Mahmoud Sleem, one of the three journalists killed by Israel on March 15, 2025
What is often called "the West" is now, in my mind, the Zionist Empire. One of its chief characteristics is being incapable of making agreements that it actually agrees to, as opposed to pretending to agree to. The current "ceasefire" in Gaza is a case in point. Yesterday Israel used drone strikes to kill eight Palestinians in Beit Lehiya, including Mahmoud Sleem, one of three journalists covering humanitarian relief effort.
People mourn Palestinians killed in an Israeli strike in the northern Gaza Strip [Mahmoud Issa/Reuters]
Israel has killed 200+ journalists to keep the truth of its genocide from reaching the rest of us; it kills doctors and ambulance drivers to keep wounded Palestinians from surviving; and it targets children and their mothers to keep any Palestinians from surviving. It's not so much "mowing the grass" in the odious Zionist euphemism for periodic massacres in Gaza, but more like digging the grass up and then sowing the earth with salt.
Did I mention cutting of aid trucks that are supposed to be allowed in to bring food and other supplies during the so-called ceasefire?
Did I mention cutting off electricity which also has the effect of rendering water desalinization facilities inoperable?
Did I mention it's Ramadan right now when devout Muslims take no food or water from sun up to sundown?
The Yemeni health ministry says 31 people have been killed and 101 wounded, mostly women and children
Ansarallah gave Zionists an ultimatum with five days to comply: either meet the terms of the ceasefire or we will resume our attacks on shipping that supports Israel. So Israel, with full U.S. support, doubled down. After a final warning the Yemenis went back to doing what they do best: shaming other nations by actually supporting Palestinians as opposed to just paying lip service. They've been bombed by the U.S. in retaliation but have vowed to carry on fighting while fasting. Spokesman Mohammed Abdul-Salam said in a statement:
The maritime embargo declared by Yemen in support of Gaza is limited only to Israeli navigation until humanitarian aid is delivered to the people of Gaza, according to the ceasefire agreement between the Palestinian resistance and the enemy entity.
Confused voters in the U.S. are claiming surprise that 47 is bombing Yemen, and supplying Israel with the weapons to keep bombing Gaza. And Lebanon. And bulldozing villages in the West Bank where it's estimated 20,000 have been displaced this year.
Here's how that particular charade goes:
Campaign for elected office in the U.S. promising to end current wars.
Escalate current wars & restart ones that had been paused.
Rinse and repeat, because U.S. voters are just about as gullible as the corporate press tells them to be.
Voters in the U.S. are pretty damn mad right now, but not about that. They're mad about domestic spending cuts, federal workforce reductions, and how the "opposition" i.e. Democratic Party declines to take effective action on behalf of people's needs.
Go to any one of the many, many anti-47 and anti-elongated muskrat rallies and tell me if you see a single sign objecting to the continuing U.S.-Israel genocide in Gaza.
I certainly haven't. But I did stand this week with three others in front of a factory in Saco, Maine that makes guidance systems for the bombs General Dynamics sends to Israel. One held a sign she'd made that said, RELEASE THE 10,000 PALESTINIAN HOSTAGES.
Not everyone is confused by violent ceasefires and hostage releases followed by re-arrests.
Among those not confused: Jewish Voice for Peace members arrested for occupying 47's flagship hotel in Manhattan. Their message: FREE MAHMOUD (Khalil) FREE PALESTINE.
Photograph Source: Oren Rozen – Own work – CC BY-SA 4.0
“Tell our story!” the man in the checkpoint cage yelled, in English. He and a crowd of Palestinian Muslim men were jammed together waiting to be checked out, one at a time, by an Israeli soldier in a glass booth so they could go into Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque to pray. Such daily and routine humiliation is the hallmark of the Israeli occupation.
I was in Hebron (Al-Khalil) for two weeks recently as part of a Community Peacemaker Team (CPT) delegation. Every day, we accompanied or heard testimony from people living there who were living under the guns of the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) and the aggressive hostility of the 800 settlers who claim that the city of 200,000 was given to them by their god. Every night, I kept a blog trying to capture one of the many stories we heard of the oppression.
