No. 16
October 2023
October 27, 2023
• The World Stands with You Palestine!
We
Are All Palestinians!
• Opposition to Israel Continues to Grow
• UN General Assembly Adopts Humanitarian
Truce
Resolution
October 27, 2023
The World Stands with You Palestine!
WE ARE ALL PALESTINIANS!
Israeli bombardment of Gaza
escalates to unprecedented level October 27, 2023, and all internet and
phone service has been shut down.
|
New
York, Central Station, October 27, 2023 As Israel expands its attacks on the people of Palestine with ever more aerial bombings in preparation for a ground invasion, the crime of genocide is evident for all to see, no matter how Israel, the U.S., Canada, Britain and other countries try to present what the Israelis are doing as legitimate. In preparation for their ground invasion, internet has been cut off. Palestinians cannot communicate with the outside world or even with one another. The outside world cannot communicate with Palestinians.
All over the world, demonstrations and protests are taking place, gathering millions of people demanding recognition of the Palestinian people's right to be. This includes thousands of Palestinians in Ramallah, Nablus and other cities across the West Bank to protest in solidarity with those in Gaza, as Israel intensifies its military campaign against the Palestinian Resistance throughout the Gaza Strip. In New York City a bold sit-in filled Central Station. In Canada, militant emergency rallies are being held in which thousands of people are participating.
Now is the time to speak in our name. The world stands with you, Palestine. We are all Palestinians!
Days 20 and 21 of Israel's Assault on Gaza
Reports confirm that U.S. special forces are active in the initial Israeli attempts at having ground forces enter Gaza, each of which have suffered losses of material and human resources at the hands of the Palestinian resistance. The Pentagon also confirmed that it plans to provide two U.S. air defence systems to Israel, adding it has deployed 900 troops to the Middle East, including specialists in air defence systems. This confirms active U.S. involvement in the Israeli military actions. The U.S. deployment of air defence systems is a provocation that creates more tension in the region.
An expectation of the type of crimes Israel is planning is to flood tunnels with a type of nerve gas or chemical weapon. "We have information from trusted sources that the [U.S.] plan with Israel is to send special American/Israeli forces, administered by the U.S. and executed either by Israel or combined [U.S. and Israel] to [...] use nerve gases, aiming to paralyze the capabilities of Palestinian soldiers in the tunnels and trenches without killing him so they do not kill the hostages or captives held in these tunnels," a former head of Hamas said. "Cutting off communications from the Gaza Strip and escalating bombing signals the occupation's intention to commit more massacres and genocidal crimes," the Palestinian group said in a statement.
Israel is expanding and intensifying its aerial bombardment of Gaza and what appears to be probing operations to evaluate the capabilities of the resistance. For example, a marine assault was attempted, met heavy resistance, and had to retreat. Another land based incursion by tanks also met heavy resistance.
Israeli army artillery is also shelling the border in the eastern Gaza Strip, from Rafah in the south to Beit Hanoun in the north. At least 10 Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli bombing targeting a house in Rafah, southern Gaza. A 17-year-old youth was killed and another injured by Israeli army gunfire in Jalazone refugee camp, north of Ramallah, as they were leaving school. Israel again used internationally banned phosphorous weapons on October 25 against southern Lebanon. According to Palestinian officials, over 12,000 tons of explosives have been used by Israel to bomb Gaza since October 7, which is "equivalent in magnitude to the devastating nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima."
Satellite photo of destruction
caused to Gaza neighbourhood by Israeli airstrikes.
The U.S. military also carried out strikes against two facilities in eastern Syria the Pentagon says is used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and groups it backs. It claimed the attacks were in response to at least 19 attacks against U.S. forces in both Iraq and Syria in the past week. The strikes took place at roughly 4:30 am on Friday in Syria near Abu Kamal, a Syrian town on the border with Iraq, and were carried out by two F-16 fighter jets using precision munitions, a senior U.S. official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Reports inform that a total of 21 U.S. forces have suffered "minor injuries, the vast majority of them traumatic brain injuries."
Meanwhile, the U.S. is implementing advice by its Atlantic Council NATO experts by having its special envoy "for humanitarian affairs" issue press statements that the focus of the U.S. is on delivering aid "to those who deserve it" in Gaza. U.S. White House spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. will respond at a "time of our choosing and a manner of our choosing" to attacks on its forces in Iraq and Syria. Unnamed government officials told the Washington Post that U.S. President Joe Biden is considering directing military strikes against militia forces for repeatedly targeting U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria. Nothing is said of Israeli strikes against Syria and Lebanon or those launched against Iran as well.
