Number of Palestinians who died in Israeli jails since October highest in decades: Report


Israeli soldiers stand by a truck packed with bound and blindfolded Palestinians in Gaza, December 8, 2023.

The number of Palestinians who have died in Israeli jails since October 7 is the highest since 1967, a report says.

The Commission for Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society said in a report on Wednesday that Israeli authorities have been torturing Palestinians at a level without precedent since that October day.

Israel has been holding more than 9,400 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, along with thousands from the besieged Gaza Strip and hundreds from the 1948-occupied land since October, the two groups said.

Palestinians recently released by Israel have recounted suffering due to the inhuman treatment and abuse at the hands of Israeli jailers. They spoke of starvation, systematic medical negligence, isolation and denial of basic rights.

“Detainees are subjected to torture and various forms of abuse, including sexual assault and rape,” the report said.

Israeli authorities said earlier in June that they had begun transferring Palestinians from Sde Teiman, a former military base in the Negev desert, after groups demanded the closure of the site.

At least 18 Palestinians along with an unknown number from Gaza have died in Israeli custody since October.

A UN report, prepared by an independent commission of inquiry set up by the UN human rights commission, has accused Israel of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity as well as carrying out a war of extermination against the Palestinian people in Gaza.

The finding suggests Israel deliberately and systematically targeted Palestinian civilians in breach of both international humanitarian and human rights laws.


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Russia urges its citizens not to travel to Lebanon

Speaking in an interview with Rossiya 24 TV channel, Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Rudakov urged Russians to wait untill the situation in the country calms down.

Cross-border tension between the Israeli regime and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, continuing since the Gaza war in October, has escalated in recent weeks, stoking fears of an all-out war. The exchange of fire has led to the evacuation of thousands of people from areas in northern occupied Palestinian lands.

The diplomat said an all-out conflict between Israel and Lebanon is “possible,” adding that the embassy has an action plan in such a scenario.

Rudakov emphasized that right now “there are no reasons for serious panic,” adding that the diplomatic mission continues to operate normally and takes the necessary security measures for its employees.

MNA

Yemen releases footage of striking Israel ship with ‘hypersonic ballistic missile’



Frame grab from footage released by Yemen’s Armed Forces on June 26, 2024, shows their deployment of a “hypersonic ballistic missile” against an Israeli ship.

Yemen’s Armed Forces have released footage depicting their deployment of a “hypersonic ballistic missile” against an Israeli ship in the Arabian Sea.

The forces released the video on Wednesday, identifying the missile in question as “Hatem-2” and the vessel against which it was deployed as “MSC SARAH V.”

The statement accompanying the video noted that the footage’s release marked the first time ever when the projectile was being revealed.

“The hit was accurate,” it also said of the operation.

The statement went on to list some of the features of the missile such as its solid-fuel propulsion, intelligent control system, and its maneuverability capability.

It said “Hatem-2” had “several generations with different ranges” and attributed its production to the Yemeni Military Manufacturing Authority.

Since October 7, when the Israeli regime began waging a genocidal war against the Gaza Strip, the Yemeni forces have been staging numerous operations targeting Israeli ships or those heading towards the ports of the occupied Palestinian territories.

The Israeli war has so far claimed the lives of more than 37,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured over 86,300 others.

The Yemeni forces have vowed to keep up their strikes as long as the Israeli regime sustained the brutal military onslaught and a simultaneous siege that it has been enforcing against Gaza.

Wednesday’s video did not mark the first time, when the forces were revealing deployment of new projectiles and other military hardware in their October-present anti-Israeli operations.


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New Israeli aggression kills 2 Syrian civilians

“At approximately 11:40 p.m. on Wednesday evening, the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial aggression from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting a number of points in the southern region, our air defense systems intercepted the missiles and shot down a number of them.,” a military source said in a statement to Syrian official news agency SANA.

The source added that “The Israeli aggression resulted in the martyrdom of two civilians and the injury one military personnel and some material losses.”

