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May 2021 |
18 may 2021 page 1
The Israeli military tweeted a video containing footage it falsely claimed showed Hamas rockets near civilian homes in Gaza. The tweet was later deleted.
Israel always claims to do everything possible to avoid civilian casualties when it is bombing Gaza, as it has been doing with savage intensity for more than a week.
Yet day after day, Israel has slaughtered men, women and children in their homes, regularly wiping out whole families.
The 200 people killed in Gaza since the Israeli attack began more than a week ago include 59 children and 35 women.
So the dilemma for Israel is how to square this horrific reality with its propaganda about protecting civilians.
The solution is to lie and blame the victims.
Israel’s habitual claim is that Hamas and other Palestinian resistance organizations use Palestinian civilians as “human shields,” by routinely firing rockets from residential areas, or even the rooftops of homes.
Israel got caught lying again after it posted a video on Twitter on Saturday titled “Hamas’ Use of Human Shields, Explained.”
The tweet also says: “Israel fights to protect its civilians. Hamas uses civilians to protect itself.”
Old video, fake rockets
But as Raphael Satter, a Reuters journalist observed, the video included “footage of a 2018 Israeli training exercise presented as if it had been shot recently in Gaza.” tweet
The footage appears to show a truck carrying missiles near homes through a narrow residential street.
But as Aric Toler, a researcher with Western-government funded think tank Bellingcat observed, the truck with the missiles appears to have been a decoy being used as part of an Israeli training exercise.
And it was not filmed in Gaza.
The image is taken from a video filmed more than two years ago in the village of Abu Snan in the Galilee – about as far as you can get from Gaza within Israel. tweet
Cropped footage of the trucks from the 2018 video was used in the now-deleted Israeli army video posted on Saturday.
The Electronic Intifada was able to view the video in an archived copy in the WayBack Machine.
The 2018 video was posted on an Israeli Facebook page on 25 November 2018.
A caption in Hebrew says, “Trucks with ‘missiles’ took a wrong turn and entered the village of Abu Snan in the north.”
A voice on the video, that of the Arabic-speaking child who apparently filmed it, calls out, “Look guys, the rockets are here.” He sounds excited by the unusual scene.
The visibility of yellow Israeli license plates on parked cars is another clear giveaway that the video was not shot in Gaza.
Israel’s Mako news website reported on 24 November 2018 how Israeli motorists had been surprised to see a truck apparently carrying missiles on a highway near the central Israeli town of Kiryat Gat, heading towards the north.
The report includes a video apparently filmed by an Israeli motorist showing the same sort of decoy truck visible in the Facebook video.
With its lie busted, the Israeli army deleted its tweet, though an archived copy remains online.
Although the video may not play in the archived version for some readers, it had apparently garnered 146,000 views before the Israeli army deleted it.
Lies and fabrications
This latest fabrication is not Israel’s first during its current attack on Gaza.
Last week, Ofir Gendelman, a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, posted a video on Twitter claiming to show Hamas firing rockets from next to an apartment building in Gaza.
But Gendelman deleted the tweet after Twitter labeled it “manipulated media.” It had in fact been a video filmed in Syria and first posted on YouTube in 2018.
Israel always claims to do everything possible to avoid civilian casualties when it is bombing Gaza, as it has been doing with savage intensity for more than a week.
Yet day after day, Israel has slaughtered men, women and children in their homes, regularly wiping out whole families.
The 200 people killed in Gaza since the Israeli attack began more than a week ago include 59 children and 35 women.
So the dilemma for Israel is how to square this horrific reality with its propaganda about protecting civilians.
The solution is to lie and blame the victims.
Israel’s habitual claim is that Hamas and other Palestinian resistance organizations use Palestinian civilians as “human shields,” by routinely firing rockets from residential areas, or even the rooftops of homes.
Israel got caught lying again after it posted a video on Twitter on Saturday titled “Hamas’ Use of Human Shields, Explained.”
