Israel's war hysteria
Live Reporting
Poland PM says Israel should pay damages for killing of aid worker
Donald Tusk also said that Israel should apologise for the killing of Damian Sobol in Gaza and provide full information about what happened.
“We will expect … an immediate explanation of the circumstances and compensation for the victims’ relatives,” the prime minister told a news conference.
Sobol, 35, was one of seven World Central Kitchen staff members killed by Israeli strikes late on Monday, in an attack that was condemned worldwide.
40 Palestinians arrested in occupied West Bank since last night
Israeli forces detained 40 Palestinians, including three women, in raids throughout the occupied West Bank since Wednesday night, reports the Wafa news agency, citing the Palestinian Prisoners Society.
Most arrests took place in Jerusalem governorate, while others were in Ramallah, Hebron, Bethlehem, Jenin, Qalqilya, Tubas and Nablus.
The wave of arrests adds to more than 8,030 Palestinians detained in the occupied West Bank since October 7.
Gaza’s starvation looms
As Israel blocks humanitarian relief and kills the few aid workers in Gaza, Palestinians are being forced to take extreme measures to avoid starvation.
The UN says one-quarter of the people in Gaza are “one step away’ from famine” with other estimates suggesting famine has already set it.
Famine is being fuelled by the inability to bring critical food supplies into Gaza in sufficient quantities. Fears are rising the situation will worsen after Israel’s killing of seven aid workers with the food charity World Central Kitchen.
5 to 10 ‘acceptable civilian deaths’ for every fighter targeted by Israelis using AI
Two Israeli media organisations are reporting the Israeli military has been using an AI-powered database called Lavender to isolate and identify bombing targets for air strikes in Gaza.
That database is responsible for drawing up kill lists of as many as 37,000 targets.
The unnamed Israeli intelligence officials who have been talking to these publications say Lavender had an error rate of about 10 percent. But that didn’t stop the Israelis from using it to fast-track the identification of often low-level Hamas operatives in Gaza and bombing them.
According to the publications, this has led to many of the thousands and thousands of civilian deaths inside Gaza. The humans that were interacting with the AI database were often just a rubber stamp. They would scrutinise this kill list for perhaps 20 seconds before deciding whether or not to give the go ahead for an air strike.
Also, the fact there were five to 10 acceptable civilian deaths for every one Palestinian fighter that was the intended target – you can see why there are so many civilian deaths in Gaza.
Israeli military’s intelligence analysis chief resigns for health reasons
Amit Saar, head of the Israeli military intelligence directorate’s research division, is stepping down after being diagnosed with cancer, reports the Israel Hayom newspaper.
As research chief, Saar was scrutinised for failing to anticipate Hamas’s October 7 attack and already planned to resign after the Gaza war ended, it said. Instead, he will now leave his post “in the coming days” to begin “immediate treatment”.
Itai Brun, former head of intelligence research, will temporarily step back into the role until the Israeli military finds a permanent replacement.
US pressed on accountability for Americans killed by Israeli forces
Journalists asked US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller to explain if previous Israeli investigations into the killings of Americans have led to accountability, in light of the killing of a US aid worker along with six of his World Central Kitchen colleagues.
Speaking to the killing of Palestinian American Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in May 2022, Miller said, “[Israel] did cooperate with our investigation that the US security coordinator conducted that concluded that gunfire from [Israeli army] positions was likely responsible for her tragic death.”
However Miller did not specify what, if any, accountability measures followed that investigation.
“We will make judgements on a case-by-case basis on whether that investigation was conducted fully and appropriately and led to appropriate outcomes and results,” he said.
World Central Kitchen calls for independent investigation into aid worker killings
World Central Kitchen (WCK) has released a statement calling for an “independent, third-party investigation” into attacks that killed seven of its staff.
“This was a military attack that involved multiple strikes and targeted three WCK vehicles,” the statement said.
“An independent investigation is the only way to determine the truth of what happened, ensure transparency and accountability for those responsible, and prevent future attacks on humanitarian aid workers,” the statement added.
Israeli military claims to destroy Hamas infrastructure, kill fighters
Israeli forces used tank fire and called in air strikes on targets over the last day, killing numerous Palestinian fighters in central and southern Gaza, the army says in its latest update.
In southern Gaza, Israeli troops killed fighters and destroyed infrastructure in the al-Amal and Abasan al-Jadida neighbourhoods in Khan Younis city.
Israel’s latest wave of attacks also killed more Palestinian civilians, including three children and five others in the southern city of Rafah.
Trudeau says Israel’s killing of Canadian aid worker ‘unacceptable’
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the killing of Canadian aid worker Jacob Flickinger by Israeli forces in Gaza was “absolutely unacceptable”.
Trudeau said the Canadian – one of seven staff members of the World Central Kitchen aid group who were killed in an air strike – died “while delivering food to civilians in need”.
“At a time when humanitarian aid is so urgently needed in Gaza, Israel has an obligation to ensure the safety of aid workers,” Trudeau said in a post on social media.
“The world – and [Flickinger’s] loved ones – deserves an explanation as to how this happened,” he added.
