Israel-Palestine Weekly Update

15th December 2023

Israeli forces invade Gaza

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The situation in Gaza is very similar to a natural disaster such as an earthquake or a flood where the immediate response of the world’s people is one of compassion and a willingness to help. In the case of Gaza, however, it is plain to see that something akin to an earthquake is rampantly shattering a population and the infrastructure that sustains it. But in response - many just step back, throw their humanity in the trash can - and watch. That is what much of the world is doing: watching. More importantly, this catastrophe is not an Act of God; it is the act of a nation of people who are overburdened with hatred and a desire for revenge. People are not naturally this way, they are formed (at least partially) by circumstances. We all have the capacity for cruelty, under certain conditions.

The circumstances under which Israel was created and the distorted manner in which Israeli society has developed, almost in parallel with South African apartheid, has generated this hatred and fear between Israelis and Palestinians. People in Israeli society have either been ignorant of or acceptant of the illegal settlements and the oppression/persecution of the Palestinian people - though there are small groups of Israelis who are actively opposed to these things. Anyway, apartheid has created a group of Palestinians who want the Jews to leave Israel and a group of political Jews who want the Palestinians to go.

Under these circumstances, the Israelis have also suffered through not being on good terms with their neighbours. In my view, if people were left to their own devices, they would get along, generally, but the politics of greed or power or prestige often force people in directions alien to them. Jews and Arabs got along for generations in the Middle East, when they had some autonomy¹. But the modern Israeli state, like its Ukrainian counterpart, is totally dependent on the US. It is not in a natural relationship with Arab states which would have involved more interaction, inter-dependence, friendship and so on. Yes, I know, there will always be conflicts, but Western involvement makes these more, not less likely.

Europe is similarly being forced by the US into an unnatural relation with its neighbour, Russia. It makes sense for Germany, for example, to have good relations with Russia and take advantage of energy that is cheap by virtue of its close proximity and its convenience of carriage. But the US has denied Germany this in order to serve its own political and economic interests. It is becoming more and more obvious that the social decay that I have seen in my lifetime is actually the decay of Empire - of US Empire; and of Western Empire. And in its decadence, Empire has distorted that part of the world over which it has had control. But just as Britain’s colonies have become independent, so will those countries who are still under the yoke of Empire. We are all starting to smell the decay of Empire and it is not pleasant - but it will soon fade.

The Wider Picture

Empires do not go gentle into that good night and the US’s response to the Israel-Palestine conflict can be seen as a kicking out at the forces of BRICS and other RoW alliances such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. The US can see that a formidable alliance is developing between Russia, Iran and China but I suspect that it doesn’t know what to do apart from throwing its toys out of the pram. Some, including the neo-cons, have an impulse to gamble everything on a war with Iran but then come to their senses when someone reminds them that Iran could quite easily destroy Israel - which would be a little counter-productive. Pepe Escobar did a good interview (30 mins) with Danny Haiphong in which he discusses such matters in depth: it is worth a listen imv. Escobar does not expect Iran, Lebanon or any other country in the Middle East to get involved in a large scale conflict with Israel, which will, nevertheless, suffer death by a thousand cuts during a long war. Unfortunately, even though Netanyahu could soon become a casualty of this conflict, his replacement is likely to share his ideas and policies - so nothing will change. The whole thing is unpredictable since we do not know how the ground war will develop and the political situation in the US is such that it is not clear whether opposition to the conflict will assert itself. The US wants Israel to end its campaign by the new year, so it is clearly concerned that Biden’s re-election prospects may suffer from Israeli brutality: the US leadership gave up on morality long ago.

Peace Moves

UN Resolutions

As you will know, on Friday the US Vetoed a UN Security Council Resolution calling for a ceasefire². Since then, Egypt and Mauritania have invoked article 377A which calls for an emergency meeting of the UN General Assembly. The article states that if the UN Security Council is not able to discharge its primary responsibility of maintaining global peace due to lack of unanimity, the UN General Assembly can step in. Potentially, the GA could agree to pursue collective military action to stop the war but I am not sure how that would work since decisions made under this resolution are not binding. Al Jazeera provides more detail here.

As a result of this initiative, on the 13th December the UNGA passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire (I am not sure whether this was submitted under article 377A). The US and Israel voted against along with 8 others. 153 out of 193 countries voted in favour but the vote is not binding so Israel will probably ignore it. Al Jazerra provides a short article here. The gutless UK abstained.