The tweet also says: “Israel fights to protect its civilians. Hamas uses civilians to protect itself.”
Old video, fake rockets
But as Raphael Satter, a Reuters journalist observed, the video included “footage of a 2018 Israeli training exercise presented as if it had been shot recently in Gaza.” tweet
The footage appears to show a truck carrying missiles near homes through a narrow residential street.
But as Aric Toler, a researcher with Western-government funded think tank Bellingcat observed, the truck with the missiles appears to have been a decoy being used as part of an Israeli training exercise.
And it was not filmed in Gaza.
The image is taken from a video filmed more than two years ago in the village of Abu Snan in the Galilee – about as far as you can get from Gaza within Israel. tweet
Cropped footage of the trucks from the 2018 video was used in the now-deleted Israeli army video posted on Saturday.
The Electronic Intifada was able to view the video in an archived copy in the WayBack Machine.
The 2018 video was posted on an Israeli Facebook page on 25 November 2018.
A caption in Hebrew says, “Trucks with ‘missiles’ took a wrong turn and entered the village of Abu Snan in the north.”
A voice on the video, that of the Arabic-speaking child who apparently filmed it, calls out, “Look guys, the rockets are here.” He sounds excited by the unusual scene.
The visibility of yellow Israeli license plates on parked cars is another clear giveaway that the video was not shot in Gaza.
Israel’s Mako news website reported on 24 November 2018 how Israeli motorists had been surprised to see a truck apparently carrying missiles on a highway near the central Israeli town of Kiryat Gat, heading towards the north.
The report includes a video apparently filmed by an Israeli motorist showing the same sort of decoy truck visible in the Facebook video.
With its lie busted, the Israeli army deleted its tweet, though an archived copy remains online.
Although the video may not play in the archived version for some readers, it had apparently garnered 146,000 views before the Israeli army deleted it.
Lies and fabrications
This latest fabrication is not Israel’s first during its current attack on Gaza.
Last week, Ofir Gendelman, a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, posted a video on Twitter claiming to show Hamas firing rockets from next to an apartment building in Gaza.
But Gendelman deleted the tweet after Twitter labeled it “manipulated media.” It had in fact been a video filmed in Syria and first posted on YouTube in 2018.
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Also last week on CGTN television, I debunked the lie told by a member of Israel’s far-right Yamina party that Hamas was firing rockets from the roofs of residential buildings:
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A group of 29 US Senators led by Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont have issued a statement calling on the Biden administration to take immediate action to broker a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in Gaza.
Both Ossoff and Sanders are Jewish progressives who have criticized the Israeli military occupation of Palestinian land, and the ongoing Israeli violations of international law. The letter from the Senators comes after the US representative at the United Nations vetoed Security Council resolutions calling for a ceasefire three separate times since the Israeli bombardment of Gaza began on May 10th. |
The Security Council is set to meet again on Tuesday May 18th, and several countries have vowed to continue the pressure on the US to stop blocking the other 14 Security Council members from calling for a ceasefire.
Axios.com reported Monday that an unnamed Israeli official told them that during a phone call with the Biden White House, “The overall message was that they support us but want this to end”, adding that the Biden administration didn’t give Israel a deadline to stop their bombardment of Gaza, but stressed that the US administration was “reaching the end of its ability to hold back international pressure on Israel over the Gaza operation.”
Meanwhile, the Biden administration has approved a $735 million weapons sale to Israel in the midst of the massive escalation that Israeli forces began one week ago.
The arms sale to Israel includes GBU-39 small diameter bombs, which are being used against Palestinian civilians. The House Foreign Affairs Committee called for an emergency meeting to discuss the sale, and to discuss the Israeli escalation.
Congressmember Ilhan Omar issued the following statement about the decision to move ahead with the $735 million weapon sale – which is in addition to the $3.5 billion of U.S. taxpayer money provided annually, unconditionally, to the state of Israel:
The statement from the U.S. Senators said, “To prevent any further loss of civilian life and to prevent further escalation of conflict in Israel and the Palestinian territories, we urge an immediate ceasefire.”