Hebron is in the southern part of the West Bank. It hasn’t gotten the genocidal Gaza treatment that Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nur Shams are now getting. But, as someone said to me, “We are waiting our turn.” It may be that the tanks and bombs will come to Hebron too, but at the moment, what is happening there is the decades-long grind of military occupation and settler colonialism.
The stories we heard are gruesome. And everyone has one. Most men have been taken to prison and tortured. It’s common to have your home broken into in the middle of the night by soldiers who yell, beat everyone, and kidnap fathers, sons and daughters, taking them away to unknown locations, with no charges, and for an undetermined time. Entire homes are demolished regularly. Land is stolen. Movement is restricted. Surveillance is constant and pervasive. These stories don’t make the news. They have become too normalized.
Here are a couple of stories that may give a glimpse of what daily life is like in Hebron.
One day, a 20 year old woman told us about her year in prison. She recounted the horribly dirty and crowded conditions, the scarcity and bad quality of the food, the strip searches, the beatings, the constant verbal abuse.
She said the hardest thing that she witnessed was when women from Gaza were brought in. They wore bloody clothes and their hijabs had been stripped away from them. They were given no beds, nothing to clean themselves with. They were given dirty clothes that had been deliberately contaminated with lice. When they went to the bathroom, they were taken by male soldiers.
Then she told us the story of Oct 7, 2024, the one year “memorial” of the Gazan attack on Israelis. An officer entered women’s rooms and gave them 30 seconds to cover themselves before soldiers came in. When the soldiers came, they put zip ties on the women’s hands, blindfolded them, and took them out. They made them lie face down on muddy ground, beat them, cursed hatefully at them, and brought police dogs out to terrorize them. While this was going on, soldiers went into their cells, took all of their clothes, and set off tear gas grenades in their cells. Then they put the women back in their cells.
On another day, an older man who was living in a family home handed down through generations told us of the daily harassment he has been subjected to by settlers living next to his house. Protected by the IOF, they are taking pieces of his land every day. They have poisoned his sheep, stolen his olives, and destroyed over 250 olive trees.
His home is frequently used for family gatherings. During one of these recent gatherings, a large group of settlers burst into the house and started assaulting people. Some of them were dressed as soldiers. There were many injuries, windows were broken, and cars damaged. Then they stopped an ambulance from getting to the house.
Settlers have attacked his family in the fields and farm with stones, have brandished guns, and beaten them with sticks. They have driven jeeps right into the house, dumped bulldozers full of trash at their front door. Soldiers have tear gassed the inside of their home and flown drones overhead frequently.
The story we heard at the village of Um Al-Khair in the South Hebron Hills is emblematic of what is happening all over the West Bank. The village consists largely of descendants of refugees from the 1948 Nakba.
Immediately next to the village is a settlement of some 500 Israeli families and nearby, a military base. The teens from the settlement act as front-line vigilantes. They roam around with sticks and pepper spray making life miserable and tense for the people of the village. They have broken into homes and beaten women, damaged the village water pump, and even herded sheep right into village homes.
Whenever the villagers complain to the police about such attacks, the police say they have been told by the settlers that the teens are being attacked by the Palestinians. The police threaten to arrest the villagers if they keep making these calls.
We were walked to a recently demolished house where a couple of young Palestinian men were sitting, looking sadly at the ruins. Three rooms and a water tank were all jumbled up in piles. One of the men told us his 60-year old mother, who owned the house, had been thrown to the ground when she yelled about her house being destroyed. There was nothing the son or mother could do about it. Their family is now crowded in with a next door neighbor. In June, Israel had demolished 10 homes in one morning in the village.
We were told that Israeli law forbids people from rebuilding a demolished home in the same site. There is, in fact, a settler organization in Israel named Regavin that flies drones over newly demolished homes to report to the military any Palestinian attempt to rebuild. Still, the son and villagers are planning to rebuild the home.