MNA

Israel continues bombing Palestinian civilians in Gaza

The Israeli regime continues its bloody onslaught on the Gaza Strip by carrying out more air and artillery strikes against the blockaded territory.

The latest Israeli attack on Wednesday night targeted a residential building in central Gaza, killing at least 2 Palestinians and injuring several others.

In the flashpoint southern Gaza City of Rafah, Israeli military targeted various areas by airstrike and artillery fire.

The central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah also bombed in latest air raids.

In the past 24 hours, more civilians were killed in Israeli artillery and air attacks targeting central and northern Gaza.

Meanwhile, the International Network for Aid, Relief and Assistance warned about the level of destruction in Gaza saying almost all of the territory is totally “uninhabitable.”

Arwa Damon, founder of the International Network for Aid, Relief and Assistance (INARA), said that on a recent trip to Gaza City to distribute aid, she saw widespread destruction of “every single aspect of life that would make the Gaza Strip inhabitable.”

“Every single other part of this tiny stretch of land has been rendered totally and completely uninhabitable,” she said.

More than 37,700 people have been killed since the Israeli regime launched its genocidal war on Gaza in early October, last year.

Some 16,000 of those are children and this is while UNICEF says bodies of thousands of missing children remain buried under the rubble.

UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Ted Chaiban said on Wednesday during a UN Security Council that Palestinian children continue to endure “incomprehensible suffering,” particularly those in the Gaza Strip amid a “staggering” scale of death and destruction there.

Also speaking at the Security Council meeting was Palestine’s UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour who recalled that Israel has killed more children in recent months than in all armed conflict globally over the past 4 years.

He estimated that nearly 16,000 Palestinian children were killed in Israel’s aggression against Gaza while another 21,000 are missing.

The Gaza Strip, once a vibrant place where children set world records in sports, has now been reduced to a graveyard, Mansour said, calling for “collective resolve and responsibility to pressure Israel to stop the madness.”

Iranians to show might of Islamic Republic in Fri. elections

On the fortieth day after the death of the Iranian President Sayyed Ebrahim Raeisi and his companions in the tragic incident, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah addressed the memorial held in Tehran to mourn the martyrs through a recorded video message, Al-Manar TV English website reported.

Nasrallah offered again, on behalf of all the Resistance fighters and factions, the martyrs families and the Iranian leadership and people deep condolences on the major loss.

Undoubtedly, the incident was very painful, yet believers always accept the fate decided by Holy God, Sayyed Nasrallah affirmed, adding that, as Imam Khamenei says, threats must be turned to be chances.

Sayyed Nasrallah recalled the martyrdom of General Qassem Suleimani and Hajj Abu Mahid Al-Muhandis as a hard experience, stressing that it was exploited to invigorate the Umma and the Islamic Revolution in Iran.

The Iranian people proved, in face of this woe, during the funerals of the martyrs to be loyal and wise and that the Islamic Republic is strong and consistent.

Such incidents may destabilize any country, but Iran emerged from this experience powerful and honorable, Sayyed Nasrallah emphasized.

The Iranian people will also prove through its participation in the presidential elections this power as well, according to Sayyed Nasrallah, hoping Holy God helps Iran hold the elections successfully.

Sayyed Nasrallah highlighted the strategic role of the Islamic Republic in the region with respect to the Palestinian cause and the issues of Resistance and liberation.

The Islamic Republic is the impregnable dam in face of the world tyrants, Sayyed Nasrallah emphasized.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi and members of the accompanying delegation, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, were martyred on May 19, 2024, after a helicopter carrying him and his entourage crashed in Varzaqan region in the northwestern province of East Azarbaijan.

MNA

US provided $6.5 billion in security aid to Israel since Gaza war: Report


Pro-Palestine activists demonstrate outside the Capitol Building in Washington on April 20, 2024, as the US House of Representatives prepares to vote on the approval of aid for Ukraine and Israel worth $95 billion. (Photo by AP)

The United States has reportedly provided $6.5 billion in security assistance to Israel since the occupying regime launched its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.

