#israel hamas new deal

[vyorei]

Live coverage of the 1st of February 2024 is now closed.

Here is a recap of today's major events.

It is 12am in Ireland now so I have to go to bed.

I'll be back to resume live updates in the afternoon.

For continuous updates while I'm gone, click the link below:

[head-post]

UCLA calls police as campus clashes escalate

Police stormed the Columbia University building late Tuesday after the university asked for help, a spokesman said in a statement. A tent camp on campus was cleared, as was Hamilton Hall, where a stream of police used a ladder to climb through a second-floor window.

Protesters calling for the Ivy League university to stop collaborating with Israel or companies that support the Gaza war took over the hall about 20 hours ago. The school said:

“After the University learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalised, and blockaded, we were left with no choice. The decision to reach out to the NYPD was in response to the actions of the protesters, not the cause they are championing. We have made it clear that the life of campus cannot be endlessly interrupted by protesters who violate the rules and the law.”

The arrests came after protesters refused to honour an earlier ultimatum to leave the camp on Monday or be suspended, and after other universities stepped up efforts to end the demonstrations inspired by Columbia University.

Fabien Lugo, a first-year accounting student who said he did not participate in the protests, said he disagreed with the university’s decision to call the police. He said:

“This is too intense. It feels like more of an escalation than a de-escalation.”

Read more HERE

[jcmarchi]

Red Color: What is This Missile on Israeli AH-64 Apache? - Technology Org

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/red-color-what-is-this-missile-on-israeli-ah-64-apache-technology-org/

Red Color: What is This Missile on Israeli AH-64 Apache? - Technology Org

Typically, a Hellfire guided missile has a yellow band to indicate that the projectile contains an explosive warhead. But now, the Israel Defense Forces demonstrated similar rockets marked with a red band instead of yellow.

AH-64D Apache, armed with regular Hellfire missiles. The bottom one has only two yellow bands, though. Image credit: Israeli Air Force

Israeli military operations against Hamas militants have been ongoing for a month. The Israel Defense Forces has previously discreetly released numerous photos and videos of its forces. This time, a photo has now been released of an AH-64D Apache with an AGM-114 Hellfire laser-guided missile marked with a peculiar red band.

This particular photo of a Hellfire missile with a red band was recently posted online. The pictured AH-64D Apache has 4 missiles in total, but one of them has a red stripe to distinguish it from the others, which are marked in conventional yellow color. The latter is the typical color of American rockets and indicates that there are explosive materials inside. But the red stripe is “more mysterious”, the journalists write.

What’s with the red stripes on the Hellfire? https://t.co/nxQyszu5JE pic.twitter.com/x1GuWfWtF7

— Abd (@blocksixtynine) November 5, 2023

Amid increased online discussions regarding the potential meaning of the red-banded Hellfire, the Israeli Air Force discreetly removed the image. In its place, a very similar photo was posted, depicting a different AH-64D lifting off with equipped conventional Hellfires.

Notably, the newly displayed missile had two yellow stripes, differing from the more common three stripes.

What could the red band on a Hellfire missile mean?

The red band on the Hellfire missile may indicate an AGM-114N warhead. The missile itself is designed to destroy closed targets. A thermobaric warhead is better suited for defeating enemy targets hidden within caves, bunkers, or tunnel networks.

The principle of operation of a thermobaric warhead is based on the use of oxygen in the surrounding air, which creates a much more powerful explosive wave. Also, higher temperatures deal more damage to the target.

The authors believe that the thermobaric warhead could be very useful for the Israel Defense Forces fighting against tunnels in the Gaza Strip. A thermobaric warhead can destroy more adversaries hiding in a tunnel than a conventional warhead.

Another version of the missile with a red stripe is the AGM-114M with a high-explosive warhead. It is more suitable for destroying lightly armored targets, small boats, or poorly protected bunkers. However, it is possible that Israel has a special version of the Hellfire missile in its arsenal, too.

