Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Extreme U.S./Zionist Violence in Northern Gaza,
Lebanon and Occupied Territories

Resistance Organizations Continue Courageous and Steadfast Actions to Defeat
U.S./Israeli Zionists

• Resistance Organizations Continue Courageous and Steadfast
Actions to Defeat U.S./Israeli Zionists

• Hezbollah Gives Israeli Zionists Tit for Tat

• South Africa Delivers 750 Pages of Evidence of Israeli Genocide
to International Court of Justice

• Report on Situation of Human Rights in Palestinian Territories

• Knesset Bans UNRWA from East Jerusalem,
Gaza and West Bank

Extreme U.S./Zionist Violence in Northern Gaza, Lebanon
and Occupied Territories

Resistance Organizations Continue Courageous and Steadfast Actions to Defeat U.S./Israeli Zionists

Resistance targets Merkava tank in northern occupied Palestine, October 25, 2024

The U.S. use of force to impose its hegemony and control countries and peoples who do not submit to its dictate has now given rise to the extreme violence of the U.S./Zionist forces in northern Gaza. Neither the U.S. nor its Genocide Cartel can continue to claim these atrocities are "collateral damage" while Israel is "defending itself." Once again, the peoples of the world are reduced to spectators while the U.S. gives itself and is given carte blanche to make deals to reach whatever transitory settlement it thinks it can cobble together prior to the U.S. election, meanwhile giving the Zionists time to commit the most abhorrent crimes with impunity.

For their part, the Resistance organizations continue courageous and steadfast actions to defeat the U.S./Israeli Zionists. Reports also inform that Hamas has launched a campaign of intensive political and diplomatic talks to foil the implementation of what is called the General's Plan and to stop the abhorrent crimes in the Gaza Strip, specifically in northern Gaza.[1] According to news sources, senior-level Hamas delegations have been visiting Türkiye, Qatar, and Russia, while contacts continue with Egypt, the United Nations and Iran, as well as a number of other countries.

In a statement issued Thursday, October 24, Hamas said its efforts are to warn against the General's Plan being implemented by Israel and the consequent destruction, bloody massacres, organized displacement, deprivation of food, medicine, and water, and the destruction of the entire infrastructure, especially hospitals, in northern Gaza.

The resistance of the Hamas Movement's Al-Qassam Brigades in northern Gaza continues as courageous and steadfast as ever. On October 28 and 29, the Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, reported that on each day an Israeli Merkava tank had been targeted with Shuath explosive devices. The attack on October 28 totally destroyed the tank. On October 29, the Israeli Occupation Forces announced that three of its soldiers and an officer from Unit 888, known as the "Wraith Unit," had been killed in Jabalia, while another officer was injured. Similarly the Brigades informed that on October 27, they "targeted a Zionist troop carrier and two D9 military bulldozers with ground explosives around the eastern cemetery, east of Jabalia, in the northern part of the Strip" and "targeted a Zionist Merkava 4 tank with a Shuath explosive near Al-Nathir Station in Jabalia Camp, northern Gaza Strip." The Brigades announced on October 22 that a successful operation had targeted the Israeli military's command centre in northern Gaza.

According to the Brigades, their fighters launched an anti-fortification TPG shell at the headquarters near the Jabalia camp, killing and wounding Israeli soldiers. Following the strike, Al-Qassam forces engaged the Israeli troops in fierce combat using light and medium machine guns, ultimately inflicting further casualties. As part of this assault, the resistance fighters observed two Israeli evacuation helicopters landing at the site, underscoring the extent of the damage dealt to the Israeli forces. This headquarters, equipped with advanced "Lotus" cameras with a 45-kilometre range, has been central to Israel's operations in northern Gaza, where brutal violence against Palestinian civilians has escalated dramatically.

Elsewhere, in central Gaza, Al-Quds Brigades (Islamic Jihad) on October 29 informed, "We bombed with a number of mortar shells a gathering of the Zionist enemy soldiers on the supply line in the Netzarim axis." Also on October 29, Al-Nasser Salah Al-Din Brigades released footage showing mortar attacks on an Israeli command and control site in Jhar Al-Dik in central Gaza, in coordination with Al-Quds Brigades. On October 27, Al-Quds informed, "We bombed, with a barrage of mortar shells, gatherings of the Zionist enemy in the Netzarim axis south of Gaza City" and that in "conjunction with the Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, we bombarded Zionist enemy gatherings in the Juhr Al-Dik area with a number of standard 60-caliber mortar shells."