The Washington Post reported Monday that an unnamed Democrat from the House Foreign Affairs Committee told their reporter, “Allowing this proposed sale of smart bombs to go through without putting pressure on Israel to agree to a cease-fire will only enable further carnage.”
Axios.com reported Monday that an unnamed Israeli official told them that during a phone call with the Biden White House, “The overall message was that they support us but want this to end”, adding that the Biden administration didn’t give Israel a deadline to stop their bombardment of Gaza, but stressed that the US administration was “reaching the end of its ability to hold back international pressure on Israel over the Gaza operation.”
Meanwhile, the Biden administration has approved a $735 million weapons sale to Israel in the midst of the massive escalation that Israeli forces began one week ago.
The arms sale to Israel includes GBU-39 small diameter bombs, which are being used against Palestinian civilians. The House Foreign Affairs Committee called for an emergency meeting to discuss the sale, and to discuss the Israeli escalation.
Congressmember Ilhan Omar issued the following statement about the decision to move ahead with the $735 million weapon sale – which is in addition to the $3.5 billion of U.S. taxpayer money provided annually, unconditionally, to the state of Israel:
The statement from the U.S. Senators said, “To prevent any further loss of civilian life and to prevent further escalation of conflict in Israel and the Palestinian territories, we urge an immediate ceasefire.”
The Washington Post reported Monday that an unnamed Democrat from the House Foreign Affairs Committee told their reporter, “Allowing this proposed sale of smart bombs to go through without putting pressure on Israel to agree to a cease-fire will only enable further carnage.”
The Israeli warplanes dawn Tuesday launched dozens of airstrikes targeting civilian buildings and infrastructure across the besieged Gaza Strip as the onslaught entered its ninth day, according to WAFA correspondent.
He said that the Israeli warplanes targeted a site, a civilian institution and some roads in the vicinity of Ansar Compound and al-Katiba Mosque, west of Gaza city, a house in al-Nasr neighborhood, north of the city, in the Al-Tuffah and Al-Shujaiya neighborhoods, east of the city. No casualties were reported.
He added that the warplanes launched more than fifty raids on civilian homes, sites and civilian facilities in Beit Lahiya town and in separate areas of the town of Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, causing massive damage in the targeted places and the surrounding areas. video video video
The Palestinian Health Ministry said the overall death toll since the latest onslaught began reached 212, including 61 children, and wounded over 1400 others, mostly children and women.
The Israeli military has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on the coastal enclave, targeting what it alleged as military sites.
However, the bombardment targeted and leveled multistory residential buildings, towers, houses, government institutions, media outlet offices, banks in addition to roads and other infrastructure across the strip. video video
Two million Palestinians live the Gaza Strip, which has been subjected to a punishing and crippling Israeli blockade for 12 years and repeated onslaughts that have heavily damaged much of the enclave’s infrastructure.
Gaza’s 2-million population remains under “remote control” occupation and a strict siege, which has destroyed the local economy, strangled Palestinian livelihoods, plunged them into unprecedented rates of unemployment and poverty, and cut off from the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories and the wider world.
Gaza remains occupied territory, having no control over its borders, territorial waters or airspace. Meanwhile, Israel upholds very few of its responsibilities as the occupying power, failing to provide for the basic needs of Palestinian civilians living in the territory.
Every two in three Palestinians in Gaza is a refugee from lands inside what is now Israel. That government forbids them from exercising their right to return as enshrined in international law because they are not Jews.
He said that the Israeli warplanes targeted a site, a civilian institution and some roads in the vicinity of Ansar Compound and al-Katiba Mosque, west of Gaza city, a house in al-Nasr neighborhood, north of the city, in the Al-Tuffah and Al-Shujaiya neighborhoods, east of the city. No casualties were reported.
