For today, links to six reports: from the Associated Press, Reuters, Middle East Eye, and Substack, and to two articles of commentary from Middle East Monitor; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (SYRIA and UKRAINE entries for this date are HERE and HERE.) — MCM
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Body recovered in Gaza confirmed to be 23-year-old hostage Hamzah AlZayadni. From AP. Israel’s army confirmed Friday that one of the bodies recovered from Gaza earlier this week was that of 23-year-old hostage Hamzah AlZayadni. His body was retrieved with that of his father, Yosef AlZayadni, who were taken together when . . . READ MORE . . . Click HERE for report from Reuters.
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Study reveals Gaza death toll 40 percent higher than reported by health ministry. From Middle East Eye. A recent study published in the medical journal The Lancet exposes alarming discrepancies in the reported death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza, suggesting the true number of Palestinians killed by Israel may be 40 percent higher . . . READ MORE . . .
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FROM JAN. 9 U.S. lawmakers vote to sanction ICC officials for issuing Netanyahu warrant, by Yasmine El-Sabawi | Middle East Eye The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed its first major foreign policy bill of the 119th Congressional session — in which both chambers are Republican-controlled — to sanction officials at the International Criminal Court for issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for Jan. 4 report from Reuters.
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FROM JAN. 9 Killing for killing’s sake in Gaza, by Seymour M. Hersh | Substack Gaza has become a killing field — that is the view of a well-informed Israeli veteran who was an enthusiastic supporter of the initial Israeli response to the Hamas attack of Oct. 7, 2023. READ MORE . . .
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Israel destroyed Gaza ‘for generations to come’ and the world stayed silent, by Ramzy Baroud | Middle East Monitor The first official reference to Gaza becoming increasingly uninhabitable was made by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in 2012, when the population of the Gaza Strip was estimated at 1.8 million inhabitants. READ MORE . . .
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Why context is important in Palestine, by Chandra Muzaffar | Middle East Monitor The genocide in Gaza is ongoing. More than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel from October 2023 to date, 17,000 of whom were children. This is the largest number of children killed in a genocide over a fourteen-month period. Indeed, most of the dead . . . READ MORE . . .