Familes in Jabalia are forced to flee by U.S./Zionist aggression, October 21, 2024.

Meanwhile, the U.S./Zionist violence is so extreme that the Palestinian civil defence organization announced that it has halted its operations in northern Gaza, decrying the Israeli occupation's devastating aggression and threats. The civil defence spokesman in northern Gaza, Mahmoud Basal, said in a brief statement on October 24: "We regret to announce that we are no longer able to provide humanitarian services in the entire North Governorate due to the Israeli occupation forces' threats to kill and bomb civil defence crews unless they leave Jabalia refugee camp." The statement also noted that "Israeli occupation forces in the Sheikh Zayed area arrested five of our staff and took them to an undisclosed location."

The depravity of the U.S./Israeli violence against the Palestinian people knows no limits. Palestinian media and eyewitness accounts have revealed horrifying scenes of Israeli forces committing "field executions" and sniper attacks on civilians in the northern Gaza Strip. Al Jazeera aired a harrowing video showing Israeli soldiers executing a child in Jabalia Al-Balad, while other footage from Beit Lahia documented similar extrajudicial killings of civilians by Israeli snipers.

The bombings and invasions have turned densely populated areas like Jabalia into scenes of carnage, with dozens of bodies left in the streets due to Israel's ongoing blockade, which has also prevented medical teams and journalists from reaching the victims. Schools turned into shelters for tens of thousands of civilians have been transformed into sites of execution by Israeli forces. Testimonies collected by the Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor confirm that the Israeli army carried out these executions without provocation, gunning down civilians trapped in the besieged schools.

More than 200 people from the Jabalia area have been arrested and detained, branded as terrorists, as part of the Israeli campaign to empty the northern Gaza Strip of its population. Hospitals in northern Gaza are on the brink of collapse from the criminal Israeli attacks. Kamal Adwan hospital is being decimated, and on October 25, 44 health workers including the hospital's director were abducted by Israeli forces. Patients are being forcibly removed, while generators running the hospital have been destroyed along with the solar-powered electricity system. Al-Awda hospital is surrounded by Israeli forces, and the Indonesian Hospital was forced to close after nearby streets were bombed.

The Occupation forces stormed Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia on October 25 at around 2:00 am local time (12:00 am GMT), which has completely closed down Northern Gaza's health system, a health official said. The assault began with air strikes targeting the hospital and its courtyards, including the medical oxygen generator, according to Dr Muir al-Bursh, director general of the Palestinian health ministry. The bombing of the oxygen supply caused the deaths of children in the hospital and wounded medical staff, he said.

A few hours after the air strikes, Israeli troops raided the hospital and called on all patients, including those in Intensive Care, to gather in the courtyard. "Israeli soldiers destroyed all drug inventories at the hospital yesterday, claiming they were looking for militants. Now, all drug stocks have been deliberately damaged to prevent doctors from saving the lives of the wounded," the Palestinian health ministry said in a statement.

"Hundreds of patients, medical staff and some displaced people from homes near the hospital, who had sought shelter there from the continuous shelling, have been detained," the statement added.

After Israeli troops withdrew from the hospital, quadcopters began firing at it, injuring more people inside. Northern Gaza's health system is now completely out of service. The other two hospitals in northern Gaza, the Indonesian Hospital and al-Awda Hospital, ceased operations in recent days due to Israeli attacks and severe shortages of food, medicine and fuel.

The following day, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the health situation in the north of Gaza as "catastrophic" due to the ongoing Israeli military operations around and inside medical facilities. He deplored the Israeli occupation army's damage and destruction of the hospital's facility and medical supplies during their siege of the hospital. Moreover, he slammed Israel for targeting the health care system in the Gaza Strip during the over one-year-old genocide, stressing the need to protect medical facilities and staff.

"WHO cannot stress loudly enough that hospitals must be shielded from conflict at all times," WHO's Director-General said, reemphasizing that "any attack on health care facilities is a violation of international humanitarian law."

"The only path to safeguarding what remains of Gaza's collapsing health care system is an immediate and unconditional ceasefire," he said.

The spokesperson for UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Stéphane Dujarric, issued a statement which said Guterres "is shocked by the harrowing levels of death, injury and destruction in the north, with civilians trapped under rubble, the sick and wounded going without life-saving health care, and families lacking food and shelter."