Our village guide talked about the trauma of it all, especially for the kids. He said, “It is very hard for us to live in this condition. These people are not neighbors, they don’t care about us at all. They treat their dogs better than they treat us.” He worried about the mental health of his five young daughters and all of his friends living there.
We walked down to the paved road that was put in for the settlement. It was put over a dirt road that had been there since Jordan controlled this territory many years ago. Israel now defined the paved road as the border of the village, beyond which they and their goats and sheep were not allowed to “trespass.” Simple as that, their pasture land was stolen. Soldiers also put a gate at the beginning of the road so that they can close off entry and exit into the village whenever they choose.
We walked past some sapling trees, supplied by the Jewish National Fund, that settlers had just planted right next to villagers’ houses. The obvious purpose of planting the trees was to establish a claim to the land.
We saw the electric lines leading to the settlement. The villagers can’t use that electricity. They have power only from a small number of solar panels. We also saw the now repaired water pump from which they are allowed to draw from only 2 days a week, for a total of 6 hours. We saw the surveillance camera up on a pole overlooking the village. “They are watching us all the time,” our guide said.
We were told about the sounds of gunfire from the military firing range that was put illegally on their land. I imagined how threatening that must be, especially for the children.
All of this pressure in Um Al-Khair is one big systematic slow motion ethnic cleansing campaign, designed to push the villagers off their land. The intention is not just to demolish homes, land rights, and mental health. It’s meant to demolish hope.
But from what I could see, Palestinians will never give up hope. Every story of injustice we heard was told with a spirit of determined resilience and resistance – sumud, as it is called there. No Palestinian we met was planning to leave or submit. Everyone appeared to be carrying on with life, with joy and humor, and with healthy relationships, despite the danger and indignities they were suffering. They refuse to live in fear. As one person said, “That’s what they want, for us to be afraid. They want us to leave. We will not fear and we will stay until this occupation is over.”
As has often happened to me when I visit places that are on the receiving side of U.S.-sponsored violence and oppression, I was struck during this visit by the strong and enviable character of the Palestinians we met. They are not defeated, their spirits are not broken. They are warm, generous, dignified. I always felt safe and cared for around them, even though I, as an American, had no right to expect such treatment. The only times I felt fear and coldness were when I was around Israeli soldiers or settlers. That’s telling.
The stories and voices of Palestinians have always been purposefully suppressed by the powers that be in the U.S. and the West. As has the truth about how Palestinians have been treated for over a hundred years. The genocide in Gaza has burst that bubble of shadows and lies and revealed the ugly truth of the Zionist project all over Palestine. It is a cancer.
Hebron is still a vibrant place, bustling with life. May its countless stories be heard, may its occupation end, may its people be free. And the same for all of Palestine.
This might be the most disgusting photograph I can imagine. I see frat boys gloating and licking their greedy Zionist chops over the prospect of lucrative real estate deals built over the mountain of corpses of martyred Palestinians.
As the joy and love of returnees to northern Gaza mingles with sorrow, grief, and rage, it's a time to take stock and pull together disparate pieces of information to paint a truthful picture of what happened.
For a time this winter the Revolutionary News Network telegram channel took a break from translating and disseminating statements by Hamas and other resistance groups. I was very glad to see they are back now; I can't read Arabic and am dependent on such services to access primary sources.
Here then in is the summary statement issued by Hamas and translated into English, as shared on a blog I've come to depend on for not only the facts but the context to understand them, Palestine Will Be Free:
The Government Media Office in Gaza held a press conference on, Sunday, February 2, at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and gave an assessment of the damage inflicted on the besieged enclave during the 471 days of genocidal Israeli assault, which was funded, aided, abetted and diplomatically shielded by the West with the United States at the forefront.
