‘Put the thing down’: Biden blasted for munching on ice cream while discussing Israel-Hamas ceasefire 'I just can't shake the image of Biden licking his little ice cream cone.' Mikael Thalen Feb 27, 2024 https://www.dailydot.com/debug/joe-biden-ice-cream-cone-israel-palestine-ceasfire/ President Joe Biden weighed in on the conflict between Israel and Palestine while eating an ice cream cone, leading many online to highlight the odd contrast. While speaking with reporters at an ice cream shop in New York City, Biden said he believed a cease-fire could be reached by next week. “My national security advisor tells me we’re close,” Biden said in response to reporters. “We’re close. It’s not done yet. My hope is by next Monday, we’ll have a ceasefire.” But the grave topic and the setting Biden found himself in didn’t sit well with everyone. “DISGRACEFUL,” activist Peter Daou said. “Biden talks about a #ceasefire while holding an ice cream cone, like that’s the level of importance for him. Put the damn thing down and stop this f*cking genocide, like you could have months ago.” Others labeled the display as tone-deaf given expressing concern over American hostages in Gaza. “I still can’t believe they had Joe Biden explain the situation in Israel while eating an ice cream cone,” right-wing pundit Clay Travis added. “We still have American hostages in Gaza. Just insane tone deafness.” The user known as “Holding Biden Accountable,” which provides “Leftist critiques” of Biden, similarly expressed dismay at the photo op highlight the damage Israel is inflicting on Palestine. “I just can’t shake the image of Biden licking his little ice cream cone while being asked about starving Palestinian children…” they wrote. A handful of staunch Biden supporters came to the president’s aide by arguing that the issue was being overblown. “WHOA JOE BIDEN ATE ICE CREAM!!!” former congressman Adam Kinzinger said sarcastically. “Let’s put the smelly fat whiney crazy belly aching tiny man victim Trump back in! He only eats cheeseburgers! Clowns.” The vast majority of responses, however, appeared to condemn the president for what was seen as an insensitive gesture. “Nothing says ‘we’re taking this seriously’ like talking about a war that has killed ~30,000 people with an ice-cream cone halfway to your mouth,” Middle East correspondent Gregg Carlstrom said. Biden visited the ice cream shop alongside comedian Seth Meyers after appearing on his late-night show. The commander-in-chief is well known for his love for ice cream, which has become a longstanding meme in recent years.
Good luck with that. Arab countries have very little interest in re-building Gaza. Funding the re-build of Gaza will fall on western nations and the U.N. Israel Is Counting on Middle East Neighbors to Help Rebuild Gaza https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...on-middle-east-neighbors-to-help-rebuild-gaza
Hamas is the only entity holding up a ceasefire in Gaza by pushing unreasonable demands well outside the deal being offered by the international community. No, Israel is not going to offer a "total ceasefire" which allows Hamas to still launch rockets into Israel without retaliation like the last ceasefire. Nor is Israel going to withdraw troops from Gaza and let Hamas take it over again. The best deal Hamas will get is one allowing its leadership to leave Gaza -- but Hamas rather continue to run Gaza as a terror fiefdom. Hamas does not care about the Palestinians civilians except as human shields. Gaza ceasefire deal with Israel still not close, says senior Hamas official Senior official Basem Naim says there is ‘space for flexibility’, but Hamas wants guarantee of a total ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024...el-still-not-close-says-senior-hamas-official
War prevents aid delivery, humanitarians deported, ultra-Orthodox Jews eyed for draft By Euronews with AP published on 29/02/2024 Gaza death toll surges over 30,000 More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of the Israel Hamas war nearly five months ago, according to health officials. It comes following an Israeli strike on a crowd of people waiting for aid in Gaza City, the enclave's capital, which killed and wounded scores on Thursday. At least 70 people were killed as Palestinians lined up for humanitarian assistance, said Gaza's Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra. Another 280 people were wounded, he added. After the strike, Gaza’s Health Ministry said the Palestinian death toll from the war in the territory had climbed to 30,035, with another 70,457 wounded. Most of those killed have been women and children. The ministry does not distinguish in its count between fighters and non-combatants. Israel claims it has killed 10,000 militants, without giving evidence. Impossible to aid Palestinians amid unrelenting conflict - UN The United Nations has said it is almost impossible to assist Gaza's 2.3 million people due to the ongoing violence. It made the comments in response to recent Israeli claims that the international organisation itself is failing to deliver much-needed food, water and medicine to civilians in the embattled enclave. On Wednesday, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters a breakdown of law and order in Gaza and “insufficient coordination” with