Hamas Launches ’Incendiary Balloons’ on Israel

 

The News Cover: For 11 days a dangerous war was going on between Israel and the Palestinian Militant Hamas group in Gaza. Hundreds of people were killed in these attacks. A ceasefire was announced on 21st May at 2am after Egypt intervened and brokered a deal. Since 21st May, all was well between Israel and Hamas. Just a few days back, Naftali Bennett became the new PM and replaced Benjamin Netanyahu after 12 years. 

On 16th June, Hundreds of Israeli nationalists took part in a flag march which was approved by the Bennet government. The flag march was in East Jerusalem. However, there was an altercation between Palestinians and the police. 17 Palestinians were arrested. Hamas launched incendiary balloons on South Israel. The balloons are inflated with light gas and once it reached South Israel, it exploded causing fires in 20 locations. Israel retaliated by carrying out airstrikes in south Gaza and struck military compounds belonging to the Hamas terror organization.

Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu Defends Gaza Attack

 The News Cover: In the Palestinian state of Gaza, there was a building that housed offices of the ‘Associated Press’ a non-profit news agency, and another news agency called ‘Al Jazeera’. On May 15, an Israeli airstrike flattened the building. The attack sent alarm bells ringing across the world and countries were worried over the escalating Israel-Palestine violence. On 16th May 2021, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was invited to ‘Face the Nation’ an American News programme. During the show, he spoke about the ongoing violence between Israeli forces & Palestinian militant group Hamas. Netanyahu said, "The airstrike was conducted as they had received information that the building housed a Hamas intelligence office which was plotting the attacks on Israel. 

On learning this we conducted the airstrike. So it is a perfectly legitimate target. However, there have been no injuries or deaths only the building has been destroyed. Associated Press head Sally Buzbee said, "We are not supporting either Israel or Palestine in this conflict. We are neutral. Israel says they had information about a Hamas intelligence office in the building that was planning attacks on Israel, which is why they conducted the airstrike. But there is no proof about this yet. We do not want Israel or Palestine to investigate the matter. We want an independent investigation into this matter.” After nearly a week of Israeli airstrikes and Hamas rocket barrages. Netanyahu gave no time frame for when Israel would stop the fighting. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has pleaded for an immediate end to the deadly Israeli-Palestinian violence. 

He warned that if the fighting continued people will die in large numbers and it could be very dangerous. The USA has been Israel's long-term Ally. After the airstrike on Gaza, US President Joe Biden made a phone call to PM Netanyahu Biden told Netanyahu that he understands that Israel has a right to defend itself but he is very worried about the safety of journalists amidst the violence. Many Indians are unhappy with Benjamin Netanyahu. Let me tell you why. On 15th May, Benjamin Netanyahu posted a tweet and extended his thanks to various countries for their support. He had included the flags of the countries. However, he did not include the Indian flag in this thank you post. Many are upset that even though many Indians have pledged their support to Israel but the Prime Minister did not thank India. Others are asking PM Narendra Modi to clear his stance on the issue.

Is Israel Guilty Of Apartheid Against Palestinians?

 The News Cover: Many people think of Israel and Palestine as two countries at war, with this one — a state for Jewish people — occupying this one here, where Palestinians live. The truth is, both Israeli Jews and Palestinians live all over this territory, ruled by one government and one army, based on the idea of: advancing the supremacy and domination of one group of people, Jews. 

And that is what guides its policies and its practices towards Palestinians. In other words, apartheid. Apartheid is a loaded word, tied to the racist South African regime of white minority rule. But, although the word comes from there, apartheid isn't just a description of what happened in South Africa. It's actually a crime against humanity under international law. In 2021, Human Rights Watch accused Israel of carrying out apartheid. 

It based this accusation on the 1973 apartheid convention and the 1998 Rome Statute, which say that three elements have to occur for the crime of apartheid to apply. They are: like denying people the right to leave and to return to their country, expropriation of land and property, and the creation of separate reserves and ghettos. So let's see if any of these apply to Israel's rule over Palestinians. 