The Genocide Convention

This convention arose out of a judgement by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) following the Bosnian-Serb conflict. The ICJ ruled that every state has a duty to prevent genocide. Yet, as human rights activist Craig Murray points out, no state has so far invoked the convention in relation to Gaza. Article 8 of the convention states that:

Any contracting party may call upon the competent organs of the United Nations to take such action under the charter of the United Nations as they consider appropriate for the prevention and suppression of acts of genocide…

The ICJ will consider such applications and will arbitrate disputes between the parties involved. You can read Murray’s article here. I wish I could be confident that some state will invoke it but it’s a tough ask to expect any state to accuse a nation of genocide when the Jewish people who are part of this nation have suffered genocide themselves. But it has to be done.

WHO Calls For Ceasefire and Aid to Gaza

According to Al Jazeera, the WHO has called for an “immediate, sustained and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief, including the access of medical personnel” and an end to fighting in Gaza.

Hamas

The head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, has said the group is open to negotiations to end the war with Israel, but stressed that any final deal would have to lead to an independent Palestinian state that would preside over the West Bank and Gaza with Jerusalem as capital. You can read more here.

Jews Protest for Ceasefire in the US

Jewish protesters in the United States organised demonstrations for a ceasefire in Gaza across eight major cities, blocking roads in some places. “On the 8th night of Hanukkah, 8 cities, 8 bridges,” activist group Jewish Voice for Peace wrote of the protests on social media.

US Labour Leaders Call for Ceasefire

Union leaders from the Electric workers union, the car workers union and the union of postal workers demonstrated in Washington this week. One of the organisers said:

Our humanity needs a ceasefire, and that is precisely why I’m so happy to have unions here today to join in this fight, because we know that unions know how to organise. Unions know how to mobilise and galvanise and energise.

London Protests

On the 9th December, 100,000 protested in London. This is the sixth national pro-Palestine demonstration in the UK since October 7th.

Biden - ‘Just be Careful’

This sums up Biden’s contribution to the peace movement, according to Al Jazeera. Israel should take more care to protect civilians when they carpet bomb them, he implies. Some would say that the point he misses is that the Israelis are killing civilians intentionally, not by accident.

Hospitals

Facilities at hospitals in Gaza have been severely degraded. Some children in the Gaza Strip are undergoing amputations without anesthesia due to lack of medication, while others are on the brink of starvation, a representative of humanitarian organization Save the Children said.

Al Awda Hospital (North Gaza)

Al Awda hospital is under siege from Israeli snipers and the doctors, patients and families who reside there are on the verge of starvation. Nothing can get in or out of the hospital due to the snipers who are shooting at anything that moves. Israeli tanks are only 50 metres away.

Kamal Edwan Hospital

This has also been surrounded (see below) and many medical staff have been killed. On the 15th December, according to Al Jazeera:

Israeli forces raided the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza for a third day in a row, forcing 2,500 displaced people to leave, while two patients died as a result of troops preventing medical staff from providing support, according to the United Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA).

Kuwaiti Hospital Rafah

On the 14th December, Israeli airstrikes hit the Kuwaiti hospital in Rafah, south Gaza, which is supposed to be safe.

Schools

UN schools are also being attacked in Gaza. Thousand who were sheltering in them have been forced to flee.

Human Shields

Many allegations have been made against Hamas regarding their alleged use of civilians as ‘human shields’ - i.e. the use of civilians against their will to protect a combatant from the enemy who would inevitably kill civilians if they attacked. In fact, there is no evidence that Hamas has done this but there is evidence, from Amnesty International, that Israel has used Palestinians as human shields.

US Provides Ammunition to Kill Children

On the 9th December Reuters reported the sale of 14 thousand American 120-mm M830A1 MPAT rounds to Israel. They are intended for Merkava tanks and will be transferred to the IDF directly from the US Army reserves.

Hamas Calls IDF Savages

Israel’s defence forces have arrested many thousands of Palestinian men since this conflict began and these men have sometimes been the subject of inhumane and degrading treatment. In this short video you can see men forced to sit on the ground stripped down to their underpants. Palestinian officials have called the IDF savages for doing this. More and more reports are coming out about Palestinian men being mistreated and even tortured in captivity, including this. While Palestinians in some places are starving, the IDF filmed themselves burning a food truck - which shows how much hate is in their hearts.