Written by Vytautas Valinskas

[etoile-gracieuse]

hm. actually i think that i will not be on social media for the foreseeable future.

[hotvampireadjacent]

Politico article https://www.politico.com/news/2023/11/21/biden-hostage-israel-hamas-war-00128351

Tweet source

[spacelazarwolf]

apparently a bunch of ppl on social media are trying to call for a boycott of rick riordan because of this statement in a blog post:

Becky and I are just back from a busy weekend with events at the Boston Book Festival and New York Comic-Con.

Before I get into that, however, some words to acknowledge the ongoing horrors in Israel and Gaza. As many of you may know, I am no longer on social media. My accounts post only updates on my books and related projects. I do not read posts, reply to posts, or share my thoughts about world events on those forums. That doesn’t mean I don’t have strong feelings and reactions. It means I am offline as completely as possible, except for the occasional blog post like this one.

I will say this: Over the last eighteen years, I have received many fan letters from young readers, both Israeli and Palestinian, who often told me that my books helped them escape the fear, grief and anxiety they were dealing with at the time. Some had lost family members to violence. Some were writing while in the distance they could hear explosions, gunfire, and the launching of rockets. They used my books as a way to escape into another world, where the monsters were fictional, and where demigods usually saved the day. While I am always glad that my books can help young readers find joy during difficult times, my heart breaks every time I hear about the things they have to deal with. I am grief-stricken by the horrific events now unfolding, especially because I know that they are part of a long historic pattern that has been robbing too many children of their childhood and perpetuating hatred for far too long.

I am also quite aware that when anyone, myself included, tries to speak about this issue, the reader is waiting to pounce, thinking, “Yes, but whose side are you on?” That is exactly the wrong question. If there are two sides to this issue, those sides are not Palestinian/Israeli or Muslim/Jewish. The two sides are humanitarian and dehumanizing. Dehumanizing has a long evil history. It is appealing and easy to buy into, because humans are tribal animals. We are hardwired to think in terms of ‘us’ versus ‘them.’ We are the real humans, the good guys, the ones with God on our side. Those other people are evil monsters who don’t deserve empathy. Hate mongers have thrived on dehumanizing for as long as there have been humans. It provides them with a purpose, a way to rally support, power, and scapegoats. It is easy to point to atrocities committed by our enemies, while justifying or minimizing the atrocities committed by ourselves or our allies.

Humanitarianism is a much harder sell. It requires us to empathize, to see other groups of people as equally deserving of dignity and quality of life. It requires not always putting ourselves and our needs first. But in the long run, humanitarianism is our only hope. If violence could end violence, if we could put an end to “those other people” once and for all, human history would read very differently than it does.

So yes, I am appalled by the Hamas attacks on Israeli civilians. I am appalled by the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Both things can be true. Both things must be true. My thoughts are with all the people who have died, who have lost loved ones, who have had their worlds and their lives shattered, especially the children. More death and violence will not break this cycle, which has been going on for generations. There is no military solution. Even since I first wrote the post, only twenty-four hours ago, the Israeli government’s brutal retaliation against the entire population of Gaza has reached genocidal proportions. This is not only an atrocity. It is folly. Answering misery with misery only creates more fertile ground for extremism, dehumanizing the “other side,” letting hate mongers thrive, stay in power, and reduce us all to our most monstrous impulses. The only real solution is treating each other like equally worthy human beings, and negotiating a peace that allows all parties a chance to live in security and dignity, with hopes for a future that does not include bombs and rockets and gunfire. This means security and support for Israel, yes. It also means a secure Palestine which is allowed to get the international aid and recognition it needs to build a viable state.

Do I think that will happen? Unfortunately, no. Humans are simply too selfish, too ready to blame “the other” for all their problems, too ready to dehumanize, though I also believe, perhaps paradoxically, that most people just want to live their lives in peace and have a chance for their children to have a brighter future. The problem is when we don’t allow other people to have those same hopes and dreams — when it becomes a false choice of us versus them.

