Israel accused of summary executions
- Footage and witness accounts shared with Al Jazeera reveal how Israeli forces carried out summary executions in Gaza last month.
- UN Women’s agency warns of “generational trauma” on Palestinians as figures show “two mothers killed every hour” in Israel’s war on Gaza.
Iran confirms four IRGC members killed in Syria air strike
Iran has confirmed that four members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have been killed in the air strike on Damascus, along with several members of Syrian armed forces.
“Once more the criminal Zionist regime has moved to violate the city of Damascus, the Syrian capital, and during an airstrike by the fighter jets of the invading and occupying regime a number of Syrian forces and four military advisers of the Islamic Republic of Iran were martyred,” the IRGC said in a brief statement, saying more information will be published later.
Iranian state television called it a “terrorist” attack by Israel.
This comes weeks after Israel was accused of killing Razi Mousavi, a top IRGC commander in the region, in another attack on Damascus.
Israeli army, settlers commit 1,124 attacks against Palestinian Bedouin communities
Bedouin communities in the occupied West Bank are being subjected to ethnic cleansing and forced displacement at the hands of the Israeli forces and settlers, according to al-Baidar Organisation for Defending Bedouin Rights.
Over the past year, the organisation said that the Israeli army and settlers have committed 1,124 attacks against Bedouin communities in the occupied West Bank.
The organisation pointed out that the Israel is exploiting attention turned to its war on the Gaza Strip to carry out its largest mass displacement operation against Bedouin communities, summarised in physical attacks, demolishing homes, uprooting and destroying crops, seizing property, and establishing new settlement outposts.
Al-Baidar reported that Israel and its settlers displaced approximately 28 Bedouin communities, consisting of 276 families and a total of 1,593 individuals.
There are 160 Bedouin communities spread out from Hebron in the south to the far north of the West Bank, as well as alongside the eastern plains and in Area C – which makes up 60 percent of the occupied territory but is under Israeli military and civil control.
Immediate ceasefire is required: Ministry
The Palestinian Authority’s Foreign Ministry says a ceasefire is needed, and not just statements warning of the extent of the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip.
In a statement, the ministry said that the mission of the United Nations and the international community is not limited to publishing statistics about Palestinian victims.
“They must assume their legal responsibilities. The moral imperative is to cease fire immediately and take the necessary practical measures to protect civilians and secure their basic needs,” the ministry said.
Hijacking truth: How OSINT in Gaza fell prey to groupthink
Before the war, open source intelligence (OSINT) in journalism was already well established, bringing new rigour to reporting of events in places like Cameroon, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen. In Gaza, the trend has peaked.
But the war has also presented new challenges for the rapidly expanding field.
If you’re just joining us
It’s just after 11:20am [09:20 GMT] in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel.
Here are some of the main developments:
- Israeli air strikes continue to rain down on Gaza as intense fighting continues in Khan Younis and near Nasser hospital.
- A series of Israeli raids continued across the occupied West Bank, including in Bethlehem and towns near Qalqilya city, during which arrests were made, and civilian infrastructure was destroyed by the Israeli military.
- The Department of State confirms the death of a US citizen in the occupied West Bank, and says it is investigating.
- Relatives of Israelis held captive in Gaza rally outside the private residence of Benjamin Netanyahu, demanding he reach a deal with Hamas for the release of their loved ones.
- The EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell has accused Israel of having “created” and “financed” Hamas.
Gaza death toll nears 25,000
At least 24,927 Palestinians have been killed and more than 62,300 wounded in Israeli attacks since October 7, the health ministry has just reported.
Palestinians released from Israeli detention receive care at Rafah hospital
As we’ve been reporting, there are growing calls for an end to the mistreatment of Palestinian detainees subjected to weeks of imprisonment in unknown locations, and physical abuse by Israeli forces in Gaza.
Palestinian men were held by Israeli forces for between 30 to 55 days, UN human rights official Ajith Sunghay said in a report yesterday during his visit to Gaza, where he met some of the released detainees.
Palestinians returning to ‘primitive’ ways for food, hygiene
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has said the humanitarian situation in northern Gaza remains dire, with Israeli air strikes preventing aid packages from reaching the embattled population.
“People have returned to primitive methods for food preparation and general hygiene, to make bread,” said Mohammed Abu Msbeh, director of ambulances and emergency centres in the Strip.
“The daily struggle for water is a daily torment for Gaza residents to secure life-sustaining droplets, who stand in large crowds for hours with containers.”
