https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/21/middleeast/un-food-convoy-gaza-israel-strike-cmd-intl/index.html Israeli forces fired on a United Nations convoy carrying vital food supplies in central Gaza on February 5, before ultimately blocking the trucks from progressing to the northern part of the territory, where Palestinians are on the verge of famine, according to documents shared exclusively by the UN and CNN’s own analysis. CNN has seen correspondence between the UN and the Israeli military that show the convoy’s route was agreed upon by both parties prior to the strike. According to an internal incident report compiled by UNRWA, the main UN relief agency in Gaza, which was also seen by CNN, the truck was one of 10 in a convoy sitting stationary at an IDF holding point when it was fired upon. No one in the convoy was hurt, but much of its contents – mainly wheat flour desperately needed to bake bread – were destroyed.
Israeli-US ex-FBI informant accused of making up claims behind Biden impeachment bid Alexander Smirnov, who lived in Israel for a decade and was said to be in contact with Russian spies, alleges the US president accepted a $5 million bribe from a Ukrainian firm By AP and ToI Staff 22 Feb 2024 https://www.timesofisrael.com/israe...aking-up-claims-behind-biden-impeachment-bid/ Former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov, center, leaves the courthouse on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP) WASHINGTON — The explosive allegations at the center of an impeachment inquiry into US President Joe Biden were false, federal prosecutors said, and came from an ex-FBI informant — an Israeli-American national — who said he was in touch with Russian intelligence. The informant, Alexander Smirnov, 43, is “actively peddling new lies that could impact US elections,” federal prosecutors said Wednesday, as they appealed to a judge to keep him behind bars ahead of trial on charges alleging he lied to the FBI about a phony multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving the Bidens and the Ukrainian energy company Burisma. But US Magistrate Judge Daniel Albregts allowed Smirnov to be released from custody on electronic GPS monitoring.
UNRWA would not be in this position if a huge portion of their aid was not spent to aid terrorism via supplying funding, weapons and materials to support their violence. UNRWA at ‘breaking point’ warns agency chief The UN agency serving Palestine refugees (UNRWA) has reached breaking point due to Israeli calls for its abolition and the associated funding freeze, just when it is needed most, said UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini. https://dppa.un.org/en/unrwa-breaking-point-warns-agency-chief
As previously outlined, many of the "reporters" in Gaza are actually Hamas terrorists. Now the Associated Press is being sued by terrorism victims for employing these terrorists. These "reporters" not only knew about the October 7th attack in advance but actively aided it. We will see how this lawsuit goes over time. It is a lot easier to sue press outlets such as Associated Press (AP) headquartered in western countries than outlets like Al Jazeera (which employed many Hamas terrorists) headquartered in Arab countries. Terror Victims Sue Associated Press for Employing Alleged Hamas Affiliate AP freelance photographer Hassan Eslaiah had advance knowledge of Hamas attack, suit alleges https://freebeacon.com/media/terror...-press-for-employing-alleged-hamas-affiliate/ Victims of Hamas's Oct. 7 terror strike on Israel are suing the Associated Press, alleging the news organization "materially supported terrorism through payments that they made to known agents of Hamas," according to a copy of the lawsuit and statement from the plaintiffs. The suit, a copy of which was obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, alleges that the AP employed at least one photographer with known ties to Hamas and that the individual had advance knowledge of the Iran-backed terror group's unprecedented attack on Israel. The AP and CNN ultimately cut ties last year with at least one freelance photographer, Hassan Eslaiah, after reports emerged about his alleged links to Hamas. The AP was informed at least five years ago that Eslaiah "was affiliated with Hamas, promoted and glorified terrorism, called for people to commit acts of violence, celebrated murders, and was even officially working for a Hamas-affiliated news station," according to the lawsuit, which was spearheaded by the National Jewish Advocacy Center (NJAC) on behalf of the terror victims. The photographer's alleged relationship with Hamas "enabled him to secure photographic opportunities that would have otherwise been difficult for someone without Hamas connections and who was displaying press credentials to obtain," the lawsuit says. "The AP paid for some of these real time images, including of Israeli