Israel’s war on Gaza live: Deadly attacks on Deir el-Balah, Golan Heights A Palestinian boy walks past the rubble of a school destroyed in an Israeli airstrike on Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip on Saturday [Abdel Kareem Hana/AP Photo] By Lyndal RowlandsandZaheena Rasheed 28 Jul 2024 Israeli forces attacked a school that was being used as a field hospital and a shelter in central Deir el-Balah, killing at least 30 people, including 15 children. The attack overwhelmed Al Aqsa hospital, with a doctor describing “catastrophic” scenes there. A rocket attack on young people playing football in the occupied Golan Heights killed at least 12 people from the Druze community. Israel blamed Hezbollah, but the Lebanese group denied all responsibility. A trauma surgeon who worked at a hospital in Gaza’s Khan Younis accused Israel of deliberating targeting children. “We regularly saw, on a daily basis, children shot in the head and chest,” said Feroze Sidhwa. At least 39,258 people have been killed and 90,589 injured in Israel’s war on Gaza. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, and more than 200 were taken captive. Death toll from Golan Heights attack rises to 12 The Israeli military says at least 12 people have been killed in the rocket attack on Majdal Shams. All the victims were aged between 10 and 20. Earlier, the military also said that the rocket that struck the football pitch was an Iranian-made Falaq-1 and that a Hezbollah commander named Ali Muhammad Yahya had directed the attack from a launching site in Shebaa in southern Lebanon. As we’ve been reporting, Hezbollah has denied responsibility for the attack, with Axios, a US news outlet, reporting that the armed group told the UN that the incident was the result of an Israeli anti-rocket interceptor hitting the football pitch.
What is the Golan Heights? The Golan Heights is a strategic plateau bordering Lebanon, Israel and Jordan. While it is internationally recognised as part of Syria, two-thirds of the area has been occupied by Israel since it was captured in the 1967 Six-Day War. Syria attempted to retake the area in 1973, but failed. A UN observer force has been supervising the ceasefire line ever since. Israel has built dozens of illegal settlements in the occupied Golan Heights – and in 1981, declared that it was annexing the territory. About 20,000 illegal Israeli settlers now live there, alongside approximately 20,000 Druze Arabs.
So the current situation on the ground is, Israelis kill scores of Palestinians, other neighbouring countries retaliate against Israel, US call for peace, US fuels the war supplying money and ammo to Israel. Israel wants peace so long as they can continue to steal land and suppress Palestinians. Hamas claim to want peace so long as they get statehood. US wants peace so long as it can continue supplying bombs and money because Israel claims they're the victim. Hezbollah and Houthis want peace so long as Israel stops acting the entitled god chosen brat. When Israel kills scores of Palestinian children, the news media yawns, just another day. When the enemy kill Israeli children, it makes media headlines around the world.
Hezbollah’s denial of responsibility for rocket attack opens door for de-escalation Omar Baddar, a Middle East political analyst, says he believes the rocket attack on the Golan Heights was “almost certainly an accident”, regardless of who was responsible for it. “No party in the entire region has either a political interest or a military interest in targeting a kid’s soccer game in a Druze town in the occupied Golden Heights. And it’s also worth noting that there is a desire on both the part of Hezbollah and Israel to avoid a full-scale war,” he told Al Jazeera from Washington, DC. “We would need an independent investigation to actually really know what’s unfolded in this case. But Hezbollah’s denial is itself at least an indication even if it were to turn out to be a Hezbollah rocket, it certainly is not an intentional targeting of that soccer game,” he added. “So this would open the door for some sort of de-escalation and the question is whether Israel is interested in taking that path or do they see a conflict with Hezbollah as inevitable and are they going to take this opportunity as a good PR moment for them to escalate in that direction.”
Ex-general warns against ‘setting entire Middle East on fire’ Retired Israeli Major-General Itzhak Brik says potential escalation with Lebanon’s Hezbollah in the north of the country may lead to “a full-scale regional war and the destruction of our country”. He told the Maariv newspaper those who seek revenge after the attack on the occupied Golan Heights may drag Israel further into the war with Hezbollah, with rockets targeting residences, power plants, gas platforms, army bases and factories. “As a result, Israel will suffer very heavy losses and the country will be destroyed. We need an immediate end to the war in Gaza, which in no way leads to the end of Hamas,” said Brik. “As long as the war in Gaza continues, it is only a matter of time before a full-scale regional war breaks out. We can respond to Hezbollah without setting the entire Middle East on fire.”