What can I do? I will continue to write books that I hope will give young readers some joy. I will resist the urge to demonize entire groups of people. I will call for less violence, not more violence. And when asked whose side I am on, I will tell you I am on the side of humanitarianism.

So with that said, I return to the world of books . . .

honestly, if you have a problem with this statement, it’s probably because he’s talking about you. this is exactly what legitimate activists (as in not just random westerners who share social media posts but on-the-ground activists who are doing real work) have been saying for decades. and i think all this really speaks to just how disconnected a lot of westerners who claim to be pro palestinian are from those activists.

if you can’t read a statement that says “i am on the side of humanitarianism and less violence” without immediately jumping to cancel them, you are the problem being discussed in the above statement.

[heritageposts]

A week ago, US President Joe Biden claimed that a “ceasefire” deal in Gaza was imminent and could take effect as soon as March 4. “My national security adviser tells me we are close,” he told reporters while eating ice cream in New York City. But ice cream or not, Biden’s actual position was not nearly that sweet. A subsequent statement by a senior Biden administration official claimed Israel had “basically accepted” a proposal for a temporary pause in fighting. But as of March 4, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Mossad director were still refusing to send a delegation to Cairo, where talks with Hamas were under way. The Biden administration’s eagerness to claim victory in its search for some kind of temporary truce indicates how much it is feeling the heat of the rising global and domestic pressure demanding an immediate ceasefire, an end to the Israeli genocide, an end to the threat of a new escalation against refugee-packed Rafah, and an end to the siege of Gaza and immediate unhindered provision of massive levels of humanitarian aid. Despite Washington’s vain hopes for March 4 and the unofficial goal of a ceasefire by the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on March 10, the deal remains elusive. Media reports indicate Biden is telling the Qatari and Egyptian leaders that he is putting pressure on Israel to agree to a truce and a captives swap. But his claim of pressuring Israel is undermined by the continuing US vetoes of ceasefire resolutions at the United Nations Security Council, most recently on February 20, as well as the continuing flow of United States weapons and money to Israel to enable its assault.

And, on the alternative resolution the Biden admin has put forth after vetoing Algeria's resolution (which called for an "immediate humanitarian ceasefire," "forced displacement of the Palestinian civilian population," and "unhindered humanitarian access to Gaza."):

[...] Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Biden’s ambassador to the UN, cast the sole veto against the Algerian resolution, and instead put forward an alternative US text, claiming it also supported a ceasefire. But the proposed US language does not call for an immediate or permanent ceasefire or an end to Israeli genocide; it does not prevent an attack on Rafah or end the Israeli siege. The proposed US resolution is not designed to end the murderous Israeli war against Gaza – nor is the deal that is currently being negotiated in Cairo. To the contrary, the provisions of the US draft resolution reflect the true intentions of the Biden administration vis-a-vis its continuing support of Israel, and reveal the limitations of the truce it is trying to orchestrate. While the US draft resolution does use the dreaded word “ceasefire” – which had been prohibited in the White House for months – it does not call for an immediate halt in the bombing, only “as soon as practicable”, with no indication of when that might be. It does not call for a permanent ceasefire either, leaving Israel free to resume its genocidal bombing – presumably with continuing US support. Virtually everything the US draft calls for is undercut by what is left out. The demand for “lifting all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance at scale” in Gaza certainly sounds appropriately robust. But that’s only until you realise that the text’s failure to challenge or even name the principal barrier to aid getting in – Israel’s bombardment – means that this is not a serious plan to end Israel’s deadly siege. It should not surprise anyone that “the Biden administration is not planning to punish Israel if it launches a military campaign in Rafah without ensuring civilian safety” – as Politico reported – despite claiming it wants a credible plan to ensure Palestinian safety. No one in the Biden administration has even hinted at imposing consequences for Israel’s constant rejection of the insipid appeals for restraint – such as conditioning aid on human rights standards (as required by US law) or cutting US military aid altogether. That’s what real pressure would look like. A more accurate picture of Washington’s approach to Israel’s war against Gaza is the continuing US pipeline of weapons to make Israel’s murderous assault on Gaza more effective, more efficient, and more deadly. According to the Wall Street Journal, the “Biden administration is preparing to send bombs and other weapons to Israel that would add to its military arsenal even as the US pushes for a ceasefire in Gaza.” The arms the US intends to hand over to the Israeli army include MK-82 bombs, KMU-572 Joint Direct Attack Munitions and FMU-139 bomb fuses, worth tens of millions of dollars. It is more than likely that the administration will do another end run around US Congress to send the weapons without relying on congressional approval, as it did on at least two occasions last December.

