For today, links to reports from Reuters, the Associated Press, Antiwar.com and National Public Radio, followed by links to commentary from Global Research and ScheerPost; other reports and commentary are accessible by clicking on the sources’ names or initials below. (The UKRAINE entry for this date is HERE.) — MCM
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Fierce clashes in Gaza as Israeli forces expand ground offensive, by Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Henriette Chacar | Reuters GAZA / JERUSALEM — Fierce air and artillery strikes rang out in Gaza early today as Israeli troops backed by tanks pressed into the Palestinian enclave with a ground assault that prompted more international calls for civilians to be protected. Israel’s military said it had . . . READ MORE . . .
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Israel pounds Gaza’s north as it steps up ground assault, by Nidal Al-Mughrabi | Reuters GAZA — Palestinians in northern Gaza reported fierce air and artillery strikes early on Monday as Israeli troops backed by tanks pressed into the enclave with a ground assault that drew increased international calls for the protection of civilians. Israeli air strikes hit areas near Gaza City’s Shifa and Al-Quds hospitals, and Palestinian . . . READ MORE . . .
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Gaza receives largest aid shipment so far as deaths top 8,000 and Israel widens military offensive, by Wafaa Shurafa, Samy Magdy and Kareem Chehayeb | AP DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Nearly three dozen trucks entered Gaza on Sunday in the largest aid convoy since the war between Israel and Hamas began, but humanitarian workers said the assistance fell desperately short of needs after thousands of people broke into warehouses to take flour and basic hygiene products. The Gaza Health Ministry said . . . READ MORE . . .
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House speaker says bill to split Israel aid from Ukraine will be brought to floor, by Dave DeCamp | awar.com Newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said Sunday that a stand-alone bill to provide Israel with billions more in military aid will be brought to the House floor this week instead of President Biden’s $105 billion request that also includes spending for Ukraine, Taiwan, and the border. “We’re going to move a stand-alone Israel funding bill this week . . . READ MORE . . .
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With Gaza borders sealed, there’s much we don’t know about what’s happening inside. Leila Fadel of NPR speaks with Tirana Hassan, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.
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‘Wiping Gaza off the map’: Big money agenda to confiscate Palestine’s maritime natural gas reserves. A video interview with Michel Chossudovsky | Global Research. In a 24-minute video presentation, the GR director expands on a 2013 article in which freelance journalist Felicity Arbuthnot reported that Israel was “set to become a major exporter of gas and some oil, ‘if all goes to plan’” by 2024 — including the appropriation of Palestinian offshore reserves in the Mediterranean Sea. Click HERE to watch and listen.
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Full-dress irrationality, by Patrick Lawrence | ScheerPost / Popular Resistance Joe Biden has sold a lot of snake oil off the back of his buckwagon over the past half-century. What he has on offer now is too consequential simply to dismiss. He is diabolically leveraging the obvious urgency of the Israel–Palestine crisis to . . . READ MORE . . .