He added that the warplanes launched more than fifty raids on civilian homes, sites and civilian facilities in Beit Lahiya town and in separate areas of the town of Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, causing massive damage in the targeted places and the surrounding areas. video video video
The Palestinian Health Ministry said the overall death toll since the latest onslaught began reached 212, including 61 children, and wounded over 1400 others, mostly children and women.
The Israeli military has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on the coastal enclave, targeting what it alleged as military sites.
However, the bombardment targeted and leveled multistory residential buildings, towers, houses, government institutions, media outlet offices, banks in addition to roads and other infrastructure across the strip. video video
Two million Palestinians live the Gaza Strip, which has been subjected to a punishing and crippling Israeli blockade for 12 years and repeated onslaughts that have heavily damaged much of the enclave’s infrastructure.
Gaza’s 2-million population remains under “remote control” occupation and a strict siege, which has destroyed the local economy, strangled Palestinian livelihoods, plunged them into unprecedented rates of unemployment and poverty, and cut off from the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories and the wider world.
Gaza remains occupied territory, having no control over its borders, territorial waters or airspace. Meanwhile, Israel upholds very few of its responsibilities as the occupying power, failing to provide for the basic needs of Palestinian civilians living in the territory.
Every two in three Palestinians in Gaza is a refugee from lands inside what is now Israel. That government forbids them from exercising their right to return as enshrined in international law because they are not Jews.
The Gaza headquarters of The Qatari Red Crescent Society, a medical and humanitarian aid organization was targeted today in an Israeli air strike, according to the Doha News Agency.
The director of QRCS in Gaza, Akram Nassar gave a statement on which was posted on Twitter:
“Great destruction in our office as a result of the Israeli warplanes targeting two floors of the same building opposite to the MoH (Ministry of Health), which is the Ghazi Al Shawa building”
It is unclear if there are any casualties ay of the time of this article. Doha News Agency reports.
“Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) works to help and empower vulnerable individuals and communities without partiality or discrimination. QRCS is an active member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, which comprises the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and a network of National Societies in 190 countries.” As per information on their website.
On their website, QRCS mission statement begins with:
“Saving Lives and Preserving Dignity” is the slogan that QRCS adopts for its strategy, reflecting its ambition and aim to be an inspiration for important but realistic change. This strategy is different from its predecessors because it represents a wider humanitarian reality and an organization that has grown in capabilities and stature. QRCS’s distinctive status enables it to work, collaborate, initiate, and lead the way for improvement of the humanitarian situation worldwide.”
Attacks on medical facilities and personnel are a direct violation of international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention.
The director of QRCS in Gaza, Akram Nassar gave a statement on which was posted on Twitter:
“Great destruction in our office as a result of the Israeli warplanes targeting two floors of the same building opposite to the MoH (Ministry of Health), which is the Ghazi Al Shawa building”
It is unclear if there are any casualties ay of the time of this article. Doha News Agency reports.
“Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) works to help and empower vulnerable individuals and communities without partiality or discrimination. QRCS is an active member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, which comprises the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and a network of National Societies in 190 countries.” As per information on their website.
On their website, QRCS mission statement begins with:
“Saving Lives and Preserving Dignity” is the slogan that QRCS adopts for its strategy, reflecting its ambition and aim to be an inspiration for important but realistic change. This strategy is different from its predecessors because it represents a wider humanitarian reality and an organization that has grown in capabilities and stature. QRCS’s distinctive status enables it to work, collaborate, initiate, and lead the way for improvement of the humanitarian situation worldwide.”
Attacks on medical facilities and personnel are a direct violation of international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention.
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Here is a video of Middle East Eye showing some of the destruction caused by the week of bombardment: Targeting of medical facilities and personnel is a direct violation of international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention.