Israel on security was putting the lives of humanitarian workers at risk. “That’s why we’ve repeatedly asked for a humanitarian ceasefire,” he said. UN officials say Israeli airstrikes have targetted police officers guarding aid trucks, exposing them to looting by desperate civilians and criminal gangs. Drivers have been shot at, attacked with axes and box cutters, and had their windows smashed, said UN humanitarian coordinator James McGoldrick in February. FILE - Palestinians loot a humanitarian aid truck as it crossed into the Gaza Strip in Rafah, Sunday, Dec. 17, 2023Fatima Shbair/Copyright 2023 The AP. All rights reserved. Israeli forces have also reportedly fired on UN aid convoys carrying vital food supplies in central Gaza. Israel’s deputy UN ambassador Brett Miller on Tuesday blamed the UN for refusing to deliver aid to northern Gaza and shifting the blame onto his country At least one-quarter of Gaza’s population - 576,000 people - is one step away from famine and virtually the entire population needs food, according to the UN. Ultra-Orthodox Jews eyed in new military draft law Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has urged his government to come up with a new draft law that would force ultra-Orthodox Jews to serve in the military, claiming the war in Gaza leaves the country with “no other choice.” Military service is compulsory for Jewish males, but politically powerful ultra-Orthodox parties have won exemptions for their communities to allow men to pursue religious education. This has caused resentment and anger in some quarters. “The Torah has protected Judaism for 2,500 years; however, without our physical existence, there’s no spiritual existence,” Gallant said Wednesday evening. “Every sector of the country needs to work together to protect our home,” he continued. Gallant said he would also extend the enlistment and reserve duty requirements for the military as well. There are approximately 60,000 ultra-Orthodox males of military age currently not serving in the military, according to Hiddush, an organisation that promotes religious equality. Israel mobilised some 300,000 reservists after Hamas' 7 October attack. Ultra-Orthodox parties - a key coalition partner of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - want to maintain exemptions. In the past, attempts to overhaul the draft law to include the ultra-Orthodox have drawn tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox to the streets in large, violent protests that blocked major roadways. Aid workers face deportation from Israel Dozens of humanitarian staff have been forced to leave Israel and Palestinian territories, according to a group representing aid agencies The Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA) said Israel has stopped granting visas for international workers in humanitarian organisations, hampering efforts to get food and other vital supplies into Gaza. Others - including the key figures within aid organisations - are overstaying their visas and risk deportation to continue working. Emergency response teams, experienced in working with Gaza, have been especially impacted, said Faris Arouri, AIDA director. A Red Cross vehicle carrying Israeli hostages drives by at the Gaza Strip crossing into Egypt in Rafah on Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023.Fatima Shbair/Copyright 2023 The AP. All rights reserved. Israel's visa block means aid groups have not been able to bring any experts into Jerusalem, where aid to Gaza is coordinated. “We are being forced to advocate just to let staff come to Jerusalem,” Arouri said, adding that the visa freeze was unprecedented. “There have always been ups and downs, especially since the second intifada [from 2000 to 2005]. There were phases where there were some restrictions or where access was harder. But never on this scale.” More than 150 jobs were affected, Arouri said. Nearly 100 visas of staff had already experienced or would do so within weeks, he detailed, adding that humanitarian organisations were unable to recruit the staff needed to scale up operations, as the situation in Gaza grows increasingly dire.
First they came for the Communists Palestinians And I did not speak out Because I was not a Communist Palestinian Then they came for the Socialists antizionists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Socialist antizionist Then they came for the trade unionists Palestinian supporters And I did not speak out Because I was not a trade unionist Palestinian supporter Then they came for the [antiwar liberal] Jews And I did not speak out Because I was not a [antiwar liberal] Jew Then they came for me And there was no one left To speak out for me
It will be interesting to see how this turns out once the actual facts come to light. The Hamas Health Ministry is less than a reliable source and the drivers in the aid convoy have come forward stating that people were hurt while fighting each other while looting the trucks. The question actually will be -- how many were killed or hurt in the looting versus via Israeli fire. More than 100 killed as Israeli forces open fire in chaos at Gaza food lines, Palestinian health ministry says https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/29/middleeast/gaza-city-deaths-food-israel-intl/index.html