ALJAZEERA notes, "Our Al Jazeera Arabic colleagues are reporting that at least 63 people
were killed in strikes on two mosques in Rafah earlier tonight." Yes, Israel is attacking Rafah -- home of an estimated 1.3 million people -- by ground and air. AP notes, "On
Sunday, the White House said President Joe Biden had warned Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel should not conduct a military
operation against Hamas in Rafah without a 'credible and executable' plan to protect civilians." They also point out that they witnessed a strike on a hospital. They don't point out that that is a War Crime. Chantal da Silva (NBC NEWS) reports, "In photos captured by NBC News’ crew, multiple children could be seen
among with the injured, including a young boy with a bandaged head and
blood on his face and sweater."
Remember when the Israeli government used to lie that they weren't bombing hospitals?
Gaza remains under assault. Day 128 of the assault in the wave that began in October.
Binoy Kampmark (DISSIDENT VOICE) points out, "Bloodletting as form; murder as fashion. The ongoing campaign in Gaza
by Israel’s Defence Forces continues without stalling and restriction.
But the burgeoning number of corpses is starting to become a challenge
for the propaganda outlets: How to justify it? Fortunately for Israel,
the United States, its unqualified defender, is happy to provide cover
for murder covered in the sheath of self-defence."
CNN has explained, "The Gaza Strip is '
the most dangerous place' in the world to be a child, according to the executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund."
ABC NEWS quotes UNICEF's December 9th statement, ""The Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child.
Scores of children are reportedly being killed and injured on a daily
basis. Entire neighborhoods, where children used to play and go to
school have been turned into stacks of rubble, with no life in them."
NBC NEWS notes, "Strong majorities of all voters in the U.S. disapprove of President Joe
Biden’s handling of foreign policy and the Israel-Hamas war,
according to the latest national NBC News poll.
The erosion is most pronounced among Democrats, a majority of whom
believe Israel has gone too far in its military action in Gaza." The
slaughter continues. It has displaced over 1 million people per the US
Congressional Research Service.
Jessica Corbett (COMMON DREAMS) points out, "Academics and legal experts around the world, including Holocaust scholars, have
condemned
the six-week Israeli assault of Gaza as genocide." The death toll of
Palestinians in Gaza is grows higher and higher.
United Nations Women noted, "More than
1.9 million people -- 85 per cent of the total population of Gaza --
have
been displaced, including what UN Women estimates to be nearly 1 million
women and girls. The entire population of Gaza -- roughly 2.2 million
people -- are in crisis levels of acute food insecurity or worse." THE GUARDIAN notes, "A total of 28,176 Palestinians have been killed and 67,784 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Sunday." Months ago,
AP has noted, "About 4,000 people are reported missing."
February 7th, Jeremy Scahill explained
on DEMOCRACY NOW! that "there’s an estimated 7,000 or 8,000
Palestinians missing, many of them in graves that are the rubble of
their former home." February 5th, the United Nations' Phillipe
Lazzarini Tweeted:
And the area itself?
Isabele Debre (AP) reveals, "Israel’s
military offensive
has turned much of northern Gaza into an uninhabitable moonscape. Whole
neighborhoods have been erased. Homes, schools and hospitals have been
blasted by airstrikes and scorched by tank fire. Some buildings are
still standing, but most are battered shells."
Kieron Monks (I NEWS) reports, "More than 40 per cent of the buildings in northern Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, according to a
new study of satellite imagery
by US researchers Jamon Van Den Hoek from Oregon State University and
Corey Scher at the City University of New York. The UN gave a figure of
45 per cent of housing
destroyed or damaged across the strip in less than six weeks. The rate
of destruction is among the highest of any conflict since the Second
World War."
Rudy Chinchilla (NBC NEWS) reports:
Japan
said it was "deeply concerned" about Israeli military operations in
Rafah, following confirmation by the Israel Defense Forces that it
carried out strikes in the heavily occupied city.
In a
statement, Ministry of Foreign Affairs press secretary Kobayashi Maki
stressed the fact that more than 1 million people are sheltering in
Rafah, and that the city is crucial for the delivery of humanitarian
aid.
"As the humanitarian situation on the ground
deteriorates and the number of civilian casualties, including a large
number of children, women, and elderly people, continues to rise, it is
crucial to improve the humanitarian situation as soon as possible" and
to secure an environment allowing for humanitarian assistance, she said.
The following sites updated:
