A lead organization monitoring for food crises around the world withdrew a new report this week warning of imminent famine in north Gaza under what it called Israelโs โnear-total blockade,โ after the U.S. asked for its retraction, U.S. officials told the Associated Press. The move follows public criticism of the report from the U.S. ambassador to Israel.
The rare public dispute drew accusations from prominent aid and human-rights figures that the work of the U.S.-funded Famine Early Warning System Network, meant to reflect the opinion of unbiased international experts, has been tainted by politics. A declaration of famine would be a great embarrassment for Israel, which has insisted that its 15-month war in Gaza is aimed against the Hamas militant group and not against its civilian population.
U.S. ambassador to Israel Jacob Lew earlier this week called the warning by the internationally recognized group inaccurate and โirresponsible.โ Lew and the U.S. Agency for International Development, which funds the monitoring group, both said the findings failed to properly account for rapidly changing circumstances in north Gaza.
Israeli soldiers stormed Gaza's last functioning hospital on Friday and forced semi-naked Palestinian medics and patients to leave on foot to an unknown destination, according to videos and eyewitness testimony shared with Middle East Eye.
According to one video sent to MEE, several Israeli tanks could be seen stationed outside the bombed-out Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, whilst dozens of men stripped to their underwear were being directed to an area off screen.
Islam Ahmad, a local journalist and eyewitness to the attack, said communication had been cut off with hospital staff hours before Israeli forces stormed the facility.
He told MEE that Israeli forces had been attacking the hospital since sunrise, with operating rooms, laboratories and other emergency departments targeted by strikes and set ablaze.
In northern Gaza, the director of the besieged Kamal Adwan Hospital says five medical workers were among 50 people killed in Israeli strikes near the hospital. Israeli forces then stormed the hospital and forced hundreds, including patients, into the streets. This all comes as The New York Times has confirmed past reporting by +972 Magazine that on October 7, 2023, Israel loosened military rules meant to protect noncombatants in Gaza. Award-winning Israeli journalist Gideon Levy decries the moral decay of Israel, which has gone so far as to open a luxurious rest area for soldiers in northern Gaza: "It's the same moral blindness to what's going on around you." Levy also discusses his latest piece, headlined "The IDF's Own Sickening 'Zone of Interest' in the Heart of Gaza."
Circular,
jugular,
In the latest sign that Israel's occupation of Gaza will continue for years to come, the military constructed a "beachfront retreat" in the strip to give its soldiers a break between ethnically cleansing the enclave.
โThis unique respite, situated amid the devastation of enemy territory, offers soldiers a rare break from their grueling missions in the Gaza Strip,โ the Ynet website reported on 23 December.
The facility provides soldiers access to mental health counselors, nurses, paramedics, massage therapists, and dentists. It also has a coffee bar, breakfasts reminiscent of a hotel buffet, grilled steaks from a barbeque station, and a dessert and candy station.
One corner of the retreat provides religious texts, tefillin sets, and prayer shawls for Jewish worship.
Charging stations allow soldiers to recharge their phones to keep in touch with family in Israel while washing machines and dryers enable troops to wash their uniforms.
"It's the same moral blindness to what's going on around you." I'm writing a post about this very thing, Najwan. Moral blindness, moral decay, the way the powerful of the west see things, and what that results in. And it's what you've just described.
Horrible.
When I read about those stations for Israeli soldiers, I wanted so badly to see stations just like this all over Gaza, but with medical facilities.
Shukran dear Najwan, nothing of what we are subjected to in Gaza could have happened without the full and blind support of the US. The evilness and criminality the IOF are showing and perpetuating are all American made.
The pressure put by America on international institutions and organizations to refrain from telling the truth is a disgrace to America and ,in fact ,to the humanity as a whole. But I must say I am never surprised by this because we all know that the American government is doing evil things to their own people.
On the ground here we are trying to help those displaced from Kamal Edwan Hospital in every possible way.
Please stay strong dear Najwan. Everyone here sends love and prayers your way. Salute
"It's the same moral blindness to what's going on around you." I'm writing a post about this very thing, Najwan. Moral blindness, moral decay, the way the powerful of the west see things, and what that results in. And it's what you've just described.
Horrible.
When I read about those stations for Israeli soldiers, I wanted so badly to see stations just like this all over Gaza, but with medical facilities.
Take care, Najwan, and thanks again for posting.
Shukran dear Najwan, nothing of what we are subjected to in Gaza could have happened without the full and blind support of the US. The evilness and criminality the IOF are showing and perpetuating are all American made.
The pressure put by America on international institutions and organizations to refrain from telling the truth is a disgrace to America and ,in fact ,to the humanity as a whole. But I must say I am never surprised by this because we all know that the American government is doing evil things to their own people.
On the ground here we are trying to help those displaced from Kamal Edwan Hospital in every possible way.
Please stay strong dear Najwan. Everyone here sends love and prayers your way. Salute