Gaza, 10-27-23

First, a link from Consortium News to a talk last week at the University of California Berkeley. Then, links to reports from Reuters, Agence France-Presse, National Public Radio, the Associated Press, and Haaretz; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (Today’s UKRAINE entry is HERE.) — MCM

   

Crisis in Zionism, opportunity for Palestine?  by Ilan Pappé  The professor of history at the University of Exeter in England speaks against “dehistoricizing Oct. 7,” presenting the violence on that date and since in Israel and Gaza in the context of nearly a century of Palestinian anti-colonial struggle. His talk on Oct. 19, scheduled weeks or months ago, lasts 46 minutes after an eight-minute introduction and is followed by Q&A. Click HERE to listen and watch, and for further background. 

   

Release of hostages requires ceasefire, Hamas official says, by Nidal Al-Mughrabi | Reuters  GAZA / MOSCOW — A Hamas official tied the release of hostages held in Gaza to a ceasefire in Israel’s punishing air war in the enclave. Israel says it is preparing a ground invasion but has been urged by the U.S. and Arab countries to delay an operation that would multiply the number of civilian casualties in the densely populated coastal strip and . . . READ MORE . . .

   

UN concerned ‘war crimes are being committed’ in Israel-Hamas conflict. From AFP. GENEVA — The United Nations said today it was concerned that war crimes were being committed on both sides in the conflict between Israel and Hamas. The UN Human Rights Office cited forcible transfer, collective punishment and the taking of hostages. “We are concerned about the collective punishment of Gazans in response to the atrocious attacks by Hamas, which also amounted to war crimes,” spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani . . . READ MORE . . .

   

At least 24 journalists have been killed in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, by Jaclyn Diaz | NPR  At least 24 journalists are among the more than 6,000 people who have been killed in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, according to the latest tally released Wednesday by the Committee to Protect Journalists. Of the two dozen journalists who have died, 20 were Palestinian, three were Israeli and one was Lebanese. At least eight other journalists have been reported injured, while three . . . Click HERE to listen and read.

   

EU calls for humanitarian pauses for Gaza aid as Israel raids enclave. From Reuters. European Union leaders urged pauses in Israeli bombing and Hamas rocket attacks so humanitarian aid could be delivered to Gaza, and U.S. President Joe Biden told Iran’s supreme leader not to target U.S. personnel in the Mideast. Israel’s military said early today it was “currently conducting raids in the Gaza Strip as part of . . . READ MORE . . .

   

Palestinians plead ‘stop the bombs’ at UN meeting but Israel insists Hamas must be ‘obliterated, by Edith M. Lederer | AP  UNITED NATIONS — “Stop the bombs and save lives!” the Palestinian ambassador pleaded at an emotional U.N. meeting Thursday on the war in Gaza. But Israel’s envoy was adamant, declaring again, “We will not rest until Hamas is obliterated.” The war sparked by Gaza’s Hamas rulers’ surprise attacks on Israel on Oct. 7 played out in the vast hall of . . . READ MORE . . .

   

Hamas lists some 7,000 names of Gaza ‘dead.’ From AFP. The Hamas health ministry on Thursday released a list of 6,747 names of Gazans it said had been killed in Israeli strikes after the U.S. president cast doubt on its toll figures. It gave the sex, age and identity card number of each of the victims, adding that 281 bodies had not yet been identified. Israel says the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas left 1,400 dead, mainly civilians. READ MORE . . .

   

Israel’s Dead: The names of those killed in Hamas attacks, massacres and the Israel-Hamas War. From Haaretz. Over 1,300 Israelis, civilians and soldiers were killed in their homes, communities and in confronting Hamas terrorists. Here are the officially confirmed names of Israel’s dead in the atrocities of Oct. 7 and the subsequent Israel-Hamas war. READ MORE . . .

   

Israel-Hamas war upends years of conventional wisdom. Leaders give few details on what comes next, by Josef Federman | AP  JERUSALEM — Just three weeks into the deadliest war between Israel and Hamas, it already is clear that the bloodshed has flipped long-standing assumptions in Israel and the region upside down. Israel’s military and intelligence services were exposed as incompetent and ill-prepared. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decades of attempts to sideline the Palestinians and . . . READ MORE . . .