For today, links to reports from Reuters, the Associated Press, and National Public Radio, and to commentary via ScheerPost and from Australia; others are accessible by clicking on their initials below. (UKRAINE entry for this date is HERE.) — MCM
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Israeli strikes intensify across Gaza, pounding the north, by Nidal Al-Mughrabi | Reuters Israeli strikes intensified across Gaza today in some of the heaviest shelling in weeks, pounding the north from where the Israeli army had previously drawn down its troops, residents said. Strikes by air and shelling from tanks on the ground were also reported in . . . READ MORE . . .
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UN rights chief ‘horrified’ by mass grave reports at Gaza hospitals, by Emma Farge | Reuters GENEVA — UN rights chief Volker Turk said today he was “horrified” by the destruction of the Nasser and Al Shifa medical facilities in Gaza and reports of mass graves containing hundreds of bodies there, according to a spokesperson. Bodies were also reported at the Al Shifa site following . . . READ MORE . . .
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Tent compound rises in southern Gaza as Israel prepares for Rafah offensive. From AP. Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press appear to show a new compound of tents being built near Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip as the Israeli military continues to signal it plans an offensive on the city of Rafah. The military said it was not involved in the tent construction. READ MORE . . .
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Even before a planned Israeli ground offensive, airstrikes have made Rafah unsafe. Reported by Aya Batrawy and Anas Baba | NPR Israel has intensified its airstrikes on Gaza’s southern city of Rafah. Palestinians say most of those killed are women and children. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.
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Review of UN agency helping Palestinian refugees found Israel did not express concern about staff, by Edith M. Lederer | AP UNITED NATIONS — An independent review of the neutrality of the U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees found that Israel never expressed concern about anyone on the staff lists it has received annually since 2011. The report says UNRWA has . . . READ MORE . . .
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FROM APRIL 21 Palestinians as ‘the others,’ by Ralph Nader | nader.org / ScheerPost Throughout history, military empires have reduced their victims, their subjugated, and their abducted to a state of “the others.” The political and mass media institutions usually follow suit. Such is the case . . . READ MORE . . .
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Israel is turning hospitals into mass graves while the West fixates on ‘antisemitism,’ by Caitlin Johnstone | caitlinejohnstone.com.au Wherever there’s an opportunity to focus the narrative on what feelings are being felt by a politically convenient population, the western press fall all over . . . READ MORE . . .