Citing an unnamed senior official of US President Joe Biden’s administration, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that almost half of the amount was provided last month alone.

“This is a massive, massive undertaking,” the official said, adding that the figure was announced during discussions between senior White House officials and Israel’s minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant in Washington this week.

The report said the US official had disclosed the amount “as an indication of the depth and complexity of US support for Israel.”

It further said that the remarks counter claims by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Washington had placed “bottlenecks” in its arms flow.

In a video posted to X on Tuesday, Netanyahu alleged that the Biden administration was “withholding” weapons and ammunition bound for Tel Aviv. 

Israel waged its brutal Gaza onslaught on October 7 following a historic operation by the Palestinian Hamas resistance group against the usurping entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

However, almost nine months into the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has failed to achieve its objectives in Gaza despite killing at least 37,718 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring over 86,377 others.

The US remains Israel’s most important ally and biggest supplier of arms. It has provided Israel with weapons and intelligence support during the Gaza war, and blocked UN resolutions calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in the besieged Palestinian territory.


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US prestige badly damaged in wake of Yemen ops against Israel

n a televised speech broadcast live from the Yemeni capital Sana’a on Thursday evening, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi condemned the unconditional support of the US and the UK for the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip.

He said while Israel is extremely getting creative in perpetrating all kinds of crimes against the Gazans, the continuing US and British support for the regime is “reprehensible”. 

“The heinous crimes of the Zionist regime across the Gaza Strip have exposed the extent of the enemy’s brutality, aggression, crime, cruelty and hatred,” Houthi said. 

He cited the scene of an Israeli military dog attacking an elderly Palestinian woman inside her home in Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp a few weeks ago. 

The Ansarullah leader described Israel as an implacable enemy in every sense of the word, with which no party can coexist.

Yemen’s naval units, he said, will continue their strikes until the Israeli onslaught against Gaza ends, and its blockade on the coastal territory is lifted.

“The struggle against the Zionist enemy is the right and wise choice, for which there is no other viable option,” he added, according to Press TV.

The Ansarullah leader lambasted Arab countries for turning a blind eye to the suffering of the Palestinian nation, and maintaining trade ties with Israel.

The Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, he said, are “starving to death as the enemy is preventing food from getting into the territory”. 

“All Arab and Muslim countries should seriously and sincerely try to support the Palestinians, and provide them with anything they need,” he said.

Houthi also rebuked the Arab media for failing to bring to light the misery of the Palestinians and the hunger they are enduring, and to expose the “true nature of the Zionist enemy and its sponsors”.

“Arab countries were expected to launch media, diplomatic and political campaigns in support of the Palestinians,” he said.

Houthi, instead, heaped praise on Arab resistance groups for their shows of solidarity with the Palestinians through launching military operations against Israeli targets and students in the West for holding protests on university campuses. 

He cited ambushes being carried out by Gaza-based resistance fighters, saying the Israeli military is “losing big” after more than eight months of a ferocious invasion of the enclave. 

“The Israeli enemy has failed to achieve any of its declared objectives in Gaza despite having massacred so many Palestinians there,” he added.

Houthi also praised Lebanon’s Hezbollah, saying its operations have hit Israeli settlers hard in the north and wrecked the regime’s economy.

Israel, he said, is seriously afraid of being drawn into a military confrontation with Hezbollah.

Houthi then lauded Yemeni armed forces for their recent multiple joint operations with Iraqi resistance groups against Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea and Israeli targets in the occupied territories.

He reserved a special mention for Yemen’s domestically-developed Toophan-1 (Storm-1) drone, used in a recent operation against the Liberia-flagged bulk carrier MV Tutor in the southern Red Sea on June 12, calling it highly effective in damaging Israeli-affiliated vessels.

Toophan-1 reportedly comes in three variants, can carry various payloads and its varied propulsion systems enables it to cover a wide range of power levels.

The basic variant of the USV can carry a payload of up to 150 kilograms, cruises at the maximum speed of 35 nautical miles per hour.