Israeli
bombardment, October 27, 2023
The Ministry of Health in Gaza on October 25 issued a statement in which it stated, "The type of injuries that we see in hospitals are severe, severe injuries that require intensive care beds that have become full, and we do not have the capacity to accommodate more cases, and many of the wounded cannot be discharged from hospitals after their treatment because their homes no longer exist, so where would they go?
"This was the interpretation of the meaning of the word collapse of the health system. People are now arriving at hospitals with great difficulty, and unfortunately hospitals cannot provide the required service. Therefore, the Ministry of Health announced the inability to deal with patients in hospitals and the inability to receive more cases of infections that affect civilians daily, around the clock."
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on October 26 that the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt was open for the sixth consecutive day. In that time, 72 trucks, an average of 12 per day, travelled through the Rafah crossing from Egypt into Gaza, carrying water, food and medical supplies.
UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric stated, "Most of this aid has already reached hospitals, ambulances, and internally displaced persons (IDPs). However, the daily average of trucks allowed into Gaza prior to the hostilities was about 500."
These trucks did not carry any fuel, despite the fact that the UN informs that 400,000 litres or 2.5 day's worth of fuel is in trucks and ready to go into Gaza, The Zionists are claiming the fuel will be used to attack Israel and are blocking the shipment.
Assistant Secretary-General and Humanitarian Coordinator in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Lynn Hastings, informed the Security Council on October 24 that fuel "is essential for powering the services that are needed for people to survive. Without fuel, our humanitarian operation will stop. No fuel means no hospitals functioning, no desalination of water and no baking. Many people are drinking saline groundwater, increasing the risks of diarrhea, cholera, and other health issues. We urge Israel to bring water and electricity supplies back to pre-conflict levels and to work with us to find a secure way of bringing fuel into Gaza."
Dujarric said that water supply through the network in areas south of Wadi Gaza has temporarily improved after the UN Relief Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East and UNICEF managed to deliver small quantities of fuel they had retrieved from their existing reserves to key facilities. "However, the available fuel in these facilities will be exhausted, fairly soon, and the supply of piped water is expected to cease again," he added. The OCHA informs, "People are resorting to well water, which is extremely high in salt and poses immediate health risks. Health partners have also detected cases of chicken pox, scabies and diarrhea due to the poor sanitation conditions and the consumption of water from unsafe sources."
As of October 25, the UN World Food Programme estimated that current supplies of essential food in Gaza are sufficient for about 12 days. However, the available stock in shops is expected to last only five days.
Gaza's doctors also refuse to abandon patients even as Israeli bombs pound hospitals, blow them up and wantonly kill patients, precious medical personnel and IDPs. Israel's criminality is only accentuated by the fact that it warned Gaza residents to flee south to avoid being targeted and then it targets even hospitals in the south. But Gaza's doctors will not leave and health officials at Gaza's biggest hospitals have insisted the evacuation of the wounded and displaced would be impossible.
The Israeli army also brazenly confirmed that it was responsible for the air strike which killed 12 members of the family of Al Jazeera journalist Wael Al-Dahdouh, including his wife, daughter and son. Some members of Wael's family, including a toddler granddaughter, survived the attack on the house they were staying in at the Nuseirat refugee camp south of Wadi Gaza where they had taken refuge having been told by Israel to evacuate the north. Media colleagues said of Wael, "He didn't leave Gaza City. He stayed despite all the threats and warnings and didn't stop for 19 days in a row." They quoted Wael as saying, "I must be here in Gaza City to report about these people who are getting bombed every day." Said his colleagues, "He didn't give up on them. He didn't want to leave."
House where Al Jazeera
journalist Wael Al-Dahdouh's family was staying in the Nuseirat refugee
camp south of Wadi Gaza was hit by an Israeli air strike
October 26, 2023.
Israel has given written notice to news agencies such as Reuters and AFP that the safety of their journalists currently working in the Gaza Strip is in doubt and Israel provides no guarantees of safety for journalists.
The heroism of the journalists in Gaza is without parallel and their loss is tragic. Courageously they are making sure they do their duty as journalists to tell the world what is taking place in Gaza. They are making the supreme sacrifice. The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) expresses its deepest condolences to Wael, his family and friends, his co-workers and to the Palestinian people on their losses. All over the world, hearts are overflowing with the most profound sadness, anguish and determination to see justice done. The courage and determination of the Palestinian people, the journalists, health personnel and humanitarian workers have no limits. The whole world stands with them. The cause of justice must and will prevail.