. . . full article on Al Jazeera (4 Mar 2024)

[opencommunion]

western commentators are claiming, per usual, that "Israel" wants a ceasefire and Hamas is not cooperating, so for the record here is where things stand currently:

[briteredoctober]

Here’s every ceasefire deal and hostage exchange Hamas has offered Israel since October 7th, 2023, courtesy of BreakThrough News.

[sayruq]

The Biden administration is close to approving the sale of as many as 50 American-made F-15 fighter jets to Israel, in a deal expected to be worth more than $18 billion, according to three people familiar with the matter. The transaction, which would amount to the largest US foreign military sale to Israel since the country went to war with Hamas on October 7, comes as the administration is also expected to notify Congress soon of a large new sale of precision-guided munitions kits to Israel, the people said. The new sales of some of the US’ most sophisticated weaponry underscore the extent to which the US continues to support Israel militarily, even as Biden administration officials criticize Israel’s operations in Gaza, which have killed more than 32,000 Palestinians since October, according to the Gaza ministry of health.

[vyorei]

Waiting for a response from Hamas

[omgellendean]

The post about Hillary Clinton asking why the USA haven't rigged the election that resulted in Hamas' win reminded me about this tweet:

Many are rightly impressed by the staggering achievements of Al-Qassam over the past few months, but one of their all-time greatest W’s happened back in 2007. Hamas took full control of Gaza in order to preempt a coup plot hatched by the US State Dept (with the active participation of Fatah, Israel, the UK, Egypt, and Jordan). After having successfully seized control of Mahmoud Abbas’s HQ, in the middle of posing for a news photographer in Abbas’s office, one member of al-Qassam Brigades jokingly picked up the puppet President’s phone and said: “Hello Condoleeza Rice. You have to deal with me now. There is no [Abbas] anymore.”

[probablyasocialecologist]

From Hamas’s perspective, was Operation Al Aqsa Flood a successful operation? Hamas undoubtedly knew that Israeli retaliation would include the killing of many Palestinian civilians, even if the horrific scale of Israel’s assault was unforeseen. Was October 7, then, a collective martyrdom operation launched without the consent of 2.3 million Palestinians? And, for the many people who proclaim their support for the Palestinian cause but reflexively condemn the violence of the October 7 attacks, how can they realistically separate the two?  Drop Site conducted a series of interviews with senior Hamas officials alongside a comprehensive review of its statements and those of its leaders. I interviewed a variety of Hamas sources on background for this story and two—Basem Naim and Ghazi Hamad—agreed to speak on the record. I also spoke to a range of knowledgeable Palestinians, Israelis, and international sources in an effort to understand the tactical and political aims of the October 7 attacks. Some people will inevitably criticize the choice to interview and publish Hamas officials’ answers to these questions as propaganda. I believe it is essential that the public understand the perspectives of the individuals and groups who initiated the attack that spurred Israel’s genocidal war—an argument that is seldom permitted outside of simple soundbytes. Hamas leaders cast their operations on October 7 as a righteous rebellion against an occupation force that has waged a military, political, and economic war of collective punishment against the people of Gaza. “They have left us no choice other than to take the decision in our hands and to fight back,” said Dr. Basem Naim, a senior member of Hamas’s political bureau and a former government minister in Gaza. “October 7, for me, is an act of defense, maybe the last chance for Palestinians to defend themselves.”

[...]