hostages being taken into Gaza, despite having been warned well in advance that at least one of the so-called 'journalists' they were paying were in fact Hamas affiliates, and despite the clear indications that they were functioning as full participants in the Hamas terrorist squad that conducted the October 7th attack, and not as the AP chose to pretend, as journalists," the NJAC said in a statement. The AP, the statement maintains, "aided and abetted Hamas in carrying out the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust." The lawsuit marks the first time that terrorism victims have sued a media outlet, claiming the outlet provided material support for a lethal attack that drew international headlines and sparked one of the worst regional wars in recent memory. "Media organizations don't have any special right to act with impunity and pretend that they don't know whom they are paying," NJAC director Mark Goldfeder said in a statement. "Nor does it matter that they were freelancers; the issue is that AP was furnishing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, not in what capacity the terrorists were cashing the checks." An AP spokesman referred the Free Beacon to a statement regarding the lawsuit posted on Thursday afternoon. The AP called the lawsuit "baseless," saying it had "no advance knowledge of the Oct. 7 attacks, nor have we seen any evidence—including in the lawsuit—that the freelance journalists who contributed to our coverage did." The lawsuit follows a spate of media reports indicating that at least some of the freelance photographers employed by top American media outlets—including the AP, Reuters, CNN, and the New York Times—had ties to Hamas and were told in advance of its plans to raid Israel. Photographs published by these outlets on the day of the attack showed Hamas militants burning Israeli homes and kidnapping Jewish civilians. Honest Reporting, a watchdog group that monitors the region, first raised questions late last year about how these journalists were able to arrive on the scene so early. "Hamas terrorists were not the only ones who documented the war crimes they had committed during their deadly rampage across southern Israel," the watchdog group wrote in a Nov. 8 report that ignited a firestorm of criticism. "Some of their atrocities were captured by Gaza-based photojournalists working for the Associated Press and Reuters news agencies whose early morning presence at the breached border area raises serious ethical questions." While the AP and other media outlets denied having advance knowledge of the attack, they eventually cut ties with Eslaiah, who Honest Reporting claimed had a longstanding relationship with Hamas leadership. The AP at the time did not provide a reason for doing so but defended its decision to run Eslaiah's photos depicting the massacre in real time. Eslaiah and several other freelance photographers are named in the lawsuit, which includes photographic evidence of the journalist smiling beside Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. The legal team handling the lawsuit said it reached out to the AP before filing, "but the AP flatly denied what has been established by demonstrable evidence—that the AP was told long ago that at least one of the people they were paying was affiliated with Hamas." "In fact," the attorneys said in a statement, "this arrangement was such an open secret that a picture one of their photographers posted three years ago of himself being kissed by the demented arch terrorist Sinwar has been widely displayed by the media."
German lawyers sue Scholz, alleging complicity in Gaza ‘genocide’ Lawyers representing Palestinians file criminal complaint against the chancellor and other top politicians as Germany remains committed to Israel. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, left, holds a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to Tel Aviv [File: Maya Alleruzzo/Pool via Reuters] By Cathrin Schaer Published On 23 Feb 2024 Berlin, Germany – A group of lawyers is filing a criminal complaint with the German federal prosecutor against senior German politicians, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, accusing them of “aiding and abetting” the genocide they say is being committed by Israel in Gaza. The case against several members of the country’s Federal Security Council, which directs national security policy and authorises weapons exports, was announced on Friday. In addition to Scholz, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Economics Minister Robert Habeck, Finance Minister Christian Lindner and others stand accused. The lawyers behind the case represent families of two Palestinians with roots in the Gaza Strip, including that of Palestinian-German migration scholar Nora Ragab. “We, Palestinians in the diaspora, will not stand by and watch a genocide being committed against our families and our