Opposition to Israel Continues to Grow
Destruction caused in
Gaza by Israeli bombardment, October 25, 2023.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres is being mercilessly attacked by Israel and its accomplices for saying on October 24 that the attacks carried out by the Palestinian resistance groups inside Israel on October 7 "did not happen in a vacuum." He said, "The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation. They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence; their economy stifled; their people displaced and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing."
In response, Israeli ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan called Guterres' comments "shocking" and demanded his removal from office. A minister of Israel's government called Guterres "a terror apologist." Israel then announced it would deny visas to all UN officials and has already denied a visa to Martin Griffith, the UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs. According to Erdan, "the time has come to teach [the UN] a lesson," the Times of Israel reported. The intensified bombing of Gaza that followed is likely part of Israel's response.
Such a bloodthirsty response has intensified the crisis in the ranks of even Israel's staunchest supporters. The U.S. State Department itself is dealing with dissent by administration officials who object to the U.S. government greenlighting and supporting the Israeli attempt at ethnic cleansing through the bombardment of Gaza. "There's a lot of people who disagree with the current policy that the top folks have set," an unnamed U.S. official said in one media report. Several diplomats have expressed that they are torn between staying in their jobs to try to influence policy and leaving in protest over Biden's unconditional support for Israel's bombardment and looming ground invasion.
One message of dissent for example, which has been documented by sources familiar to Middle East Eye (MEE), reports rumours that "a mutiny" is brewing inside the State Department over Biden's unflinching public support of Israel's actions in Gaza. In one draft dissent cable, seen by MEE, diplomats write that Hamas' attack on Israel cannot be used as a justification for Israel to carry out the indiscriminate killing of innocent people in Gaza. The draft calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Israel, Gaza, and the occupied West Bank and implores Washington to promote truthful and balanced public messaging towards resolving the crisis that is slowly spiraling out of control. "When Israeli officials no longer differentiate between Hamas and civilians of Gaza -- when strikes target or threaten civilian institutions such as places of worship, schools, or medical facilities -- Israel must work double to rejoin adherence to international norms we so proudly, and rightly preach to other nations," the cable says.
The number of
Palestinians being massacred by the Israelis is such that their
bodies are being buried in mass graves.
So too in Europe. The Spanish Prime Minister rejected Israeli objections to the remarks of the UN Secretary General, stood by the Secretary General and called for an international peace summit to find a long-term solution to the Israel-Hamas crisis. The Foreign Minister of Portugal said his government supported Guterres' position and dismissed Israel's call for Guterres to step down. Christoph Heusgen, Chairman of the Munich Security Conference who also served as former Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief foreign policy adviser for 12 years, likewise said Guterres was justified in his remarks -- which itself has sparked a huge controversy in German government circles. Volker Beck for example, a former senior figure in Germany's Green Party who now leads the German-Israeli Society, a group that promotes solidarity with Israel, said Heusgen proved himself to be "a dyed-in-the-wool enemy of Israel."
Chinese media said: The recent attitudes of Israel toward Guterres, as well as the unilateral actions of the U.S. at the UN and their refusal to support a consensus on a ceasefire, highlight one of the root causes of the prolonged Israeli-Palestinian conflict: the failure to implement and enforce UN resolutions. Global Times said Guterres' remarks were a "factual statement ... Therefore, from any perspective, the authority of the UN must be upheld, and even in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian issue, UN should be supported to play a greater role."
UN General Assembly Adopts
Humanitarian
Truce Resolution
Israel steps up
bombardment of Gaza October 27, as UN passes resolution calling for
humanitarian truce.
The afternoon of October 27, the UN General Assembly -- after a two-day emergency session -- passed a resolution that calls for an "immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce" and calls on Israel to permit "sufficient and unhindered" life-saving supplies and measures to reach the besieged people of Gaza. It also calls for the upholding of international humanitarian law and the "immediate and unconditional release" of all civilians being held captive. The resolution was adopted by a vote of 120-14 with 45 abstentions, including Canada. Such a vote in the General Assembly is non-binding but carries great moral authority.
Israel's Ambassador Gilad Erdan responded by viciously attacking the stand taken by the UN General Assembly, declaring October 27 to be a "day of infamy," and proclaiming that the UN no longer has "an ounce of legitimacy." He went so far as to accuse the UN of supporting the "beheading of babies," falling back on Israeli lies about acts which it is known the Palestinian resistance has not committed.