Hamas has emphasized that its aim on October 7 was to shatter the status quo and compel the U.S. and other nations to address the plight of the Palestinians. On this front, informed analysts say, they succeeded. “On October 6, Palestine had disappeared from the regional agenda, from the international agenda. Israel was dealing unilaterally with the Palestinians without generating any attention or any criticism,” said Mouin Rabbani, a former UN official who worked as a special advisor on Israel-Palestine for the International Crisis Group. “The attacks of Hamas on October 7 and their aftermath played a crucial role, but I think just as much credit, if you will, goes to Israel, if not more so,” he added. “If Israel had responded in the way that it did in [previous assaults on Gaza] in 2008, 2014, 2021, it would have been a story for a number of weeks, there would have been a lot of hand wringing, and that would have been the end of it.” “It's not only the actions of the colonized, but also the reaction of the colonizer that has created the current political reality, the current political moment,” Rabbani said.

9 July 2024

[evilwickedme]

I keep seeing news that Israel has rejected a ceasefire deal from Hamas and/or that Hamas has rejected a ceasefire deal from Israel, and I'm having a very hard time keeping up with what's true, what terms have been rejected by who, and how ceasefire negotiations have been going in general. Do you have any information you could share or sources you could direct me to that would give this kind of news in an unbiased way? I think that saying that either side rejected a deal without explaining what parts of the terms were not agreed with is dishonest and I hate that I keep seeing it.

Thanks and I hope you're well and safe.

I'm not going to source this with anything specific cause my job is in the news so I'm just doing this off the cuff while literally on the bus there lmao

Both sides are in fact constantly rejecting ceasefire deals, for their own reasons. Some scattered thoughts from the last several months of coverage

One of the biggest points is ending the war. Hamas keeps going back and forth on this but is mostly insisting that even for the first, humanitarian stage of the hostage/ceasefire deal Israel must agree to take out all of its troops and essentially leave Hamas to remain the ruling party in the Gaza strip

This is essentially the only hard no on Israel's side. Netanyahu especially refuses to end the war without a military victory that essentially is impossible to get without entering Rafah (and in my opinion is currently impossible to achieve at all). There is a willingness to pause the war in exchange for the hostages up to a certain degree, but there simply isn't a chance that Israel is going to give up on defeating the remaining Hamas military divisions in Rafah and hopefully killing Sinwar

A lot of the problem is that Hamas will present a deal that Israel finds unacceptable, Israel will take time to deliberate, come up with a middle ground, and then Hamas will actually make a worse offer in return. A lot of things that Israel is currently putting on the table were things Hamas originally requested and was willing to be on those terms, but now they want things that are even further from Israel's interests.

For example, at first Hamas was asking for women and children to be allowed to go back to northern Gaza. Now they are asking for the entire civilian population to return to northern Gaza... And for Israel to not even check that no Hamas agents are going back up north, where there are still many rocket launchers that were never found. Personally I would like that not to happen, as I would like rockets to not be launched at me. Maybe that's a lot to ask, idk

Another example is the fact that at first Hamas asked for a certain number of terrorists to be freed, but that about a third of them (iirc) would be picked by Hamas, with no veto power given to Israel. The offer currently on the table gives Israel no veto power at all, and unlike the deal from November where Israel only freed terrorists who failed to kill anyone, this time Israel will be required to pretty much exclusively free murderers.

The truth is Hamas has very little interest in a hostage deal. They don't want the terrorists in Israeli prisons as much as we want the hostages that are, according to current intelligence, being used as human shields, many of them surrounding Sinwar at all times. The first hostage deal led to humanitarian aid being brought into Gaza, which due to Israeli negligence has been taken over by Hamas; aid is being increased (although not enough) with no "return on investment" so to speak for Israel.