About half of the people that live here under Israel's rule are Palestinian, and the other half are Jews, like myself. For those 7 million Israeli Jews, almost the entire land is one space. Whether they're here, here, here or here, they have the same rights, privileges and legal status. They can move freely, vote in the same elections and live under the same laws. The boundaries are invisible to them. 

But for the 7 million Palestinians, the boundaries are very visible. Whereas this is essentially one space for Israelis, Palestinians have been divided into four areas. Each area gets a different colored ID card issued by Israel, and your life and rights are determined by that ID card. In Gaza, Palestinians have no freedom of movement and are under a complete Israeli blockade. Israel no longer has soldiers inside Gaza, but it controls every aspect of life from the outside. 

People in Gaza have no civil or political rights. They've got no say in the Israeli government that controls them. Palestinians in the West Bank also have very limited freedom of movement, with their population divided into 165 disconnected cantons cut off by Israeli military checkpoints, walls, settlements and other infrastructure. They also have no civil or political rights in Israel. In East Jerusalem, Palestinians generally have more freedom to move, but Israel can take away their right to live in the city. 

They can't vote in Israeli elections, and Israel also bars them from taking part in Palestinian politics. Palestinians who are citizens of Israel can travel relatively freely, but they face restrictions on where they can live. They can vote in Israeli elections, but face legalized discrimination. Yara Hawari is a Palestinian with Israeli citizenship. This ID system, it penetrates all areas of life where you live, where you study, what you work, etc. Even the more intimate areas of life, such as who you marry. 

That's because, for the most part, a Palestinian can't pass on their ID status to their spouse. And this has huge implications on where they can live. Many indeed actually end up leaving and choosing to live abroad because it is that difficult. On rare occasions, Palestinians are able to change their ID, but only in one direction. 

So, for instance, if a Palestinian from East Jerusalem moves somewhere else inside the West Bank, they could lose their residency in East Jerusalem and Israel. Since it's considered that a downgrade, then that's a direction that would be feasible. And further down the line, again from Israel's perspective, if West Bankers move to the Gaza Strip, then that's a direction that Israel will accept, but not in the opposite direction. 

So while Palestinians are granted different rights based on their IDs, nowhere do those rights match those of Israeli Jews. Looks like we can check off at least one of the elements required for apartheid to apply. When Israel was founded in 1948, 700,000 Palestinians had fled or been forced out. The result was that the new state had a Jewish majority. To maintain that majority, Israel has never allowed the refugees to return. 

The Palestinians who remained were given Israeli citizenship, although they were kept under strict military rule for 19 years. But, in 1967, when Israel occupied more lands, including Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, it faced a problem. It wanted the land, but didn't want the Palestinians on that land. So it's refused to extend citizenship to the rest of the Palestinians under its control, while keeping them under military rule ever since. 

To further control the ratio of Palestinians to Israeli Jews, Israel still bans Palestinian refugees and their descendants from moving into any of the territories it controls, while encouraging any Jewish person anywhere in the world to immigrate to Israel, even if they've never set foot there before. In Jerusalem, the Israeli authorities actually have a population target: 60% Jews to 40% Palestinians. 

Palestinians in Jerusalem are only granted a "permanent" residency permit, even if they've been living in the city since before Israel was founded. About 350,000 Palestinians are in that status, which is Orwellian the way it's defined, because the only thing permanent in permanent residency is that it can actually always be taken away. These permits can be revoked if a Palestinian moves out of the city. 

But Jewish Israelis living in Jerusalem never lose residency, even if they move to the other side of the world. This discrimination has been enshrined in Israeli law. The 2018 Nation-State Law says that Israel "is the nation-state of the Jewish people." That means that even Palestinians with Israeli citizenship aren't considered equal to Jews with Israeli citizenship. As Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu put it, but rather, So let's go back to to that list from before. 

The Nation-State Law is only one of many Israeli laws that explicitly discriminate against Palestinians. For example, there's the 1950 Absentees' Property Law. Deeming Palestinian refugees "absentees," Israel seized hundreds of thousands of acres of their land, even though they were only absent because Israel wouldn't let them return. Remember, denying people the right to return to their country is on the list of inhumane acts that legally make up the third element of apartheid. 