Prior to the resolution's adoption, Canada's Ambassador to the UN presented an amendment, backed by the U.S., that sought to include a reference to an "October 7 terrorist attack" and Hamas. It failed to get the required two-thirds majority vote of the member states, receiving 85 votes for, 55 against, and 23 abstentions.[1]
"In a powerful speech rebutting Canada's explanation, Pakistan's ambassador Munir Akram said that if Canada was being fair in its amendment it would agree to name Israel as well as Hamas. Not naming either side was the best choice, he said, as the Jordanian resolution does. 'Israel needs to be named too, if you are to be fair and equitable and just,' he said. We all know who started this. It is 50 years of Israeli occupation and the killing of Palestinians with impunity, he said. Israel can't face the truth or face justice. The Israeli occupation is the original sin, not what happened on October 7," UN News reports.
The emergency session of the General Assembly was convened under its "Uniting for Peace" mandate, which empowers the Assembly to act when the Security Council is deadlocked over a critical matter of international peace and security. Assembly President Dennis Francis called for an immediate and unconditional humanitarian ceasefire and the opening of aid corridors to save lives. President Francis underscored that the preeminent priority of the collective UN membership "must be to protect and to save civilian lives. [...] All parties to this conflict must abide by international humanitarian law, and immediately create the necessary conditions to allow for an opening of humanitarian corridor to the Gaza Strip." He praised the work of UN personnel in Gaza, offering condolences to the families of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East personnel killed since the start of the crisis, which as of October 27 is 57 people.
A dozen of the 110 speakers due to take the floor spoke on Thursday, October 26 with the Friday session hearing more speakers. Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations spoke first, making a powerful appeal to stop the killing for the sake of "all those who can be saved."
When the Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan spoke, it was to claim that Israel's genocidal siege of Gaza and war against Hamas is justified to ensure that such "depravity and atrocity [referring to the Al-Aqsa Flood operation of Palestinian resistance forces] never occurs again." What has ensued since October 7 "has nothing" to do with the Palestinians, the Arab-Israeli conflict or the Palestinian question, he said. According to him, it is a war of "the law abiding democracy of Israel against modern day Nazis." He held up a tablet display which he declared to be evidence of a decapitation in an effort to legitimize Israel's goal, which he said is to "completely eradicate Hamas' capabilities and we will use every means at our disposal to accomplish this."
Riyad Mansour replied, "You are speaking while families are being killed, while hospitals are coming to a halt, while neighbourhoods are being destroyed, while people are fleeing from one place to another with no safe place to go." Citing the hundreds of Palestinians killed every day, he said that nothing can justify war crimes and crimes against humanity. "Why not feel a sense of urgency to ending the killing?" he said. "You are setting us back 80 years by trying to justify what Israel is doing now." The answer to the killing of Israelis and Palestinians is not more killing, he said, asking the UN membership to uphold UN principles and keep future generations from the scourge of war. "Vote to stop the killing, vote to stop this madness," he said. "Choose justice, not vengeance. Choose peace, not more wars. Vote to put an end to almost three weeks of the worst double standards we have seen in decades. Do not miss this chance. Lives are hanging in the balance. Please, save lives, save lives, save lives."
The Ambassador of Mauritania spoke on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation saying the absence of any moral, legal, or political consensus has only emboldened the occupying power to carry on with impunity its illegal policy of colonial settlement and annexation. He pointed to Israel's years-long blockade, forced displacement of Palestinian civilians, systematic ethnic cleansing, organized acts of terrorism, and desecration of holy places, including Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque. He added that Israel is persisting with its denial of the violation of the inalienable right of a people to self-determination and independence. This unacceptable situation must be brought to an end, he said.
Iran's Foreign Minister said that for three weeks the international community has been a witness to the "war crime and genocide of the occupying Israeli regime in Gaza and the West Bank of Palestine." He said that the U.S. and several European countries sided with Israel and they refer to the Palestinian liberation movement as "terrorists." He added "Unfortunately this is the state of our world today. This is the situation of the Security Council, which was supposed to try to establish world peace and security." He called on the U.S. to work for peace and security and not war against people, women and children, stating "instead of sending rockets, tanks and bombs, to be used against Gaza, the United States should stop supporting genocide in Gaza and Palestine." He also issued a warning to the U.S. and Israel. "I say frankly to the American statesmen who are now managing the genocide in Palestine, that we do not welcome the expansion of war in the region, but I warn if the genocide in Gaza continues, they will not be spared from this fire."