(sidenote: yes, there is not enough aid entering Gaza. Also, a lot of the aid is being taken by Hamas officials, with the remains being sold at outrageous prices to the refugees. Shit is bad from all directions here)

Meanwhile, the IDF has essentially pulled all its soldiers out of Gaza. There are currently only two military divisions in Gaza iirc, and they're mostly just staying there with not much happening. The current attack on Rafah is "small scale", and comes as a direct result of rockets being shot at south Israel on Sunday, resulting in several people being grievously injured. Overall, not much military action is happening, meaning that, for example, agreeing to cease military activities in Gaza is relatively unimportant to Hamas rn (emphasis on to Hamas).

And another truth is netanyahu ALSO doesn't want a ceasefire. The moment this war ends the public will demand an election (hell, a THIRD of the public is demanding an election NOW, before the end of the war), and he has lost many of his more casual voters. He will be forced out of the government either by his party or by the voters, and netanyahu wants power over all else, fuck the hostages.

He doesn't WANT to answer for his actions in front of his citizens. It's no coincidence that he is willing to be interviewed by the foreign press but no Israeli papers or channels; it's no coincidence that he refuses to allow the Israeli negotiators to come up creative solutions, instead giving them extreme restrictions. And his absolute refusal to even acknowledging the possible existence of a future Palestinian state is going to fuck Israel over in unimaginable ways

In short, fuck Hamas, fuck Netanyahu and the current extreme right wing government, #bringthemhome #freegazafromhamas and #ceasefirenow

As usual, I recommend a mix of Haaretz, the NYT, and the wall street journal as my favorite although never unbiased journalism on i/p. It is so important that we all understand that nobody is unbiased about any political issue, including me, and especially not about Israel and Palestine. It is an extremely charged subject that is best parsed out by reading from a variety of sources, and always noting that if something is only quoted or referenced by sources from one "side", it's frankly probably not true.

I hope for the best, and may this nightmare end as soon as possible

[headspace-hotel]

I am looking back on older news articles and accounts of the Israeli military targeting medical personnel. I am using mainstream USAmerican news articles because I feel that in convincing other Americans in real life situations, it greatly strengthens the case that even sources ranging from disinterested to propagandistic in favor of Israel show the evidence of war crimes and, indeed, genocide.

The defense that everyone says is "Hamas uses medical infrastructure for military purposes." But it looks like in many cases, no real evidence ever emerged for the government's claims of hospitals and ambulances being used for Hamas military operations. This article is an example

The simple fact of a government saying something is not evidence that something is true. The only way it could be evidence, is if we think governments never lie and always tell the truth. That is, of course, silly.

This is important because: under the rules of war, medical personnel are to be protected. If an ambulance is being used for military purposes and is thus considered a military target, it is not so simple as just saying with no evidence "They were using the ambulance for military reasons," There has to be proof. There is no proof at all for most of the cases.

Similarly with the bombing of al-Shifa hospital, supposedly there was going to be proof released that there was a Hamas command center, but there was never any proof, and CNN investigated the footage they released of supposedly weapons found inside and found discrepancies.

The American media is normally really biased towards the Israeli government so it's a pretty big deal that CNN was like "Hey...somethings up with this video."

Folks keep saying "Well Hamas used hospitals as bases/command centers!" My friends, just saying this is not a blank check to do whatever you want. There needs to be solid proof. And there hasn't been solid proof, just unverifiable claims. Even CNN (again, a very mainstream USAmerican news network) says the claims cannot be verified.

The Israeli military took reporters to the hospital and showed them...the entrance to an underground shaft of some sort. That is very different from a "command and control center," and doesn't indicate the hospital was being used for military purposes.

USAmericans, listen to my words. All the arguments on the side of the Israeli government, require that the Israeli government is operating 100% in good faith and with good intentions.

I don't think that governments do that. I think that governments operate to protect their own interests. And consider this: If the USA government is going to defend the Israeli government no matter what—which is our policy—what would motivate the Israeli government to operate in good faith?

Biden says he is encouraging the military to minimize civilian deaths. Why would they try to do this, though, if USA will continue supporting them the exact same way with no consequences no matter what? (And does it look like they are trying?)

The truth cannot be denied no matter what skepticism or attitudes you have.