There are more Israeli policies that could fall under the category of inhumane acts, especially when it comes to land. So Israel desires the land, even more so desires empty land or land that it makes empty, and doesn't desire the Palestinians living on that land. And that has resulted in policies in which land is constantly moving in one direction. Land that used to be Palestinian becomes state land, and then that land is allocated for the development of towns and communities for Jewish citizens. And yes, expropriation of land is also an inhumane act. 

So let's see what that looks like on the ground. Across the entire territory, Palestinian communities are overcrowded and surrounded by Jewish-only communities. It's the same type of practice of encircling Palestinian communities so that they can't expand, cutting them off from one another. It's a continuous practice that began in 1948 and was expanded to the West Bank in 1967. 

The Israeli state prioritizes Jewish development in places where it wants to restrict the growth of Palestinian communities, with the government keen to Judaize areas like the Galilee and the Negev. Israeli politicians frequently use that term: to "Judaize" an area. In other words, to ensure Israeli Jewish dominance in a particular area where the government has a concern over the Palestinian demography. And in any other context, this would be condemned as, you know, gross ethnic engineering. 

It's in its basic laws, which is essentially the Israeli Constitution. The land is deemed for the Jewish people, not the Israeli people, but the Jewish people. In fact, only 3% of the land inside Israel's 1948 borders is allocated for its Palestinian citizens. Meanwhile, hundreds of new communities have been built for its Jewish citizens, many on the ruins of destroyed Palestinian villages. Plus, there's the 200 illegal Jewish settlements that have been built across the West Bank as well. 

At the same time, thousands of Palestinian homes have been demolished or are under threat of demolition, having been built without permits because Israel rejects most Palestinian building applications. Meanwhile, in the Negev Desert, the Israeli government wants to maximize the land available for Jewish development. 

So it has tried to force Palestinian Bedouin citizens into small townships by demolishing their homes and not allowing them to connect to the water and power grids. One village, Al-Araqib, has been demolished more than 180 times. Now just across the Green Line, a similar struggle is taking place in the village of Susiya, which is in the West Bank, just south of Hebron. 

And it too has faced a series of mass demolitions by authorities in attempt to establish Israeli Jewish control over the area. Looks like we can check off another one of the criteria for apartheid. Israel has total control of this entire territory. Even in Gaza and the West Bank, which have some limited autonomous Palestinian administration in place, Israel controls the borders, trade, resources, water, electricity, the airspace, the electromagnetic spectrum, the population registry and more. Accusing a government of carrying out a crime against humanity like apartheid is no simple matter. But we've seen how Israel's control over and discrimination against Palestinians fits the legal threshold for apartheid. 

Israel's own leaders knew this was happening, although they didn't do much to stop it. Still, how could apartheid apply to Israel when, say, Palestinian citizens can vote? So as a Palestinians citizen of Israel, I cannot question the fundamental Constitution of Israel, which says that the state is for the Jewish people and the Jewish people alone. My citizenship doesn't allow for inclusion in that state. 

And so therefore, participation in Israeli elections or in the Knesset is really nominal and has no potential to change policy. Another argument against the accusation of apartheid is that the occupation is only temporary, and when it ends, Palestinians will rule themselves. Normal people don't think that 54 years is temporary. We've passed that line already a very long time ago. 

And yeah, there's a lot of Israeli propaganda insisting on that worldview of democracy plus temporary occupation. No, it's not a democracy and it's not a temporary occupation. It's one regime between the river and the sea. And that regime is apartheid. 

Turkey calls for Muslim nations to unite against Israel

 

The News Cover: meanwhile Turkey, is calling on Muslim nations, to mobilize against Israel in the ongoing conflict with Palestine turkey's vice president wants the Islamic world to send a united and clear message to Israel Ankara also criticized world powers, for not doing enough to stop. the violence president Erdogan is a prominent critic of Israel, he described the country. as a terrorist state after the storming of the al-Aqsa mosque on Monday, Erdogan has repeatedly slammed. 

the Israeli occupation of the west bank and its treatment. of the Palestinians, Erdogan's deputy says that Muslim countries. that do not display unity are effectively party to the conflict on Wednesday duan discussed the Israel-Palestine, conflict with Russian President, Vladimir Putin he urged, the international community to teach a deterrent lesson to Israel and turkey, is also proposing to send peacekeepers to safeguard Palestinians a similar proposal was made back in 2018 as well.