The week-long Israeli assault on Gaza, in which over 200 Palestinians have been killed, including 57 children, the Israeli airforce and artillery strikes have also targeted infrastructure, including two high-rise buildings housing international media companies, as well as medical facilities. In the latest round of airstrikes, Israeli missiles destroyed the Al-Rimal clinic, located in the al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City, where airstrikes Sunday morning crushed two extended families numbering 39 people – including babies, children, parents and grandparents. |
The al-Rimal clinic was the only COVID-19 testing site in the Gaza Strip, and the loss of this clinic leaves the already vulnerable population of Gaza extremely vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus. Before the bombardment began May 10th, the clinic had been testing an average of some 1,600 people per day.
Less than 60,000 people in Gaza, among a population of 2.5 million, have received the COVID-19 vaccination. The Israeli government, which controls the land, sea and air of Gaza, has refused to share its vaccine supply with the Gaza Strip.
The Russian and other governments sent 122,000 vaccine doses to Gaza, only half of which had been distributed before the Israeli bombardment began on May 10th.
Even before the hundreds of severely injured patients began arriving due to the Israeli bombardment, hospitals in Gaza had been overwhelmed by COVID-19.
On May 3rd, Doctors Without Borders issued a statement that “Between March and April, COVID-19 infections have risen at an extraordinary rate—driven by the more severe B.1.1.7 variant—from less than a thousand reported cases per week to more than a thousand reported each day.
There has been an alarming increase in infections among health care workers in particular. Gaza’s second wave has already surpassed its first in severity and in the number of people infected, and hospitals are struggling to cope.”
The positive test rate in Gaza was 28%, among the highest in the world. According to the World Health Organization, 103,000 Palestinians in Gaza have tested positive for COVID-19 in Gaza, of whom 930 died of the virus.
In addition, the office of the Palestinian Health Ministry (which is the main source of information about casualties in Gaza) and the Qatari-sponsored Red Crescent office were severely damaged.
According to the Palestinian health ministry, medical personnel at the Ministry office were wounded, some critically, when the airstrike hit.
Earlier this week, the al-Jalaa building, 14 stories high and one of Gaza’s tallest buildings, was leveled on the third day of the Israeli onslaught. It housed several media companies and numerous non-governmental organizations.
There was no evidence that any ‘Hamas headquarters’ were housed there or anywhere near it, in contradiction of Israeli claims.
Less than 60,000 people in Gaza, among a population of 2.5 million, have received the COVID-19 vaccination. The Israeli government, which controls the land, sea and air of Gaza, has refused to share its vaccine supply with the Gaza Strip.
The Russian and other governments sent 122,000 vaccine doses to Gaza, only half of which had been distributed before the Israeli bombardment began on May 10th.
Even before the hundreds of severely injured patients began arriving due to the Israeli bombardment, hospitals in Gaza had been overwhelmed by COVID-19.
On May 3rd, Doctors Without Borders issued a statement that “Between March and April, COVID-19 infections have risen at an extraordinary rate—driven by the more severe B.1.1.7 variant—from less than a thousand reported cases per week to more than a thousand reported each day.
There has been an alarming increase in infections among health care workers in particular. Gaza’s second wave has already surpassed its first in severity and in the number of people infected, and hospitals are struggling to cope.”
The positive test rate in Gaza was 28%, among the highest in the world. According to the World Health Organization, 103,000 Palestinians in Gaza have tested positive for COVID-19 in Gaza, of whom 930 died of the virus.
In addition, the office of the Palestinian Health Ministry (which is the main source of information about casualties in Gaza) and the Qatari-sponsored Red Crescent office were severely damaged.
According to the Palestinian health ministry, medical personnel at the Ministry office were wounded, some critically, when the airstrike hit.
Earlier this week, the al-Jalaa building, 14 stories high and one of Gaza’s tallest buildings, was leveled on the third day of the Israeli onslaught. It housed several media companies and numerous non-governmental organizations.
There was no evidence that any ‘Hamas headquarters’ were housed there or anywhere near it, in contradiction of Israeli claims.
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