Toophan-1 drone boat is controlled by and steered by an operator toward its target. It could also be programmed to move towards the designated target and detonate in its close proximity if needed. 

The unmanned surface vehicle is capable of destroying fixed and mobile targets as well as naval infrastructure, and its explosive payload can deal substantial damage to a broad range of vessels.

The Ansarullah leader finally called upon all walks of the Yemeni society to pour onto the streets across the country on Friday and reiterate their solidarity with oppressed Palestinians.

MNA

Canadian university sues own students over pro-Palestine encampment

In an unusual, strange and rare move, a Canadian university has filed a lawsuit against its own students seeking $1.5 million in damages for continuing its pro-Palestine encampment.

A court document published by the University of Waterloo said administrators sought “damages in the amount of $1,500,000, including damages for trespass, damage to property, intimidation, and ejectment.”

The lawsuit names “persons unknown” and seven specific people by name, and includes their email addresses.

The university alleges the student encampment has damaged the school’s reputation, driven up administrative and operational costs for the university and depreciated the university’s property values.

The suit calls on the encampment participants to stop camping and never do so again on campus.

Also, the defendants are directed to restore the school’s property to the way it was on May 12, including the removal of all fences, tents, shelters, barriers, rubbish, and more.

Participants of the encampment have also been told to stop interfering with the University’s Senate and Board of Governors meetings, and any other school meetings.

The document includes conditions for the court to allow Waterloo Regional Police or any police service to remove the encampment and arrest the participants.

In a statement at the time, Occupy UWaterloo said they “refused to sit idly by and watch our university support genocide with our tuition dollars!”

“For seven months the university has lied to, dismissed and surveilled students calling for divestment and an end to UW’s financial and academic ties to the genocidal and apartheid entity of Israel.”

The University of Waterloo, like many universities across North America, has been accused of double standards when it comes to Israel’s savage military campaign in Gaza.

A social media post from the encampment says, “Incredibly shameful that @UWaterloo is choosing to sue their own student body protesting their university’s complicity in a genocide that’s 9 months in and has claimed the lives of over 40,000.”

The post goes on to say, “History will absolve us. But you admin, how will you be remembered?”

The university move has also drawn widespread ridicule from many scholars and academics.

 Emmett Macfarlane, a professor in the Department of Political Science, said the university had alluded to incidents of harassment and intimidation in its decision to sue, but “it offers no specifics, and does not even clearly state whether the university has made a legal judgment that a law has been broken (for example criminal harassment) or if is merely responding to complainants’ perception.”

The encampment has been in place on the lawn outside Graduate House since May 13, with the participants demanding the school disclose and divest from all connections to Israel’s war against Gaza.

There are still several high-profile encampments maintaining their presence in Canada, including at the University of Toronto and McGill University in Montreal.

Both universities have indicated that they would be pushing for those to be dismantled, too.

Pro-Palestine protests by students intensified in several countries across the world, including Canada, France, Mexico, and Australia, amid a crackdown on US students and a mounting death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza.

The students are calling for an end to Israel’s war on Gaza and demanding schools divest from companies that support the Israeli regime.

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7.  Tel Aviv has also blocked water, food, and electricity to Gaza, plunging the coastal strip into a humanitarian crisis.

Hezbollah attacks 2 Israeli military headquarters

Hezbollah forces targeted an Israeli military position in Kiryat Shmona with Katyusha rockets and the regime’s Meron base with artillery and missiles.

The Resistance movement said that the anti-Israeli operations were carried out in support of the Palestinian people in the besieged Gaza Strip and in response to the regime’s fresh aggression that targeted Lebanon earlier on Tuesday.

The Lebanese Resistance movement has been conducting regular attacks since early October against the Israeli regime’s military position in retaliation for the occupying regime’s offensives against Gaza and southern Lebanon.

Israel waged its brutal war on besieged Gaza on October 7 after Hamas carried out an unprecedented operation against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

Israel has imposed a complete siege on the densely populated territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.

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