"Repeated efforts to deliver humanitarian supplies essential to survive -- food, medicine and shelter -- continue to be denied by the Israeli authorities, with few exceptions, putting countless lives in peril," Dujarric said. "In the name of humanity, the Secretary-General reiterates his calls for an immediate ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and accountability for crimes under international law."

UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese posted on social media on October 26: "The entire population of Gaza is at risk of dying in a genocide that has been announced and executed under our watch." In a separate post on October 27, Albanese said that 20,000 children are missing in Gaza, "some maimed beyond recognition. On top of the 17,000 killed in 12 months."

Joyce Msuya, acting UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, also warned on October 26 that the 2.23 million residents of the small territory are at risk of dying. Msuya said that the "blatant disregard for basic humanity" by Israeli forces has to stop immediately. "What Israeli forces are doing in besieged north Gaza cannot be allowed to continue."

Jonathan Fowler, a spokesman for UNRWA, the UN agency overseeing the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza said, "The situation in north Gaza is like a catastrophe within a series of catastrophes." "Civilians are given no choice but to either leave or starve," UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said. UN human rights experts have repeatedly warned that Israel has been carrying out a "targeted starvation campaign" that has resulted in the deaths of children in Gaza. They described the regime's targeted starvation campaign as a form of genocidal violence that has resulted in famine across all of Gaza.

In related news, writing for Palestine Chronicle, Robert Inlakesh informs about a settler movement conference convoked by Israeli senior officials on Monday, October 21, calling for ethnic cleansing and the construction of Israeli settlements in Gaza. "Guarded by the Israeli military and organized by the settlement expansion organization known as Nachala, the conference attendees made it clear what they believed must be done in order to build their Jewish-Supremacist apartheid colonies." Israeli security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir stated that there will be a "transfer of all Gazan citizens" through "encouraging emigration" and that "we will offer them the opportunity to move to other countries because that land belongs to us."

"You will witness how Jews go to Gaza and Arabs disappear from Gaza," said the conference organizer and prominent settler movement leader Daniella Weiss. The Likud Party's Minister for Social Equality and the Advancement of the Status of Women of Israel, May Golan, said that "taking territory" from Arabs is the best way to "hurt them the most."

This is not the first Israeli settlement conference held to discuss the construction of illegal Jewish colonies in Gaza, Inlakesh points out. Such conferences have been held since January with the first being held in Tel Aviv, also receiving the endorsement of senior Israeli government officials.

Canada is a traitorous collaborator of the U.S./Zionist genocide in Gaza. It condones the crimes being committed under the guise that they are collateral damage. The hands of the Canadian government and all opposition parties, media and pundits who are part of this appeasement of the U.S./Zionist crimes against the Palestinian people are dripping with the blood of the Palestinian martyrs. They will never be able to wash it away no matter what they do. They have gone too far.

Note

1. The "Generals' Plan," initially proposed by General Giora Eiland, a former head of the Israeli army's operations department, envisions a division of Gaza into two parts, the Associated Press (AP) which has seen a copy of the plan explains. The plan proposes indefinite Israeli control over northern Gaza and the establishment of a new administration free of Hamas.

The copy of the plan seen by AP suggests that if this strategy succeeds in northern Gaza, it could be extended to other areas in the south, including tent camps housing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, AP reports.

It explains: "Under this strategy, Palestinians would have a week to leave a third of northern Gaza, including Gaza City, after which the area would be declared a closed military zone.

"The plan includes a strict embargo on food, water, medicine, and fuel, and would label Palestinians who remain as 'militants,' potentially justifying lethal force. The goal is to split Gaza and create a non-Hamas-controlled administration. Ultimately, Gaza would be divided into two separate areas."

(Palestinian Information Center, Palestine Chronicle, Al Mayadeen, Press TV)

Hezbollah Gives Israeli Zionists Tit for Tat

Hezbollah targets Israeli soldiers in northern occupied Palestine, October 27, 2024

On the evening of Saturday, October 26, the Lebanese Resistance Movement Hezbollah issued an evacuation directive to Israeli settlers in 25 settlements in northern occupied Palestine, mirroring similar actions by Israeli occupation forces who had previously issued evacuation orders in various areas across Lebanon. Hezbollah said that Israeli forces had stationed military units in these settlements, effectively turning them into operational outposts.