Why is There a War Between Israel & Palestine?

 The News Cover: There is a war-like situation between Israel and Palestine at the moment. The bloody conflict is said to have begun about a month ago. In the area of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem, there are 70 Palestinian homes. An Israeli court ordered that these 70 Palestinians will soon be evicted to make room for Jewish people to reside in the area. According to the court, Palestinians live on land that was owned by Jews since 1948. This is why the Palestinians will be evicted. Palestinians refused to accept this and there were violent clashes between them and Israeli police. 

After this, On May 7 after breaking their Ramadan fast in the evening many Palestinians went to offer prayers at the Al Aqsa Mosque in eastern Jerusalem. However, suddenly for some unknown reason, there were clashes between the Israeli police and Palestinians. Some Palestinians were killed in this violent clash, and after this, violence has erupted in Tel Aviv and other cities of Israel. Hamas is a terrorist organization of the Palestinian people. and they are extremely agitated. Their main objective is to take back East Jerusalem. Hamas believes that East Jerusalem is the capital of the future Palestinian nation and the land was wrongfully acquired by Israel. 

This dispute between the two has been going on for a long time now. But this time the conditions have gone out of control. Hamas militants fired rockets at Israeli cities like Tel Aviv, Ashkelon, and Holon on 11th May. Officials sounded sirens that echoed all over the cities to warn people about the attacks. Amidst the loud sirens, people came out of their homes and ran towards safety. Some people were seen running towards an underpass to seek shelter. These rockets fired by the Hamas militants are so dangerous that even a 20-story Israeli building can be destroyed in the blink of an eye. 

If these rockets had fallen in different cities of Israel, it would have caused massive destruction and killed hundreds of people, but that did not happen. In various parts of Israel, there is a device called the 'Iron Dome'. When an enemy rocket is fired, the device intercepts & destroys the rocket. Leaving one or two rockets, every rocket was destroyed by the Iron Dome. Israel has also responded to the rocket attack of Hamas and has carried out airstrikes in Gaza. In this airstrike, a 13-story building was blown up by Israel.

Indian woman killed in Hamas rocket attack Israel-Palestine conflict escalates

The News Cover: 31-year old Soumya is from Kerala's Idukki district. She was living in the city of Ashkelon in Israel. She had been working there as a caretaker for an 80-year-old woman for the last seven years. On 11th May evening, she was talking to her husband Santosh who is in Kerala, over video call. While they were talking to each other, her neighbourhood came under rocket attack from Palestinian Militants. During the conflict between the Palestinians and Israeli, hundreds of rockets were fired. 

For protection against these attacks, Israeli homes had fortified rooms either inside or outside the house. However, the house where Soumya was working did not have a rocket shelter inside the house. This is why Soumya and the 80 year old woman had to run & were a minute away from a rocket shelter. Sadly they did not make it in time and were hit by the rocket. Soumya passed away but the senior woman has been hospitalised with severe injuries. 

Soumya's husband Santhosh's brother Saji said, "During the call, suddenly there was a loud noise & Santhosh heard his wife screaming. The call then got disconnected.” Santosh was very worried. One of Soumya’s relatives was also working in the area. The relative went to the house where Soumya worked and confirmed her death. The relative then informed her family. A total of 31 persons were killed in the violence. 

Soumy has a 10-year-old son, and has been working as a caregiver in Israel for the past 10 years. She last visited her family in Kerala two years ago. She was planning to return to Kerala two months later but sadly she has passed away. Many Keralites who are living in Israel are now very afraid over the conflict going on between Israelis and Palestinians. Ashkelon's Mayor Tomer Glam said, "The Iron Dome is a device that helps to intercept and destroy enemy rockets. 