people,” Ragab said in a statement. “We will use all means at our disposal. … Today we aim to hold the German government accountable for its complicity in the genocide in Gaza.” The European Legal Support Center, the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy and the UK-based Law for Palestine are among the civil society organisations backing the case. In a jointly written statement, they said: “The German state is one of the countries that has shown some of the strongest political and material support to Israel in its assault on the Gaza Strip and the Palestinians.” Alexander Gorski, one of the lawyers supporting the case, acknowledged that “from a legal point of view and given the political landscape in Germany, this case will be a difficult one.” “But we believe it’s our responsibility as people working in the judicial sector to try to do something,” he told Al Jazeera. “We are seeing a genocide being livestreamed around the world, and despite this, the Israeli government is still being supported by other countries and is still receiving weapons from them.” After the October 7 attacks by Hamas, during which 1,139 people were killed in southern Israel, the Israeli government retaliated with a military campaign in Gaza that has to date killed more than 29,000 Palestinians, the majority of them women and children. Israel has said it wants to crush Hamas, which governs the densely populated strip, but after four months of war, the devastating civilian toll is causing alarm among world leaders. In late January, the United Nations’ top court, the International Court of Justice, or ICJ, found it was “plausible” that Israel was committing acts in Gaza that violated the international Convention on Genocide. Since the court’s decision, Germany and all other third-party states should have been trying to stop Israel from committing such acts, the lawyers behind Friday’s case said. However since October, many German officials have “incited” genocide with their statements, they alleged. The legal case will also focus on German weapons exports to Israel. These increased significantly in 2023, compared with the previous year, and most of that increase was approved by the German government after October 7. Despite the ICJ ruling, Germany has “already agreed in principle” to send more tank ammunition to Israel, they said. Source: Al Jazeera
The Palestinians in Gaza are getting tired of Hamas which has brought nothing by death & destruction to them. Gazans scream ‘Down with Hamas’ and tell its leaders to ‘go away’ https://nypost.com/2024/02/21/world...n-with-hamas-and-tell-its-leaders-to-go-away/ Gazans are taking to the streets in protest of Hamas, calling for leaders such as its chief Yahya Sinwar to leave the Strip and chanting “Down with Hamas,” videos show. Angry demonstrations broke out Tuesday night in Jabalia and Rafah as fed-up Gazans are demanding Sinwar and his posse leave the region. “Sinwar, Haniyeh, the people are the victims,” demonstrators in Jabalia shouted, according to Ynet News. “Down with Hamas! Down with Hamas!” Others voiced opposition to Hamas leaders Osama Hamdan, whom they told to go back to Lebanon, and Ismail Haniyeh, the terror organization’s political leader. “Listen, listen, Haniyeh, the people are the victims. Gaza will be redeemed through spirit and blood,” Rafah protesters screamed, according to Ynet News. IDF Arabic spokesperson Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, who shared clips of the protests on X, said Gazan citizens “recognize the reason behind the tragedy in the Gaza Strip and the consequences of the destruction and terror wrought by Sinwar and his gang.” Since the start of the war on Oct. 7, Gazans have watched more than 28,000 of their relatives, friends and neighbors die. Various protests have been happening in recent weeks in Gaza, where citizens are calling for the overthrow of Hamas as they have suffered gravely since the war’s beginnings. Around 1.5 million Gazans have been displaced from their homes and many have moved to Rafah, on the southernmost border, to seek shelter. Many Gazans also face starvation and are heavily relying on humanitarian aid. Earlier this week, Israel announced it would launch a ground offensive in Rafah by the time Ramadan begins next month if the remaining hostages are not released. “The world must know, and Hamas leaders must know: If by Ramadan, our hostages are not home, the fighting will continue to the Rafah area,” Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz told Jewish American leaders in Jerusalem on Sunday. “To those saying the price is too high, I say this very clearly: Hamas has a choice — they can surrender, release the hostages, and this way, the residents of Gaza can celebrate the holy holiday of Ramadan.”
I think only the Germans have been gaslit more than the Americans. Virtue signaling their guilt away from one genocide by rubber stamping another.