The settlements included in the evacuation order are Kiryat Shmona, Yesud HaMa'ala, Ayelet HaShahar, Hatzor HaGlilit, Karmeil, Maalot Tarshiha, Even Menachem, Nahariya, Rosh Pina, Shamir, Shaal, Meron, Kapri, Abirim, Dalton, Neve Ziv, Katzrin, Kfar Hanania, Manot, Beit HaEmek, Kfar Vradim, Harashim, Birya, Kidmat Tsvi, and Bar Yohai.

Designating these locations as legitimate targets for Hezbollah's air and missile forces, the warning read, "You are requested to evacuate immediately. Your settlements have become locations of deployment for enemy military forces attacking Lebanon and are thus deemed legitimate military targets for the air and missile forces of the Islamic Resistance." It cautioned settlers to avoid areas near these facilities "for their own safety, until further notice."

On Sunday, October 27, Hezbollah rockets and drones hit many Israeli settlements including Kiryat Shmona and Nahariya. "The Islamic Resistance fighters targeted on Sunday afternoon, October 27, 2024, the Shoumera settlement with an attack drone, hitting its targets accurately," Hezbollah informed.

Separate rocket attacks targeted gatherings of Israeli soldiers in some other settlements in the occupied territories. Hezbollah said the "fighters of the Islamic Resistance, at 10:00 pm, on Sunday, October 27, 2024, targeted a gathering of Israeli enemy soldiers in the Misgav Am settlement with a barrage of rockets."

The resistance movement launched a drone strike on Israel's Marj site as well, causing casualties among the regime's forces there.

Al Manar reports that on Tuesday, October 29, Hezbollah launched "coordinated operations as it steadfastly defended Lebanese territory." It noted that these actions are in line with the strategy of "hurting the enemy" announced by Sheikh Naim Qassem in his capacity as Secretary General of Hezbollah, the post to which he was elected on October 29. "The group’s Military Media declared rocket attacks and drone strikes on strategic locations in occupied territories and Israeli forces attempting to infiltrate the border. Additionally, Hezbollah fighters successfully downed an Israeli Hermes-900 UAV in Lebanese airspace, underscoring their commitment to countering the Israeli threat," Al Manar added.

"The impact of this escalation is evident, as Israel’s Yisrael Hayom reported today that nearly 900 Israeli occupation soldiers have been hospitalized since the onset of ground operations in Lebanon."

Hezbollah is a formidable force, Israeli Reserve Colonel Jacques Neriah told Israeli Channel 13 on October 27. Many of Hezbollah's tunnels in southern Lebanon are strategically designed as traps, he said, explaining that Hezbollah fighters often allow Israeli forces to advance, only to ambush them from behind once they have moved forward.

"Hezbollah has now regained its strength," he said, referring to doubt of Zionist claims that the assassination of the Hezbollah Leader Sayeed Hassan Nasrallah had finished the organization. According to Al Mayadeen, Neriah warned that the Lebanese resistance movement is maintaining its momentum and may anticipate that Israeli forces will continue to press deeper into southern Lebanon, providing the group with further opportunities to launch attacks.

"This is something Israel must be wary of, as Hezbollah continues to be encouraged by its recent victories," Neriah cautioned.

(Palestine Chronicle, Al Mayadeen, Al Manar,* Press TV)*

South Africa Delivers 750 Pages of Evidence of Israeli Genocide to International Court of Justice

South Africa has submitted its Memorial -- the name of the document recording its main case against Israel -- to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN's highest court, to supplement its genocide allegations against Israel which, in over 750 pages, provides evidence supported by exhibits and annexes of over 4,000 pages. South Africa says its Memorial contains evidence that Israel has violated the Genocide Convention in its ongoing military offensive in the Gaza Strip which has killed over 43,000 Palestinians.

A statement issued by South Africa's Presidency declared: "The evidence will show that undergirding Israel's genocidal acts is the special intent to commit genocide, a failure by Israel to prevent incitement to genocide, to prevent genocide itself and its failure to punish those inciting and committing acts of genocide [...]

"Israel has been granted unprecedented impunity to breach international law and norms for as long as the UN Charter has been in existence," the statement stressed, adding that "Israel's continued shredding of international law has imperiled the institutions of global governance that were established to hold all states accountable. [...]

"The international community cannot stand idly by while innocent civilians –- including women, children, hospital workers, humanitarian aid workers and journalists, are killed for simply being. That is a world we cannot accept," the Presidency stressed.

The statement issued by South Africa's Presidency explains that "In accordance with the Rules of Court, the Memorial may not be made public. The filing of this memorial takes place at a time when Israel is intensifying the killing of civilians in Gaza and now seems intent to follow a similar path of destruction in Lebanon."

