For today, links to reports from the Associated Press and Reuters, followed by commentary via Consortium News from Truthout and MintPress News, and via Popular Resistance from CN; other articles are accessible by clicking on their sources’ names or initials below. (UKRAINE entry for this date and a PILGER entry are HERE and HERE.) — MCM
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Blinken seeks Palestinian governance reform for postwar Gaza as deadly Israeli strikes continue, by Matthew Lee, Najib Jobain and Samy Magdy | AP TEL AVIV — Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to President Mahmoud Abbas today about reforming the Palestinian self-rule government, as part of U.S. efforts to rally the region behind postwar plans for Gaza that . . . READ MORE. . .
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Despair in Gaza as fighting intensifies despite promise to scale down war, by Mohammed Salem, Simon Lewis and Nidal Al-Mughrabi | Reuters GAZA / RAMALLAH / DOHA — Israeli strikes in southern and central Gaza intensified on Wednesday despite a pledge by Israel that it would pull out some troops and shift to a more targeted campaign, and pleading from its ally Washington to kill fewer civilians. Israel has said . . . READ MORE . . .
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Israel worried ahead of World Court genocide hearings, by Marjorie Cohn | Truthout / Consortium News For nearly three months, Israel has enjoyed virtual impunity for its atrocious crimes against the Palestinian people. That changed on Dec. 29 when South Africa, a state party to the Genocide Convention, filed an 84-page application in the International Court of Justice (ICJ, or World Court) alleging . . . READ MORE . . .
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Spark that lit the fire: Untold story of Oct 7 attacks, by Ramzy Baroud | MintPress News / Consortium News The events in Palestine starting on Oct. 7 have taken many people by surprise. However, attentive observers were not among them. Few expected that Palestinian fighters would be parachuting into southern Israel on Oct. 7; that instead of capturing a single Israeli soldier — as done in 2006 — hundreds of Israelis, including many soldiers and civilians, would . . . READ MORE . . .
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The spectacular failure of the Zionist project, by Stefan Moore | Consortium News / PopularResistance I grew up viewing the State of Israel as an unfortunate fait accompli and accepting that the two-state solution was probably the best that could be hoped for. Since then, I have concluded that the creation of a Jewish state was a catastrophic mistake and that Zionist Israel has relinquished . . . READ MORE . . .