Anadolu Agency – October 23, 2023
Israeli attacks kill over 400 Palestinians in Gaza on Sunday
'The massacres of the occupation completely demolished residential neighborhoods and wiped them off the map of the Gaza Strip,' says Gaza Health Ministry
By Samar L. Kasim |
More than 400 Palestinians were killed on Sunday as a result of intensified Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.
Most of those killed were women and children, medical sources told the Palestinian news agency WAFA
The attacks were concentrated in Jabalya and Beit Lahiya in the north, the Al-Gusta and Al-Rimal neighborhoods and Al-Shati refugee camp in the west and Khan Younis and Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip.
The number of women, children and elderly killed Sunday accounted for 70% of the death toll, according to the sources.
They said 44 Palestinians were killed in Khan Younis governorate, 57 in Rafah, 168 in Al-Wusta, 66 in Gaza and 44 in the north.
Six were killed and 11 others injured in the bombing of a house in Rafah, it continued.
In the bombing of the house of the Abu Habis family in Al-Sarara, five were killed. Some were injured in a strike on a house of the Al-Zitani family in the Al-Amal neighborhood.
An attack targeted a house in Al-Maghraqa in the middle of the Strip, killing four people and injuring six others. Another attack targeted a house in the Zawayda area in the center of the Strip.
"Occupation warplanes launched several raids on two houses in the Al-Tirnis area of the Jabaliya camp and the Albanian mosque in the camp in the north of the Gaza Strip, causing 20 deaths, while dozens are still under the rubble," said WAFA.
Multiple Israeli attacks were reported near Al-Shifa Medical Complex in central Gaza and near Al-Quds Hospital in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood west of Gaza, which was targeted for the second time.
The Palestinian agency said "the occupation aircraft conducted at least 25 massacres on Sunday" by directly targeting homes without prior evacuation warnings.
Warplanes and artillery forces stationed near the eastern border of the Gaza Strip participated simultaneously in the intensified attack.
WAFA quoted the Palestinian Health Ministry as saying that "the massacres of the occupation completely demolished residential neighborhoods and wiped them off the map of the Gaza Strip, turning them into rubble on top of each other. Some families are completely removed from the civil register in a number of areas and refugee camps of the Strip."
While medical and civil defense teams have recovered hundreds of dead and wounded, they are still working to recover hundreds more victims who are still under the rubble of demolished homes, according to WAFA.
From Kashmir to Palestine: Occupation is a crime
By Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai
Washington, DC - The World Kashmir Awareness Forum a (WKAF) nd the Kashmir Diaspora Coalition (KDC) issued the following joint statement in solidarity with the Palestinian brothers and sisters in Gaza, on whom the Netanyahu regime has been waging a destructive war.
Expressing horror and shock at the ongoing human catastrophe in Gaza, WKAF and KDC Board issued a unanimous statement condemning, “the relentless Israeli bombing of one of the most densely populated civilian populations of the world for two weeks non-stop, deliberately targeting innocent civilians’ targets — homes, hospitals, and schools where there is nowhere to escape and hide. The most horrific bombing on October 18 on Al-Ahli Hospital killed over 500 innocent people, including patients, healthcare workers, and doctors”.
Palestinians have been living under 76 years of brutal Israeli occupation, settler-colonialism, and an apartheid state. With a combination of forcible internal and external displacement, including the tiny, isolated enclave of Gaza which has been described by the international human rights organizations as "the world's largest open-air prison.” "These atrocities and mass killings in Palestine resonate with the people of the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), who have been denied their right to self-determination. Implementation of UN Security Council resolutions #43, #46 and # 48 in 1948 on Palestine, and UN Security Council resolution #47 in 1948 on Kashmir must be respected and implemented in both nations to bring about lasting peace in both conflicts. In the meantime, UN Security Council must urge an immediate ceasefire to stop the bloodshed of Palestinians and Israelis,” WKAF and KDC Boards concluded.
About WKAF:
Founded in 2005, WKA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Washington, DC. It is focused on providing knowledge and information and advocating for the disenfranchised Kashmiris in the Kashmir conflict. It gathers and disseminates the latest news and information through the media and website—info@kashmirawareness.org
About KDC:
Founded in October 2022, at the Baku, Azerbaijan declaration, the Kashmir Diaspora Coalition is a six-member international coalition with offices in Washington DC, Canada, London, and Istanbul. It is committed to promoting the right to self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir using all peaceful and democratic means in accordance with the International Law and multiple UN Security Council resolutions.
Anadolu Agency – October 23, 2023
Israel says ground operation in Gaza 'may take months'
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant refers to operation as 'the last' for Israel in Gaza Strip, as 'there will be no Hamas' afterward
By Samar L. Kasim
JERUSALEM
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Sunday that an expected ground operation in the Gaza Strip “may take months,” local media outlets reported.
Gallant’s statements came during his participation in a session of the Air Force Operations Command near the border with the Gaza Strip.
"These should be the last (ground) maneuvers in Gaza, because after them, there will be no Hamas anymore. It will take a month, two, three months, but eventually there will be no more Hamas," Israeli media quoted him as saying.