‘Beaten, stripped, used as human shield’: Gaza victim recalls Israel terror As Israel resumed its attacks on parts of Gaza City, Ramadan Shamlakh’s family home was attacked. Then, according to his account, a war crime took place. Gaza City resident Ramadan Shamlakh was assaulted by Israeli soldiers in his home on February 20, 2024 [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera] By Maram Humaid Published On 23 Feb 2024 https://www.aljazeera.com/features/...-human-shield-gaza-man-recounts-israel-terror Deir el-Balah, Gaza – Blood all over his face, and his eyes swollen, Ramadan Shamlakh arrived at a hospital after passersby found him struggling to walk southwards from northern Gaza. The 21-year-old man said he had endured beatings, a stripping and a war crime – he was used as a human shield – by Israeli soldiers when they raided his family home in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City on Tuesday morning. His story, and his desperate escape on foot to the south, came as the Israeli army renewed its ground military operations in the neighbourhood in the east of Gaza City, prompting residents to flee again towards al-Shifa Hospital to the city’s west. Shamlakh was at home with his mother, his injured brother, and his four sisters, when they were all surprised by tanks advancing and surrounding them in the area. “It was around 6:30am when the Israeli soldiers blew up a wall in our house and then opened fire randomly at us.” “The soldiers brutally attacked me and my brother, who has been suffering from a foot injury since the 2014 war, and beat us extensively,” Shamlakh said. “We were telling them that we are civilians and it is not our fault, but to no avail,” Shamlakh told Al Jazeera, while receiving treatment at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. He said the soldiers insulted his mother and sisters with “obscene words” and “forced them to take off their hijabs”. When an angry Shamlakh told his sisters and mother to not listen to the soldiers, he was thrashed. Ramadan Shamlakh receiving treatment at al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir-el-Balah [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera] “Then the soldiers detained my mother, my sisters and my wounded brother and took them to a direction I do not know. Then they took me, handcuffed me, and forced me to walk in front of them on the stairs to search the upper floors.” What followed, according to Shamlakh’s account, was a war crime under Protocol 1 of the Geneva Conventions. The soldiers used him as a “human shield” as they entered apartments on the five upper floors. “I was opening the doors for them and they were shooting hard. “When we reached the last floor, the soldiers beat me like crazy with their heavy shoes on my face, stomach and eyes,” he said. “There were about 15 soldiers, and they all took turns hitting me with shoes.” He screamed, warned them that he could lose his sight – but they kept kicking and stomping on him. The soldiers interrogated Shamlakh about Hamas tunnels and his whereabouts on October 7 and whether he had participated in that day’s attacks. “I repeatedly asserted my civilian status and dissociation from Hamas, but they were not convinced and kept beating me.” One soldier, Shamlakh recalled, “was kicking my head whenever I raised it. Another one grabbed a knife and started cutting my fingers while I was screaming.” After a period of torture and interrogation, the soldiers ordered Shamlakh to take off his clothes, remain in his underwear, and head south. “I was walking with great difficulty, my body bleeding and my face coated in blood. The cold chilled me to the bone, and I shivered uncontrollably. “After a short while of walking, I saw tanks on the road, so I raised my hands in surrender. One of the tanks pointed its cannon at me. An Israeli patrol stopped me, interrogated me for a while, then released me.” A doctor treating Ramadan Shamlakh in Deir-el-Balah’s al-Aqsa Hospital [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera] Shamlakh continued walking for about two and a half hours until he eventually reached an Israeli checkpoint. “At the checkpoint, Israeli soldiers stopped me there and asked me who I was. They questioned me about my injuries,” Shamlakh recalled. “Despite explaining that they were inflicted by the army, they doubted my account.” The soldiers detained Shamlakh for nearly an hour, standing in the cold with blood streaming from his face, before allowing him to pass. “There were corpses of dead dogs around me, and many flies were gathering on them. The flies were coming on my face and on my wounds.” A short distance from where Shamlakh crossed the checkpoint, he met some passersby who rushed to help him, gave him some clothes, and then called for an ambulance to take him to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. “Passersby helped me reach here.” He said. “Until now, I am anxious attempting to reach out to my family in eastern Gaza. “I do not know anything about them, whether they are alive or not.” Source: Al Jazeera