if the LAF and UNIFIL do not act after being informed of an "imminent threat."


In the village of Naqoura, where UNIFIL is based and where the panel met on Wednesday, the situation is bleak like in much of southern Lebanon, where entire towns and villages were flattened in Israel’s relentless offensive.

The mayor of Naqoura, Abbas Awada, revealed that the percentage of destruction in his town increased from 35 percent to 70 percent after the ceasefire came into effect, expressing his surprise at the lack of action by UNIFIL forces to stop the Israeli violations.

"The Israeli enemy is systematically destroying the town located only three kilometres from the border, where the percentage of destruction has risen to 70 percent since the truce took effect," Awada said in a statement, according to Lebanese media.

He said the municipality is unable to inspect the full extent of the damage yet as the Israeli army continues to prevent residents from entering the village.

Since 27 November, the Israeli military has frequently warned people from approaching the no-go border zone as long as Israeli forces remain there. So far, Israeli troops have started pulling out of the town of Khiam, making way for LAF soldiers to move in.

"The videos and photos received from there [Naqoura] confirm that the Israeli enemy army brought its vehicles to bulldoze homes, shops, and civilian facilities in an attempt to take revenge on the town and its people…despite the cessation of hostilities," Awada said.

Awada said he was surprised by the lack of action show by UNIFIL and authorities in charge of monitoring the ceasefire, despite the UN peacekeepers being located there.

Related

For the people of southern Lebanon, the war is far from over

MENA

Alex Martin Astley

Israeli settlers cross into Lebanon

In another serious violation of the ceasefire deal, a group of far-right Israeli settlers from the Uri Tzafon group crossed into southern Lebanon from Israel and put up a tent settlement.

The Times of Israel reported 10 days ago that the group, advocating the annexation and settlement of southern Lebanon as they claim it is part of their "Promised Land", said they had crossed the border and established an outpost.


The Israeli army said it removed the group of settlers on Wednesday, saying the "serious incident" was under investigation.

"The preliminary investigation indicates that the civilians indeed crossed the blue line by a few metres, and after being identified by IDF forces, they were removed from the area," said a statement by the Israeli military.

"Any attempt to approach or cross the border into Lebanese territory without coordination poses a life-threatening risk and interferes with the IDF's ability to operate in the area and carry out its mission," the statement said.

The Times of Israel said the area the group claimed to have entered was in the no-go zone still being occupied by Israeli forces.

Uri Tzafon, or The South Lebanon Settlement Movement, was established after a similar extremist movement was formed among Israeli settlers, seeking to reoccupy and settle the war-torn Gaza Strip. The latter is backed by far-right and hardline parliamentarian settlers in Israel such as Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 at the height of the Lebanese Civil War and occupied parts of the south until withdrawing in May 2000.

Israel military confirms settlers crossed into Lebanon, established outpost before dispersing them

December 18, 2024 

Middle East Monitor – 


A general view of the southern Lebanese village of Zahire as seen from the northern Israeli village of Aramsha near the Lebanon border on December 04, 2024 [Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency]

Israel’s military has confirmed that a group of illegal Jewish settlers crossed over the border into southern Lebanon earlier this month, claiming that soldiers were forced to remove them due to an ongoing ceasefire deal with Beirut.

Earlier this month, Israeli settlers – led by the extremist settler group, Uri Tzafon – claimed to have crossed the northern border into Lebanese territory and established an outpost settlement. The Israeli military, however, said at the time that those claims were false.

Occupation forces have now acknowledged and confirmed that the illegal settlers did enter Lebanon and attempt to establish an encampment, according to Reuters news agency, stating today that the military’s “preliminary investigation indicates that the civilians indeed crossed the blue line by a few metres, and after being identified by IDF forces, they were removed from the area”.

The alleged dispersal of the settlers by Occupation soldiers was reportedly due to the area being a closed military zone, with the Israeli military stressing that “Any attempt to approach or cross the border into Lebanese territory without coordination poses a life-threatening risk and interferes with the IDF’s ability to operate in the area and carry out its mission.”

According to The Times of Israel, a military source has claimed that the army has, in recent weeks, worked to block various entry points into Lebanon along Israel’s border fence.

READ: Israel violates ceasefire in Lebanon 12 times on Tuesday, bringing total violations to 248

UN Security Council denounces illegal Israel settlements in Palestine

December 18, 2024

Middle East Monitor – 

Members of the United Nations Security Council attend a meeting on the situation in the Middle East at the United Nations headquarters on December 17, 2024 in New York City [Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images]

UN Security Council members warned on Wednesday about Israel’s illegal settlements and violent actions in the Occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, Anadolu Agency reports.

Some demanded a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Khaled Khiari, UN assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East and Asia and the Pacific, told the Security Council of the “relentless Israel settlement expansion near the Occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem,” and said that “in Gaza, the ceasefire is long overdue.”