Jordan's Deputy Prime Minister, speaking on behalf of the Arab Group said: "We must stand for peace, our human values and the UN Charter. History will judge us. Say no to war. Say no to the killing. Call out war crimes." As the killing continues, he said, the Israeli government has cabinet members that call for "wiping out Palestinians from the face of this Earth." He said, "Israel is making Gaza a hell on Earth. The trauma will haunt generations to come." Israel must uphold values, he said. "The right to self-defence is not a right to impunity; Israel cannot remain above the law," he said. "Let the guns go silent and let the will to live and let live prevail. Let's restore faith in the peace process as the only path to ending this conflict once and for all."
He said of the resolution drafted by Jordan on behalf of the Arab Group, "Vote for it; make a stand." "Let's make a collective cry, cry out against more bloodletting. Let's unite for peace ... Make a stand for peace, make a stand for life, make it clear, make it firm," he said, calling for a moment of silence for all the civilians and innocents who have perished during this war.
Joaquín
Alberto Pérez Ayestarán, Ambassador and Deputy
Permanent Representative of Venezuela, who also spoke on behalf of the
Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations was
the first to speak on day two. He called for an end to "inflammatory
rhetoric," an immediate ceasefire and end to all hostilities directed
towards civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals,
refugee centres and food warehouses.
França Danese, Brazil's Ambassador and
President of the Security Council for October, welcomed the emergency
session after the Security Council failed to adopt any of four draft
resolutions on the crisis. He endorsed Jordan's resolution as
"solidly rooted" in international humanitarian and human rights law,
and "fundamentally committed to the humanitarian imperative."
Türkiye, which co-authored the Jordanian resolution said peace will not be possible as long as Palestinians aspirations for freedom, dignity and statehood continue to be denied.
Saudi
Arabia said that the
killing and destruction in the Gaza Strip is not only creating a
humanitarian catastrophe but is also having dire consequences and
repercussions on the security of the region and the world. "We have
clearly condemned the targeting of civilians by any party, called for a
ceasefire, stop to the bloodshed, immediate lifting of the siege,
release of hostages, and providing humanitarian assistance and support
to those affected. [...] We also condemned the attempts at forcible
displacement and policies of collective punishment against the
population in Gaza, including starvation of civilians as a weapon of
war."
"Enough is enough!" Silence over the basic rights of
Palestinians
under fire in Gaza "is no longer an option," said Egypt's ambassador
Osama Mahmoud Abdelkhalek. He said there had to be one standard applied
to all, including Palestinians, as opposed to double standards. "We can
no longer bear what is happening to the Palestinians." He denounced the
policy of besieging and starving civilians of the Gaza Strip, saying
that denying them water had "no place in the 21st century. They are
reminiscent of practices of the Middle Ages." He called on the Assembly
to demand that aid be delivered to Gaza, "without any conditions,"
adding that otherwise it would mean "a death sentence for the people of
Gaza." Displacing Gazans for the third time in history from their land
must be "rejected categorically," he added.
Qatar's Permanent Representative to the UN expressed
"our unequivocal rejection of the siege imposed by Israel, the
occupying power,"depriving 2.3 million people -- half of them children
-- of their basic needs.
The EU is ready to contribute to the resumption of the political process on the basis of a two-State solution and supports the holding of an international peace conference as soon as possible, its spokesperson said.
Brian Wallace, Jamaica's Permanent Representative who spoke for Caribbean Community (CARICOM), said that If we do not immediately put an end to this conflict, it could escalate into a wider regional war. He expressed concerns about the implications for international stability, with devastating consequences, particularly for small vulnerable island states such as those in CARICOM, which are "already struggling to overcome multi-faceted challenges. [...] Let us recognize once and for all the utter futility of war, violence and terror," he said.
Voting record
at UN General Assembly on Humanitarian Truce resolution. (click to
enlarge)
Note
1. Represented by Ambassador Bob Rae, Canada tried to amend the Jordanian resolution in such a way as to deny the right to resist of an occupied people and to lend credence to the Israeli narrative that the current conflict was instigated by an act of terrorism, not by the brutality of the genocidal Zionist project that began in 1948 with the creation of Israel and the dispossession of the Palestinian people. Rae said that Canada could not support the current text, adding that the Assembly could not act without recognizing the events of October 7 as "terrorist attacks." If the proposed amendment is not adopted, the Assembly will not have recognized one of the world's worst terrorist attacks and "we will all have to live with that failure as the tragedy continues to unfold," he said.
The World Stands with
You Palestine!
WE ARE ALL PALESTINIANS!
Amman, Jordan
Sanaa, Yemen
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Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca