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Every accusation a confession: Israel and the double lie of ‘human shields’

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Written by Craig Mokhiber | Mondoweiss Craig Mokhiber | Mondoweiss
Published: 22 September 2024 22 September 2024

Multiple human rights reports show that Palestinian armed groups do not use human shields, but Israel does. Israel’s false claims about Palestinian human shields are just attempts to justify its own targeting of civilians.

Among the most frequently deployed weapons in Israel’s hasbara arsenal is the so-called “human shields” ruse. 

For decades now, Israel has systematically used this propaganda device as a trick to justify war crimes, to shift the blame for its crimes to others, to overcome the principle of distinction in humanitarian law, to dehumanize Palestinian victims, and to arm its Western proxies and complicit media companies with ammunition to protect Israeli impunity. 

But a chain of international investigations reveals two clear conclusions about these charges: First, Palestinian armed groups generally do not use human shields. And, secondly, Israel does.  

 

Read more at: https://mondoweiss.net/2024/09/every-accusation-a-confession-israel-and-the-double-lie-of-human-shields/

Israeli Rights Group Leader Tells UN It's Clear Netanyahu 'Does Not Want' a Hostage Deal

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Written by Jake Johnson | Common Dreams Jake Johnson | Common Dreams
Published: 05 September 2024 05 September 2024

Yuli Novak, the CEO of B'Tselem, said in an address to the U.N. body that the Netanyahu government is "cynically exploiting our collective trauma" in the wake of the October 7 Hamas-led attack to "violently advance its project of cementing Israel's control" over Palestinian land.

"To do that, it is waging war on the entire Palestinian people, committing war crimes almost daily," said Novak. "In Gaza, this has taken the form of expulsion, starvation, killing, and destruction on an unprecedented scale."

Read more at: https://www.commondreams.org/news/btselem-netanyahu-hostages

Israeli military treating West Bank as 'second combat front' after Gaza

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Written by MEE staff | Middle East Eye MEE staff | Middle East Eye
Published: 03 September 2024 03 September 2024

Major escalation in Israeli operations in territory last week was 'just the beginning', according to Israeli security officials

The Israeli military is currently treating the occupied West Bank as “the second most critical front” after its war on Gaza, according to a report in Israel Hayom on Tuesday. 

Citing Israeli security officials, the report said that recent events had triggered a major policy shift in the West Bank, an area that was previously designated as a “secondary arena” requiring “stable maintenance”. 

"The Jenin operation is just the beginning," security officials said, citing a recent escalation in the West Bank city. 

Israel has significantly stepped up its offensive in the West Bank since Wednesday, resulting in the killing of at least 30 Palestinians across Jenin, Tulkarm, Tubas and Hebron. 

The operation included drone and sniper attacks, as well as the use of military bulldozers to destroy critical infrastructure and cut off communications and resources. 

Read more at: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-military-treating-west-bank-second-combat-zone-after-gaza

Demand Oregon Treasury Comply with International Law and Divest from Genocide

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Written by Peter Miller Peter Miller
Published: 23 August 2024 23 August 2024

Palestine will soon be free, but many people of Gaza are running out of time. We must act now to stop apartheid and genocide, and at a minimum divest from structures supporting it. Please demand the Oregon Treasury and the Oregon Investment Council comply with international law, UN recommendations, Oregon legislative precedent, and its own guiding principles to divest from Israel Bonds, Caterpillar Inc., and Bank of America.

Please sign to petition the Oregon Treasury and the Oregon Investment Council (OIC) to:

1) Discontinue investments in Israel Bonds for as long as Israel remains an apartheid state;
2) Divest from Caterpillar Inc. and Bank of America while these companies are complicit in genocide; and
3) Demand the Oregon Treasury develop a human rights investment policy to prevent such investments in the future.

https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/demand-oregon-treasury-comply-with-international-law-and-divest-from-genocide

SPONSORED BY
Divestment Subcommittee of the Palestine Solidarity & BDS Working Group - Portland DSA

Mass evacuations in Gaza choke survival and severely constrain aid operations

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Written by Muhannad Hadi, Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory Muhannad Hadi, Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory
Published: 22 August 2024 22 August 2024

Civilians are exhausted and terrified, running from one destroyed place to another, with no end in sight.

This cannot continue.

International humanitarian law demands that the parties protect civilians and meet their essential needs. The way forward is as clear as it is urgent: protect civilians, release the hostages, facilitate humanitarian access, agree on a ceasefire.

 Read more at: https://www.ochaopt.org/content/mass-evacuations-gaza-choke-survival-and-severely-constrain-aid-operations

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  1. Countries fueling Israel’s Gaza war may be complicit in war crimes, experts warn
  2. Letter to Biden, Harris with American physicians’ and nurses’ observations from the Gaza Strip
  3. US medics who volunteered in Gaza demand arms embargo over ‘unbearable cruelty’ inflicted by Israel
  4. Knesset votes overwhelmingly against Palestinian statehood, days before PM’s US trip
  5. We Volunteered at a Gaza Hospital. What We Saw Was Unspeakable.
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