“The continued collective punishment of the Palestinian people is unjustifiable. The relentless bombardment of Gaza by Israeli forces, the larger number of civilian casualties, the blanket destruction of Palestinian neighbourhoods and the worsening of the humanitarian situation are horrific,” he said.

Expressing deep concern about the continued illegal expansions by Israeli settlers, Khiari said it fuels tensions and impedes the possibility of an “independent, democratic, contiguous and sovereign Palestinian State”.

“I reiterate that all Israeli settlements in the Occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have no legal validity and are in flagrant violation of international law and UN resolutions,” he said.

The UK’s deputy, James Kariuki, pointed to the “shocking increase in cases of acute malnutrition in children” in Gaza, and said, “Gaza now has the highest number of child amputees per capita in the world.”

Urging Israel to do more to protect civilians and abide by international obligations, Kariuki said: “The UK calls on Israel to stop settlement expansion on Palestinian land, which is illegal under international law and to hold violent settlers to account.”

“Continued instability and settler violence in the West Bank should not be tolerated by Israel and the culture of impunity must end,” he said.

He rejected attempts at the “forcible transfer of Gazans from or within Gaza”, and said: “There must be no reduction of the territory of the Gaza Strip. Israel’s expansion of military infrastructure and the destruction of civilian buildings and agricultural land across the Strip is unacceptable.”

Switzerland’s envoy, Pascale Baeriswyl, denounced the starvation of Gazans, “the use of which as a method of warfare constitutes a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.”

She demanded an immediate ceasefire and condemned Israeli officials’ statements that announced plans to expand illegal settlements in Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Russian envoy, Vassily Nebenzia, noted the US’ repeated vetoes on ceasefire resolutions at the Security Council and claimed that the reason is to “make sure that the Israeli military operation can continue in Gaza, and therefore that the lives of hostages continue being endangered.”

Describing Israel’s actions in the Occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem as “illegal”, he said it also violates relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions.

“We are particularly concerned by the statements made by the Israeli officials about forcibly changing the demographics of Gaza so as to recolonise the Strip,” he said.

China’s deputy envoy, Geng Shuang, urged the Council to use all options “in its toolbox and taking all necessary actions to end the conflict in Gaza, and urge the relevant country not to block Council actions anymore,” referring to the US.

Geng demanded Israel “immediately cease military operations in Gaza, fulfil its obligation on international humanitarian law, lift the blockade of Gaza and restrictions on humanitarian access.”

US envoy, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, voiced concern that “Israeli actions in the West Bank undercut the Palestinian Authority’s ability to meet the needs of the Palestinian people, and more broadly, dampen the prospects of a two-state solution.”

“We reiterate our position that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are an obstacle to the achievement of a two-state solution,” she said, adding that Israel’s illegal settlements are “inconsistent with international law and only serves to weaken Israeli security”.

She highlighted “alarming” reports of a record number of Palestinians killed in the Occupied West Bank and urged Israel to “intervene and stop them from, better yet, prevent them in the first place.”

“We urge Israel to halt efforts to legalise outposts in the West Bank and to do everything possible to de-escalate tensions and hold all perpetrators of violence accountable, no matter the background of the perpetrator or the victim,” she said.

READ: Israel has killed at least 12,800 Palestinian students since October 2023

Palestinian detainees go on hunger strike in protest at conditions

December 18, 2024 

Palestinian prisoners were brought to Abu Youssef Al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah in south of Gaza as a result of the torture inflicted upon them during detention by Israeli forces in inhumane conditions [Firas Al-Shaer]

Palestinian prisoners held in Israel’s Menashe detention camp have gone on hunger strike in protest at the harsh conditions in the camp, the Palestinian Information Centre has reported. According to the Detainees’ and Ex-Detainees’ Commission and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society, the detainees told their lawyers of their protest during a video conference call in one of the occupation regime’s courts.

The two organisations said in a joint statement today that 100 detainees are being held in Menashe camp as of yesterday. The pointed out that the camp is one of several established by the occupation regime since the escalation of its arrest campaigns in the occupied West Bank since the onset of the genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza in October 2023. Menashe is in the north of the West Bank near Salem camp and is run by the occupation army. So too are the Etzion and Huwara detention centres, which were established during the second intifada (2000-2005). The conditions in the latter two camps are said to be among the worst of all the Israeli detention centres.

The joint statement highlighted the fact that there are dozens of reports from human rights groups documenting the harsh and degrading detention conditions over the years. These have now, it is reported, got worse since October 2023. Torture and abuse are said to be a feature of life for detainees, especially in the Etzion camp.

One detainee told his lawyer through the court that the camp does not provide warm water, not even during severe cold spells, and it lacks a clinic, with neither a doctor nor a nurse on site. Some detainees suffer from health issues while all suffer from hunger and a shortage of adequate clothing.

Despite numerous calls from specialist institutions to close the Etzion and Huwara camps, the occupation regime insists on using them for the army’s abuse and torture of detainees. Instead of closing such “torture camps”, the Israeli regime is expanding the network of army-run camps built to house Palestinians from Gaza.