The 31 casualties occurred because there was a technical glitch in the Iron Dome. The deaths were because the device was unable to intercept the rockets." Israel's ambassador to India Ron Malka Tweeted saying, "Our hearts are crying for Soumya's son that lost his mother. Israel conveys its heartfelt condolences to the family of Santosh."
 

israel pre-election protest against PM Benjamin Netanyahu "anti-government"

 

The News Cover: Israel is set to hold its fourth snap election, next weekdays before the crucial polls thousands of Israelis took to the 'streets to protest against prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's policies and leadership' local reports suggesting that over 20 000 protesters gathered at the Paris square close to Netanyahu's official residence. the protesters were seen waving flags and carrying posters shouting bibi go home.

we are here to protest against, Netanyahu, and his corrupted government this is our last chance before the election. I came to speak and protest, about the situation when the government is probably going to win this election and somebody needs to stop this because the government will be worse than it used to be and the people must vote differently.

I'm here to overthrow Benjamin Netanyahu, we have been here since the summer expecting. it to be better in Israel has been witnessing weekly anti-establishment protests. since last year but the Saturday demonstrations were the largest since the protest started. the demonstrators demand "prime minister Netanyahu's" resignation over the alleged corruption scandals and mishandling of the covid-19 crisis. 

Netanyahu has been in power for the last 12 years, and the leader hopes to retain his seat in the Tuesday vote. one thing to be noted here is that Netanyahu is the first Israeli prime minister to be indicted in office for corruption and bribery however he denies any wrongdoings. the series of elections have been going on since April 2019 but the winning parties failed to form the government experts.

say Netanyahu's liquid party, is likely to emerge as the biggest player, but 'the opinion polls have not suggested a clear winner' yet they say third time's a charm that did not really hold true, for Israel in the previous election as the country gears up for the fourth poll in less than two years opinion polls have not suggested any clear winner. 

they predict that the deadlock will continue what is the sense that you're getting you're absolutely right molly. I mean the situation now in march 2021 is actually different from the last election in March 2020 at that time covid-19, was just emerging we didn't know what to expect over the course of the year, and during the course of the year. 

we've obviously we've seen six thousand people die. a lot of suffering due, to the economy as well as for health reasons very tight lockdowns. and we're just starting to see those restrictions being eased there have been you know there and there have been a number of protests over the course of the year as you know private prior to this year as well against prime minister Netanyahu.

however, saying that he is still very very popular in general a channel 12 poll shows that 57 people are generally happy with the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic and this election is going to be very much judged on the government's handling of covid 19. the poll also suggested that prime minister Netanyahu will win he'll come in the first place although with fewer seats than in previous elections and as you say, we might not see a final government come. 

out of this election, every Israeli government has to form a coalition in order to reach 61 seats. which is a majority in the parliament, and even with prime minister Netanyahu he's been expected to be able to pull together a coalition of 60 seats just so short of that 61 seats needed, and the person who's expected to come second is yeah lapid the head of the Yasha tid party and he's expected to pull together perhaps a coalition of 56 so we don't yet know whether or not this election. 

will break the political deadlock the Israel democracy institute did a poll which showed that only one-third of Israelis feel that this election will end the political deadlock and if that's the case then we could be looking at the fifth election in two years to what extent will Netanyahu indictment on corruption charges uh have a bearing on this electoral result. 

we've seen those demonstrations, that have been continuing against, the leader over corruption or over the corruption charges. also over his handling of the covid-19 crisis. right so in the last election a key issue was the corruption trial, facing prime minister Netanyahu, by this election yes it's definitely a significant factor particularly for those who oppose prime minister Netanyahu but it's not the key issue of this election really this election is a referendum on are you in favor of prime minister Netanyahu or do you feel that he's been in power for too long and you'd like to see him go and the key issue is the handling of the covid-19 pandemic.

now just last week we saw Pfizer's CEO, Albert, personally credit Netanyahu with the fact that he decided to give Israel the vaccinations so quickly and use Israel really as the world's testing laboratory as he said and many people are aware of this and are happy with the fact that the vaccination program has gone well even though of course there has been suffering in Israel as in other places across the world leaving it there for the moment,