The Memorial contains evidence which shows how the government of Israel "has violated the genocide convention by promoting the destruction of Palestinians living in Gaza, physically killing them with an assortment of destructive weapons, depriving them access to humanitarian assistance, causing conditions of life which are aimed at their physical destruction and ignoring and defying several provisional measures of the International Court of Justice, and using starvation as a weapon of war and to further Israel's aims to depopulate Gaza through mass death and forced displacement of Palestinians."

At least 13 countries have joined South Africa's case at the ICJ, including Belgium, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, Libya, Mexico, Maldives, Nicaragua, Spain, and Türkiye.

(Palestine Chronicle, Al Jazeera)

Report on Situation of Human Rights in
Palestinian Territories

Destruction left by Israeli massacre carried out in Beit Lahiya in Northern Gaza,
October 28-29, 2024.

Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, announced on social media that her report titled "Genocide as colonial erasure" is now publicly available in all UN official languages.

The report is comprehensive, detailed and thoroughly documented. It contains eight sections, 93 articles supported by 321 references, and makes 12 recommendations for action by all UN member states.

"Genocide," Albanese writes on social media, "is a complex and insidious crime; proving destructive intent is an onerous task -- yet not when it is so ostentatious, sustained by a political doctrine of ideological hatred and articulated through institutional structures and policies."

Below are the conclusions and recommendations:

Conclusions
(begin at paragraph 83)

83. The Gaza genocide is a tragedy foretold, and one that risks expanding to other Palestinians under Israeli rule. Since its establishment, Israel has treated the occupied people as a hated encumbrance and threat to be eradicated, subjecting millions of Palestinians, for generations, to everyday indignities, mass killing, mass incarceration, forced displacement, racial segregation and apartheid. Advancing its goal of "Greater Israel" threatens to erase the Indigenous Palestinian population.

84. Obscured by false Israeli narratives of a war waged in "self-defence," the genocidal conduct of Israel must be viewed within a broader context, as numerous actions (totality of conduct) jointly targeting the Palestinians as such (totality of a people) across the entire territory where they reside (totality of the land), in furtherance of the political ambitions of Israel for sovereignty over the whole of former Mandatory Palestine.

Today, the genocide of the Palestinians appears to be the means to an end: the complete removal or eradication of Palestinians from the land so integral to their identity, and which is illegally and openly coveted by Israel.

85. Statements and actions by Israeli leaders reflect a genocidal intent and conduct; they have often used the Biblical story of Amalek to justify the extermination of "the Gazans," erasing Gaza and violently displacing Palestinians, thereby casting Palestinians as a whole as legitimate targets.

86. Individuals clearly identifiable as perpetrators should be prosecuted. However, it is the entire State apparatus that has engineered, articulated and executed genocidal violence, through acts which in their totality may lead to the destruction of the Palestinian people. This must stop; urgent action is required to ensure the full application of the Genocide Convention and full protection of the Palestinians.

87. This ongoing genocide is doubtlessly the consequence of the exceptional status and protracted impunity that has been afforded to Israel. Israel has systematically and flagrantly violated international law, including Security Council resolutions and ICJ [International Court of Justice] orders. This has emboldened the hubris of Israel and its defiance of international law. As the ICC [International Criminal Court] Prosecutor has warned, "if we do not demonstrate our willingness to apply the law equally, if it is seen as applied selectively, we will be creating the conditions of its complete collapse. This is the true risk we face at this perilous moment."

88. As the world watches the first live-streamed settler-colonial genocide, only justice can heal the wounds that political expedience has allowed to fester. The devastation of so many lives is an outrage to humanity and all that international law stands for.

Recommendations
(begin at paragraph 89)

89. The current genocide is part of a century-long project of eliminatory settler-colonialism in Palestine, a stain on the international system and humanity, which must be ended, investigated and prosecuted.

90. The Special Rapporteur reminds all States of their legal obligation to act on their due diligence duties given the clearly serious risk of continuous breach of the Genocide Convention and Geneva Conventions, and urges States to consider and reach an urgent public determination as to what levers and tools each State has at its disposal to ameliorate that risk, whether acting alone or with other States, including at the United Nations; and to explain to the public and the international community the steps which it has taken and why.