‘Australia is enabling genocide’: Protesters gather outside Australian Department of Foreign Affairs
A demonstrator holds a sign saying ‘Albanese blood on your hands’ at a protest outside the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) building in Sydney on Thursday [Dan Himbrechts/EPA-EFE]
The protest was organised in response to the recent killings of aid workers and the destruction of Al-Shifa Hospital [Dan Himbrechts/EPA-EFE]
The protest came as Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday said Israel’s explanation for the killing of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom and her colleagues was ‘not good enough’ [Dan Himbrechts/EPA-EFE]
US Defence chief tells Israelis counterpart that killers of aid workers must be held ‘to account’
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has said he “expressed his outrage” to Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over the killing of seven humanitarian aid workers – including an American citizen – in Gaza by Israeli forces.
Austin said he “stressed the need” to protect aid workers and Palestinian civilians in Gaza, and that he “urged” Gallant to ensure a speedy and transparent investigation into the killings, which have been described as likely “intentional” by a UN expert.
Israel must share the conclusion of its investigation publicly and “hold those responsible to account”, Austin said in a series of posts on social media.
Austin’s last post reiterated that the US – Israel staunchest supporters in the war on Gaza and main suppliers of weapons – continues to support “Israel’s defence against a range of regional threats”.
Bodies of foreign aid workers killed in Israeli strike leave Gaza
CAIRO (Reuters) – The bodies of foreign aid workers killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza were brought to the crossing with Egypt on Wednesday as international outrage simmered over an attack that highlighted the dangers faced by humanitarian staff in the enclave.
The strike late on Monday night hit a convoy of three vehicles and killed seven staff of the aid group World Central Kitchen (WCK), including citizens of Australia, Britain, and Poland, a dual citizen of the United States and Canada as well as a Palestinian colleague, who was buried at his home.
UN Security Council fails to condemn strike on Iran in Syria
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The United States, Britain and France on Wednesday opposed a Russian-drafted UN Security Council statement that would have condemned an attack on Iran’s embassy compound in Syria, which Tehran has blamed on Washington's ally Israel.
Press statements by the 15-member council have to be agreed by consensus. Diplomats said the US, backed by France and Britain, told council colleagues that many of the facts of what happened on Monday in Damascus remained unclear and there was no consensus among council members during a meeting on Tuesday.
Spokesperson suggests US will not support Palestine’s bid for full UN membership
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller has said the question of Palestinian statehood should be determined by “direct negotiations” and “not at the United Nations”.
Speaking in response to a question on the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) push for a vote on full UN membership, Miller did not directly say whether the US would use its veto during a proposed UN Security Council vote on the issue of Palestinian statehood, which the PA wants to see take place this month.
About 140 of the UN’s 193 members have recognised Palestine as a state. But new UN member states must first be approved by the security council before obtaining a two-thirds majority in the UN General Assembly.
The PA has held non-member observer status at the UN since 2012, but although more than the required two-thirds of the general assembly recognise Palestinian statehood, its application first needs to be approved by the 15-member security council.
Death toll in Rafah bombings rises to 8: Wafa
At least eight people have been killed in overnight Israeli bombings on houses in the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, the Palestinian news agency Wafa is reporting.
We reported earlier that three people had been killed, with Wafa reporting that the death toll in that attack has now risen to seven, including three children.
A woman was also killed in a separate bombing of a house in the Janina neighbourhood east of Rafah, Wafa reports.
There has also been overnight air and artillery bombardment in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, Wafa added.
Chef Jose Andres says Israel targeted his aid workers 'systematically, car by car'
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Celebrity chef Jose Andres told Reuters in an emotional interview on Wednesday that an Israeli attack that killed seven of his food aid workers in Gaza had targeted them "systematically, car by car."
Speaking via video, Andres said the World Central Kitchen (WCK) charity group he founded had clear communication with the Israeli military, which he said knew his aid workers' movements.
Hamas sticking to ceasefire conditions including Israeli Gaza pullout
CAIRO (Reuters) – Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said on Wednesday that his Palestinian Islamist movement at war with Israel was sticking to its conditions for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, including an Israeli military withdrawal.
Israeli officials visited Egypt earlier this week in a renewed effort to secure a deal, but a Palestinian official close to mediation efforts said there had been no sign of a breakthrough.
Gaza ceasefire talks stall as Israel and Hamas dig in
Israel and Hamas appear to be making little progress in revived talks to end the war in Gaza, and the two sides show few signs that they are ready to compromise on key demands.
Israel’s objections to the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes in Gaza is a key issue holding up the negotiations, Qatari officials say.
Hamas insists that an Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza must take place before it releases the remaining captives held since October 7.
Three killed, including two children, in Israeli attack on Rafah
Israeli shelling has killed three people, including two children, sheltering in a house in the Tel al-Sultan neighbourhood west of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
Exclusive Al Jazeera video footage shows dozens of people rushing to help pull survivors from the rubble as well as the body of a baby boy who was killed in the attack.
Al Jazeera has also seen photographs of the bodies of the children killed in the attack after they were taken to the Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah.
UN General Assembly president ‘deeply concerned’ by Damascus attack, calls for restraint
Dennis Francis, the president of the UN General Assembly, says he is “deeply concerned about the risk of escalation following the recent attack in Damascus”.
Francis called for “restraint to avoid further harm and suffering to the people in the Middle East”.
“The inviolability of diplomatic premises and diplomatic staff must be respected at all times,” said Francis, who is the current president of the 193-member UN General Assembly.
The Israeli army is reportedly calling up reservists for its Iron Dome and other air defence systems as Iran has promised to respond to an alleged Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