“Nothing can stop the (Israeli army). The operational side of the maneuver is a combination of two things: the air force’s capacity and the ground operation,” Gallant said as quoted by the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
Earlier on Sunday, the Israeli military announced that it will intensify its air strikes on the Gaza Strip with the aim of reducing the threats its forces may encounter in Gaza, in preparation for the next phase of the war, referring to a ground operation.
The Israeli army continued to target Gaza with intensive airstrikes that destroyed entire neighborhoods.
At least 4,651 Palestinians, including 1,873 children, have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza.
An unspecified number of people are trapped under the rubble.
The conflict in Gaza, which has been under Israeli bombardment and a blockade since Oct. 7, began when the Palestinian group Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, a multi-pronged surprise attack that included a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel by land, sea and air. It said the incursion was in retaliation for the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and growing violence by Israeli settlers.
The Israeli military then launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.
Gaza is experiencing a dire humanitarian crisis with no electricity, while water, food, fuel and medical supplies are running out.
More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed in the conflict.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israel-says-ground-operation-in-gaza-may-take-months/3029524
Anadolu Agency – October 23, 2023
Gaza is burning, where are Muslim rulers?
‘What is happening in Gaza is a Nazi Holocaust war, suspected of ethnic cleansing,’ says leader of International Union of Muslim Scholars
By Merve Berker
“What is happening in Gaza is a Nazi Holocaust war, suspected of ethnic cleansing,” the secretary-general of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) said on Sunday.
“When we see Gaza burning and its people suffering, we find ourselves facing one of the greatest humanitarian tragedies of modern times,” Ali Muhiuddin Al-Qurra Daghi stated on X.
“Children are being killed and women are dying, while the Palestinian people are trying to defend their land and rights,” he said.
“The pictures and reports that we receive from Gaza show the tragedy that the people of Palestine are experiencing, but the question is: Where are the Muslim rulers?” he questioned.
“Where are the people who claim to be people of conscience?” he questioned, stressing: “The barbarism and brutal cruelty to which the people of Gaza are exposed requires the intervention and support of Arab Muslim leaders and rulers.”
“Innocent lives are being lost day after day, even if they are in hospitals that are supposed to be a safe haven for the wounded and sick, as well as mosques and churches being destroyed, and the world is silently witnessing this nightmare and does not move to defend the rights of these people,” the secretary-general lamented.
Questioning the position of the Arab and Islamic world in the face of the tension between Israel and Palestine, the official criticized: “Some Muslim rulers seem to have forgotten their identity, and are focusing on their personal interests rather than taking action to help the people of Gaza.”
He further asked: “Where are the international organizations and human rights organizations? Why are they not breathing? Why are they silent?”
“We see the violation of their humanitarian demands when they remain silent in the face of these ongoing crimes,” he emphasized.
“We cannot deny the role of Western rulers in worsening the situation in Gaza,” he asserted, noting: “We are concerned about human rights and the rights of women and children, but do you look at these massacres committed by the occupation? Are these murdered not children, women and elderly men?”
“What is happening in Gaza is a Nazi Holocaust war, suspected of ethnic cleansing,” he decried.
“Before God and before subsequent generations, everyone who neglected these human disasters will be questioned,” he said.
He questioned: “Where are the representatives of the United Nations and human rights organizations? Where are you, heads of churches and the Pope of the Vatican? Where are you too, Westerners who claim to defend human rights? Will you continue to watch and close your eyes to these atrocities?”
“We cannot ignore the tragedy suffered by the Palestinian people in Gaza. We need global action and solidarity to confront these crimes and stop the humanitarian deterioration in the region.
“Silence and inaction are no substitute for a strong stance and international cooperation,” he underlined.
Reminding that “Gaza is the qibla (center/direction) of Muslims and is a holy land,” he urged all to “stand by the Palestinian people and support them in their just struggle to regain their rights and freedom.”
‘Silence will only exacerbate problem’
“Ignoring this tragedy and remaining silent will only exacerbate the problem and increase the amount of pain and suffering,” he warned.
“All nations, states and international organizations must assume their responsibilities and take action to protect the Palestinian people in Gaza,” he pointed out, saying: “The massacre taking place there calls for global solidarity and immediate action to stop these crimes and achieve justice and peace in the region.”
“We must not forget that the lives of children, women and the elderly in Gaza are worth defending, and that silence and inaction will have a heavy price in the future.”
The conflict in Gaza, under Israeli bombardment since Oct. 7, began when Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, a multi-pronged surprise attack that included a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel by land, sea, and air. It said the incursion was in retaliation for the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and growing violence by Israeli settlers.
The Israeli military then launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army continues to target Gaza with intensive airstrikes that have destroyed entire neighborhoods, killing 4,651 Palestinians, including 1,873 children and 1,023 women, and injuring 14,245, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. While the figure stands at more than 1,400 people in Israel.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/-gaza-is-burning-where-are-muslim-rulers-/3029589
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