This article from Al Jazeera based on testimony from released prisoners, shows how they were treated as ‘lesser humans’. Prisoners were ‘stripped blindfolded, numbered and tortured’.

To add to the numerous war crimes committed by the IDF, it has now been shown that the IDF used banned white phosphorous 155mm shells in its attack on Dahaira in Lebanon back in October.

On the 13th December, Al Jazeera reported that the IDF attacked and destroyed a school and executed those who had taken shelter there, including children. You may find the video in this report distressing. Another report claimed that babies were among the victims.

John Mearsheimer has produced an article that sums up the list of war crimes Israel is committing in Gaza and asks the Biden administration and others who support Israel ‘have you no decency?’.

Gaza ‘Hell on Earth’

‘It's vital to end the "hell on earth" in Gaza’, said Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Phillipe also said that: ‘‘By any description, this is definitely the worst situation I've ever seen."

The Fighting

Rybar Sitrep

This sitrep from Rybar is just over 3 minutes long but provides an excellent overview of the conflict on the 13th December.

Is Israel Losing?

I have no idea who is winning or losing on the battlefield but some believe that the more Palestinians the Israelis kill, maim or arrest the more Palestinians will join the ranks of the freedom fighters determined to kill Israelis in the future. Here is one young man vowing revenge after his mother and sisters were killed by the Israelis. In addition, Israel is showing itself to the rest of the world as the terrorist state it has become and could soon become politically isolated with no friends in the world apart from the US.

The catastrophe that has developed could have been foreseen, you would have thought, but it wasn’t: maybe because enraged decision makers in Israel thought only of protecting themselves and taking revenge on the Palestinians. I think the situation in Israel-Palestine demonstrates quite clearly how an emotional reaction to a situation is not the most beneficial reaction, necessarily. Personally, I think the current state we are in, whether in relation to Ukraine, Gaza or any of the other conflicts in the world is as much the result of accidents, mistakes and bad luck as it has been the result of intention. Unintended consequences should feature prominently in any analysis of Ukraine or the Middle East. And these arise out of the West’s incapacity to grasp reality - as I have said once or twice before.

However, having said that the current situation benefits no one, I have to concede that there may be some method in the madness of some person or group who/which believe(s) that creating this madness in the world will benefit them. Indeed, it is possible that the Deep State wants this. But I doubt it, personally.

Jon Alterman of the Center For Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC had this to say about Hamas’s concept of victory:

Hamas’s concept of military victory…is all about driving long-term political outcomes. Hamas sees victory not in one year or five, but from engaging with decades of struggle that increase Palestinian solidarity and increase Israel’s isolation. In this scenario, Hamas rallies a besieged population in Gaza around it in anger and helps collapse the Palestinian Authority government by ensuring Palestinians see it even more as a feckless adjunct to Israeli military authority. Meanwhile, Arab states move strongly away from normalization, the Global South aligns strongly with the Palestinian cause, Europe recoils at the Israeli army’s excesses, and an American debate erupts over Israel, destroying the bipartisan support Israel has enjoyed here since the early 1970s.

If this is victory for Hamas, then maybe they could win. Once thing I am almost convinced of is that things cannot now return to the way they were prior to October 7th because the world won’t tolerate it - but that’s the optimist in me talking.

Casualties

Casualty figures, I am finding, are hard to come by and are unlikely to be accurate. One report in The Voice of Europe claims that 424 Israeli soldiers have been killed since October 7th. Another report from an Israeli source claims that the 1593 figure for wounded given by the Israeli authorities is much too low and could be double that figure. I do not have any information on Hamas casualties but the IDF estimates that it has eliminated 15% of its fighting force. Over 18,700 civilians, mostly children, have been killed by the Israelis in Gaza (however, an additional 7,700 are missing).

Gaza

On the 10th December, according to Rybar:

the IDF operation continues. Israeli aviation and artillery are carrying out dozens of strikes on various targets in Gaza and other populated areas of the enclave. Palestinian forces are waging a semi-guerrilla fight in the city and are trying to shell nearby settlements.