91. Whether in compliance with the above due diligence duties or otherwise, the Special Rapporteur urges Member States to:

(a) Use all their political leverage -– commencing with a full arms embargo and sanctions -– so that Israel stops the assault against the Palestinians, accepts a ceasefire and fully withdraws from the occupied Palestinian territory in line with the ICJ Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024;

(b) Formally recognize Israel as an apartheid State and persistent violator of international law, reactivating the Special Committee Against Apartheid to comprehensively address the situation in Palestine, and warn Israel of possible suspension of its membership under Article 6 of the Charter of the United Nations;

(d) Develop a protective framework for Palestinians displaced outside Gaza, in line with international human rights and refugee law, while fully preserving their right to return;

(e) Support independent and thorough investigation(s) of criminal conduct, including genocide and apartheid, including through the application in national courts of universal jurisdiction over those suspected of such criminal conduct, including all relevant ancillary offences;

(f) Investigate and prosecute corporate entities and dual citizens involved in crimes in the occupied Palestinian territory, including soldiers, mercenaries and settlers;

(g) Ensure unhindered humanitarian assistance to Gaza and full financing and protection of UNRWA [UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East], including from attacks on its premises and personnel and from libelous smear campaigns, and ensure the continuity of its mandate in all fields.

92. The Special Rapporteur urges the ICC Prosecutor to investigate the commission of the crimes of genocide and apartheid by Israel, and investigate other prominent individuals mentioned in the present report.

93. The Special Rapporteur urges the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel to investigate the broader context of eliminatory intent and practices of Israel against all Palestinians (triple lens test), including those with Israeli citizenship and the refugees, and recent acts of genocide.

To view the report in full, click here.

Knesset Bans UNRWA from
East Jerusalem, Gaza and West Bank

On October 28 the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) approved two laws aimed at blocking, in areas under Israeli control, the activity of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which services Palestinian refugees in east Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank. The first bill states that UNRWA will no longer "operate any institution, provide any service, or conduct any activity, whether directly or indirectly," in Israel. The second bill states that the treaty between Israel and UNRWA, signed following the Six Day War in 1967, will expire within seven days of the bill passing its final voting in the Knesset.

Philippe Lazzarini, the UNRWA Commissioner-General, responded immediately on his official X account saying: "The vote by the Israeli Parliament (Knesset) against UNRWA this evening is unprecedented and sets a dangerous precedent. It opposes the UN Charter and violates the State of Israel's obligations under international law. This is the latest in the ongoing campaign to discredit UNRWA and delegitimize its role towards providing human-development assistance and services to Palestine Refugees. These bills will only deepen the suffering of Palestinians, especially in Gaza where people have been going through more than a year of sheer hell."

In a letter addressed to His Excellency Mr. Philémon Yang, President of the General Assembly, Lazzarini rejected the Israeli lies that UNRWA is "one of the arms of terror that acted under UN auspices."

"[F]or over 15 years, UNRWA has shared annually the names of its staff with the Government of Israel. This includes the names of staff about whom the government never previously raised concerns but who have now been included in government lists alleging armed militancy. The Agency takes every allegation extremely seriously. It has sent repeated requests to the government — in March, April, May, and July — appealing for evidence to enable action. No response has been received. UNRWA is therefore in the invidious position of being unable to address allegations for which it has no evidence, while these allegations continue to be used to undermine the Agency," Lazzarini wrote.

He reminded the President that the April 2024 Independent Review of UNRWA's neutrality (the Colonna Report) noted that "UNRWA has a more robust neutrality framework than any comparable organization." He added that the Agency has been subject to Israeli "allegations regarding the military use of its premises by Palestinian armed groups, including Hamas," none of which have been substantiated. "The Agency cannot possibly verify these allegations," Lazzarini wrote, saying "There must be accountability through an independent investigation."

What can be documented with certainty however is that UNRWA has been under intense physical attack by Israel and the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in Gaza. At least 237 UNRWA personnel have been killed. Over 200 premises have been damaged or destroyed, killing more than 560 people seeking UN protection. Dozens of UNRWA staff have been detained and report being tortured.

The letter concludes by lauding the heroism of the UNRWA staff in Gaza and the occupied territories and characterizes the latest Israeli attack on the Agency as an attack on institutions of international order and the rule of law. "The rules-based international order is crumbling in a repetition of the horrors that led to the establishment of the United Nations, and in violation of commitments to prevent their recurrence. The attacks on UNRWA are an integral part of this disintegration."

(Jerusalem Post, Lazzarini X post)

(To access articles individually click on the black headline.)

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