The detainees’ organisations stressed that lawyers are making every effort to have the conditions within such camps improved, and for detainees to be allowed visits from relatives, something that is usually denied.

 Environment

New Delhi is suffocating

Wednesday 18 December 2024, by NPA Ecology Commission

After a scorching summer, peaking at 47°C, the 25 million inhabitants of the megacity have been suffocating under thick smog since mid-November. Its composition in fine particles is 60 times higher than the danger limits retained by the WHO, Reporterre informs us . A state of emergency has been declared.

The most important measure, closing all schools, does not solve anything. Quite the opposite, since the housing of the vast majority of the population does not allow for effective confinement. This measure also deprives the mass of children of a daily meal usually provided by the school. And when this pollution diminishes, we remain well above the limits that can be tolerated by human organisms. Babies are particularly vulnerable and hospitals are completely overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster.

Agricultural burning, industry and vehicle traffic

Traditional burning of rice fields throughout the region has been pointed out, but alternatives to these practices are only in the draft stage. The high industrial density is to blame. The vast majority of this industry remains linked to coal, with all the well-known consequences. And here, as everywhere on the planet, private cars and motorized two-wheelers congest everything. The exceptional population density obviously makes the situation worse. The inhabitants of New Delhi are suffering greatly. The poorest are on the front line.

Health disaster in India and Pakistan

Globally, in 2019, the WHO (World Health Organization) estimated that 4.2 million premature deaths were caused by outdoor air pollution in cities and rural areas. The health effects of aerosols vary depending on the size and chemical composition of the particles. The largest (2.5 to 10 μm ) impact respiratory health. The finest (2.5 μm or less) can penetrate very deep into the respiratory system and even pass into the bloodstream, causing cardiovascular diseases. The entire region of India and Pakistan is suffering the double whammy: increased aerosols in the atmosphere and extreme heat wave.

Modi’s climate inaction

Modi is displaying the goal of carbon neutrality by 2070, which means he is postponing any significant action indefinitely. However, the Indian economy is more than 70 per cent linked to fossil fuels, 45 per cent to coal alone. And India will further increase its carbon emissions (+8.3 per cent in 2023, +4.6 per cent forecast for 2024). There is no doubt that Modi will feel strengthened in his options by the re-election of Donald Trump.

The latest COP in Baku further buries the 2015 Paris COP and its stated objective of containing global warming to +1.5°C, its inoperative character, with its restricted and non-binding recommendations.

But everywhere, including in New Delhi where families are organizing, there is a growing demand to break with climate inaction. The race is under way.

Published in the weekly L’Anticapitaliste on Thursday, December 12, 2024

Attached documents

• new-delhi-is-suffocating_a8785.pdf (PDF - 899.7 KiB)
  Extraction PDF [->article8785]

• NPA Ecology Commission

International Viewpoint is published under the responsibility of the Bureau of the Fourth International. Signed articles do not necessarily reflect editorial policy. Articles can be reprinted with acknowledgement, and a live link if possible.

REST IN POWER, @ COMRADE 

To Memodio (1982-2024)

Dec

18

2024

comments

From Ramalc - Red Antimilitarista de América Latina y el Caribe
December 4, 2024

We celebrate having known him, the shared struggles, the seeds planted. We celebrate the coherence and consistency of which he always gave an example without any pretentiousness. The clarity of his words and that unmatched sense of corrosive humor towards everything that was power and militarism (which are often the same thing). He was a vegan when it was not fashionable, an anarchist, an antimilitarist, conscientious objector, insubordinate, and fruitarian. He was a tireless fanziner. In all these facets he was known and recognized for the commitment and heart he put into each struggle.

In particular, he contributed to the development of the antimilitarist culture that abounds in the Chilean region, despite the fact that the militarist power always denies and hides it, actively participating in the antimilitarist and conscientious objector organization Ni Casco Ni Uniforme, among other spaces. Like Memodio before, people today do not attend the “calls” to the SMO.

His fanzine work is abundant: Buena Influencia, Nueve Vidas, and his Distro of (A) and punk material: Buena Influencia, as well as the distro / distributor of HC / Punk material called Siempre Juntos, among other initiatives that he carried out. His animal and vegan struggle is remarkable and we must emphasize his fruitarian militancy because he described himself that way. "Hateful but also loving too," a friend described him. We say this from the struggles, commitments, and projects we share, both as friends and comrades.

For all this we celebrate having known him and if we write this is because we believe that his life should be known for everything he contributed to so many struggles and to our lives. To Memodio (Guillermo Díaz) from our heart and struggle.

Memodio, Guillermo Díaz March 10, 1982 in Maipú - November 16, 2024 Maipú

Written collectively by those of us who value having known Memodio, friends and comrades. Also from the antimilitarist assembly of the Chilean region, part of the antimilitarist network of Latin America and the Caribbean Ramalc.

December 2024.