On the 11th December, a report in Al Manar claimed that the Qasam Brigades had destroyed 44 military vehicles in the Gaza strip during the preceding 48 hours - which is amazing if true. Al Quds Brigades are also doing well, according to this report which provides some detail including some video of the fighting. Here’s an extract which will give you a flavour:

Abu Obeida, the military spokesperson for the Qassam Brigades, expressed his satisfaction with their performance and unity, stressing that thousands of fighters were awaiting their turn on the battlefield. He highlighted the successful targeting of the occupation forces in both old and new incursion axes. Notably, the Qassam Brigades managed to destroy more than 180 military vehicles in prominent areas like Shuja’iya, Zeitoun, Sheikh Radwan, Jabalia camp, Beit Lahiya, Deir al-Balah, and Khan Yunis. These attacks included the use of Yasin shells, canisters, guerrilla tactics, ambushes, machine guns, booby-trapped tunnels, entrapment maneuvers, and sniping operations.

Israeli forces continue to advance into the urban areas of the Gaza strip on the 11th December where they have surrounded another hospital - i.e. Kamal Edwan. According to Rybar:

In the southern region, fighting continues in the central areas of Khan Yunis. The Israelis are advancing at the Al-Katiba and Az-Zilal mosques. If successful at Az-Zilal, the Israel Defense Forces will be able to establish the first stronghold in this part of the enclave. Palestinian forces are attempting to prevent this by responding with ambushes and mortar fire.

On the 13th December, Israeli bombing killed 25 in just a few hours according to TeleSUR. The Israelis occupied and destroyed a cemetery and a school in the Al-Fallujah neighbourhood, and there was fighting in Jabaliya and Beit Lahiya.

Also on this day, the Israelis began to pour seawater into the Gaza tunnels which some say will cause an environmental disaster (like the Nord Streams) - another crime against humanity to add to Israel’s long and heavy chain of crimes. But it is by no means certain that this procedure will flush out Hamas - according to the Palestine Chronicle.

By the 15th December, the death toll in Khan Yunis had reached 33, according to Al Jazeera.

West Bank

On the 10th December:

There are mass detentions and clashes with Arab youth. In Qalandiya, Nablus and Hebron, clashes escalated into shootouts, deaths are reported.

On the 11th December,

Israeli security forces have carried out a series of raids and mass arrests. The most violent clashes occurred in Jenin, Jericho, and Nablus. Today, a general strike was observed in the region as a sign of solidarity with the residents of the Gaza Strip. Shops and other institutions remained closed in several areas, and the streets were practically empty.

On the 15th December, Al Jazeera reported:

In a three-day raid on Jenin in the occupied West Bank, Israeli soldiers targeted a mosque where they were filmed chanting Jewish prayers and mocking the Islamic call to prayer over a loudspeaker. The Israeli army claimed on Thursday that those soldiers were “immediately removed from operational activity”.

Lebanon Border/Hezbollah

On the 10th December, according to Rybar:

IDF and Hezbollah exchanging blows. The Lebanese group carried out at least seven strikes on various Israeli positions. In response, tank and artillery fire was opened, and aviation was actively used. In Aytarun, according to local media reports, several houses were destroyed.

On the 11th December, Hezbollah made at least eight successful attacks, including one on an Israeli barracks at Branit. Al Manar has more detail here.

The Israelis have warned Hezbollah that unless they stop attacking their forces they will launch a ground attack on Lebanon, according to the Two Majors. That would serve to confirm the fears expressed by the UN that have prompted resolutions 99 and 377A (see above).

Houthis/Yemen

French frigate

The Houthis have become the ‘wild card’ in this conflict: no one expected shipping to be attacked in the region and I, for one, didn’t realise that the Houthis would do this. They are certainly fighting above their weight and have made many attacks on shipping over the past week, including the container ship Maersk Gibraltar and the French frigate pictured above. On the 15th December, the Liberian flagged Al Jasrah, which is thought to have connections with Israel, was set on fire by a missile in the Red Sea. The Houthis may have been responsible according to South Front.

That’s it for another tense week. Many thanks for your views, subscriptions, likes and kind comments. Best Rob

Non subscribers can view Updates on Telegram: https://t.me/UWUupdate.

1. Orthodox Jew, Rabbi Weiss, makes this point here (11 mins). The anti-Zionist Rabbi pointed out that Judaism is a religion some 3,000 old while Zionism is a political movement about 100 years old.

2. The vote was 13-1 in favour with the gutless UK abstaining.