Stealing, burning houses: Reservists recount Israeli conduct in Gaza Three Israeli reserve soldiers, Yuval Green, Tal Vardi and Michael Ofer Ziv, who fought in Gaza have told Britain’s The Observer newspaper why they no longer want to be part of the army. Green, who spent 50 days in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis earlier this year with his paratrooper unit, said he saw “soldiers graffitiing houses or stealing all the time. They would go into a house for a military reason, looking for weapons, but it was more fun to look for souvenirs. They had a thing for necklaces with Arabic writing that they collected”. Then, early this year: “We were given an order. We were inside a house and our commander ordered us to burn it down.” Civics teacher Vardi, who trained reserve tank operators in northern Israel, told the newspaper he “can’t justify this military operation any more”. “Any reasonable person can see that the military presence is not helping to bring the hostages back. If anything, some of these operations have endangered the hostages, and the army has also killed some by mistake,” he said, pointing to an incident last December when Israeli forces shot dead three captives in Gaza who approached them waving white flags. “It was bound to happen,” said reservist Ziv, who said the incident provoked in him a powerful sense that once he finished his service he wouldn’t return.
America doesn't want to hear about this. What America wants: "Israel must be able to defend itself...." (as if it's their fucking business) "....so we'll keep supplying bombs."
New depths of evil by terrorists. Hamas is now sending Israeli government officials videos of Hamas torturing the hostages. Hamas sends hostage torture video with direct warning to Israeli minister https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-n...ds-hostage-torture-video-with-direct-warning/
Israeli torture in the occupied territories Israeli torture in the occupied territories refers to the use of torture and systematic degrading practices on Palestinians detained by Israeli forces in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The practice, routine for decades, was eventually reviewed by the Supreme Court of Israel in 1999, which found that "coercive interrogation" of Palestinians had been widespread, and deemed it unlawful, though permissible in certain cases.[1] Torture is also practiced by the Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.[2] Background According to Lisa Hajjar (2005) and Dr. Rachel Stroumsa, the director of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, torture has been an abiding characteristic of Israeli methods of interrogation of Palestinians.[3][4] Though formally banned by the High Court in 1999, legalized exceptions, authorized by the Attorney General of Israel, persist.[a] According to Addameer, Israeli physicians are also complicit in interrogations involving torture.[6] Legal situation In 1987, Israel became the only country in the world where torture was considered legal.[8][9][10] The Supreme Court made another ruling in 1999 that curtailed the use of torture,[11] but controversially allowed a necessity defense for agents of the state accused of torture.[12] In 2018 another decision loosened the criteria for torture being excused and further enabled the institutionalization of torture.[13][14] During the Israel–Hamas war On November 8, Amnesty International reported on cases of torture and degrading treatment by Israeli authorities, which it described as "horrifying", "gruesome", and "a particularly chilling public display of torture and humiliation of Palestinian detainees."[40] In relation to the recent spike in detentions, Amnesty's Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, noted that "arbitrary detention and torture and other ill-treatment are war crimes when committed against protected persons in an occupied territory."[41] On December 3, the United Nations Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territories called for an investigation into allegations of torture.[42] In a statement, the Office said: "The massive rise in number of Palestinians arrested and detained, the number of reports of ill-treatment and humiliation suffered by those in custody, and the reported failure to adhere to basic due process raise serious questions about Israel's compliance with international humanitarian law and international human rights law."[42] On 19 January, the Human Rights Office stated they had interviewed detainees who "described being beaten, humiliated, subjected to ill-treatment, and to what may amount to torture... consistent with reports our Office has been gathering of the detention of Palestinians on a broad scale."[43] In March 2024, a UNRWA report reported "countless" instances of torture documented in Israeli prisons, including beatings and sexual assault.[44][45] The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) stated that there was a "lot of evidence of cases of violence and cruel and humiliating treatment by prison guards", and called for an investigation into the deaths of detainees in Israeli custody.[46] PCATI stated they had documented nine clear instances of torture, including sexual violence.[47] On January 3, 2024, Human Rights Watch reported that Palestinian workers from Gaza detained in Israel since October 7 had been photographed naked, attacked by dogs, and dragged faced down in the gravel.[48] In a report on allegations of torture in Israeli prisons, Euro-Med Monitor stated prisoners were being treated like animals.[49] The Wall Street Journal found detainees underwent psychological and physical abuse, including beatings during interrogations.[50] Doctors reported humiliation, beatings, and being forced to kneel for hours.[51] Adalah reported, "We’re seeing really widespread and systemic use of many, many tools in order to inflict torture and ill-treatment on Palestinians".[52] A Defence for Children International report included the testimony of an incarcerated child who stated, "Around 18 children were severely beaten, screaming in pain. I saw police dogs attacking them, bleeding from the mouth and head."[53] The United Nations human rights office reported some detainees were released wearing only diapers.[54] Addameer reported that prisoners remained blindfolded and handcuffed during their detention and people were being killed in the military camps.[55] In March 2024, the UN stated that Israel had detained and tortured its employees in Gaza to extract forced confessions.[56][57] WIKI