The true extent of the human loss will take still some more time to be fully accounted, however, the Gaza administration has revised the death toll to over 61,709 — which is likely still an undercount. After analysing the data for the first nine months of the genocide, Lancetestimated that Gaza health ministry undercounted the death toll by 41 percent. Up to June 30, 2024, the official death toll stood at 37,877. Lancet’s estimate put the toll between between 55,298 and 78,525 by that time. The genocide went at full pelt for another six and half months, which would put the toll from traumatic injuries well above 100,000 at a minimum.
More grotesque numbers were revealed at the conference. Since Israel disproportionately targeted children and women, 17,881 children were slaughtered, 214 of whom were born and killed during the genocide. The occupation killed 12,316 women. The UN said last November that 70 percent of the dead were women and children.
The genocidal occupation targeted professionals as a matter of unstated policy. It killed 12,800 students, 800 educational staff, 205 journalists, 1,155 medical personnel, 194 civil defense workers, and 736 aid workers.
The Israeli terrorists left over 38,000 children orphaned. 2,092 families were completely wiped off from civil records, while 4,889 families have only one surviving member.
In line with Netanyahu’s October 2023 declaration, where he stated, “You must remember what Amalek has done to you, says our Holy Bible; and we do remember,” the barbaric Israeli military has caused devastation of Biblical proportions, leading the Gaza government to assert, “No human, stone, or tree was spared.”
Here’s the press conference in full (transcribed by RNN):
At the outset, we pray for mercy upon the souls of our martyrs who were killed by the occupation in the genocide war waged against our people for 471 days, during which it spread killing, destruction, and devastation across all aspects of life. We also wish a speedy recovery for the wounded and injured, and freedom for the prisoners.
We extend our salute of reverence and pride to our heroic, patient people — the true champions and makers of this legendary epic. On the rock of their steadfastness, the occupation’s illusions shattered, and before their determination, all the goals of the occupier’s army and its supporters dissipated. They endured, sacrificed, and gave their all for the sake of Allah, belittling their sacrifices and rising above their wounds. May Allah reward them on behalf of Palestine, Al-Aqsa, and the prisoners with the best of rewards.
We salute our resistance, which fulfilled its duty to defend our people and our land, confronting with its bare hands the most formidable military arsenal, backed by all the forces of evil and tyranny. Through this, it demonstrated to the entire world the authenticity of our people and their deep-rooted connection to this land.
Today, we stand here at this place — the witness and the martyr — on the ruins of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, which was burned, destroyed, and ravaged by the Mongols of this era. We present the preliminary report on the direct damages and losses caused by the Zionist-American genocide against our people, their national resources, and vital sectors. This crime was carried out with direct sponsorship and unprecedented support from the former US President Biden’s administration, along with complicity from other international forces, amidst Arab, Islamic, and global incapacity and neglect. No human, stone, or tree was spared.
The Gaza government has revised the number of martyrs to 61,709.
Humanitarian losses
The martyrdom toll from this war has exceeded 61,709 martyrs, including 47,487 martyrs whose bodies have reached hospitals, while 14,222 martyrs remain missing under the rubble or on the roads.
The number of injured has reached 111,588.
More than 6,000 detainees have been arrested by the occupation, subjected to the most horrific forms of abuse and torture, with dozens martyred under torture.
Forced displacement has affected more than two million people, some displaced over 25 times, in conditions devoid of essential services.
This means that 8 percent of Gaza’s population has been direct victims of the genocide war — an unprecedented percentage in history’s worst wars and massacres. To put this into perspective, applying this percentage to the global population would mean 640 million people affected.
The occupation committed 9,268 massacres against families, leading to the complete erasure of 2,092 families from civil records.
It killed 4,889 families, leaving only a single survivor in each to bear the agony of loss and separation.
Israel disproportionately targeted children and women during its Gaza genocide.
A genocide whose prominent features included the targeting of children and women:
Among the martyrs were 17,881 children, including 214 infants born and killed during the aggression.
Over 38,000 children were orphaned, including 17,000 who lost both parents.
The occupation killed 12,316 women.
Destruction of humanitarian service providers in the genocide:
1,155 medical personnel were martyred.
205 journalists were killed by the occupation.
194 civil defense workers were killed by the occupation.
736 aid workers were killed by the occupation.
More than 3,500 government employees were also martyred.
Economic and infrastructure losses:
The war of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity carried out by the occupation army, under direct instructions from its political leadership and with the approval and supervision of Biden’s administration, have resulted in over $50 billion in direct damages and losses across various sectors. These preliminary estimates are based on field assessments:
Housing sector:
450,000 housing units were damaged
170,000 units completely destroyed
80,000 severely damaged
200,000 partially damaged
Estimated losses exceed $25 billion
Health sector:
34 hospitals were put out of service, including Al-Shifa Medical Complex, depriving all residents of the Gaza Strip of even the most basic healthcare services.
80 health centers, 212 medical institutions, and 191 ambulances were damaged.
Losses exceed $3 billion.
Education sector:
1,661 educational institutions were damaged
927 schools, universities, kindergartens, and educational centers completely destroyed
734 partially damaged
The occupation killed 12,800 students and about 800 educational staff
785,000 students have been deprived of education
Estimated losses exceed $2 billion
Government institutions:
216 government headquarters and facilities were completely destroyed
60 government offices were heavily damaged
Estimated losses exceed $1 billion
Public services and infrastructure:
3,680 km of electricity networks damaged
2,105 electricity transformers destroyed
350,000 electricity meters, 538 generators, and 16,266 solar projects damaged
335 km of water networks, 496 desalination plants, 111 central water tanks, and 1,698 wells damaged (717 completely out of service)
655 km of sewage networks and 65 treatment plants damaged
3,916 km² of roads and streets destroyed
Estimated losses exceed $4 billion
Israel damaged 1,129 mosques, of which 983 were completely destroyed.
Over 30,000 vehicles and means of transport damaged
25,000 cars
1,000 fishing boats
1,000 municipal and civil defense vehicles
Total estimated losses $1.5 billion
Telecommunications sector:
579 km of communication networks and lines damaged
Total losses reaching $1.5 billion
Social sector:
1,129 mosques damaged, 983 completely destroyed
3 churches damaged, one completely demolished
19 cemeteries destroyed, with the occupation looting hundreds of remains and the bodies of martyrs
1,062 charitable, sports, and cultural institutions damaged, 488 completely demolished
Total estimated losses $2 billion
Israel killed 205 journalists in Gaza during its genocide.
Media sector:
262 media institutions were affected, including 182 that were completely destroyed, encompassing television channels, radio stations, and media production companies.
Total estimated losses $600 million.
In light of this catastrophic humanitarian situation, we affirm the following:
We declare the Gaza Strip a humanitarian disaster zone, where all means of basic survival are absent. This places an urgent responsibility on the international community and its institutions to intervene immediately and rescue more than 2.4 million people facing death from hunger, thirst, cold, and disease.
We hold the occupation, the Biden administration, and all those who provided any form of political, economic, or military support to the occupation responsible for this humanitarian catastrophe that has befallen our people — an unprecedented crisis in history.
We emphasise that the plan for Gaza’s reconstruction, with its various phases and required needs, has been formulated in partnership between government institutions, civil society organisations, and international institutions. We call for the immediate implementation of urgent relief and housing measures, including the entry of 200,000 tents, 60,000 mobile homes, and all necessary shelter supplies.
The government is currently focused on assessing and documenting the damage, providing services, restoring what can be salvaged of the deteriorating infrastructure, opening main roads, and preparing shelters. However, this effort cannot meet the immense needs of the population, especially given the lack of necessary resources. Therefore, we urge the immediate entry of teams, equipment, and machinery needed to carry out these tasks.
We reject all plans for displacement and forced expulsion. We know that our people, who have thwarted the occupation’s goal of forced displacement despite mass killings, bombings, and destruction, will remain steadfast and will foil any further attempts to impose this plan. We also commend the official and public stances that have rejected these schemes and refused to cooperate with them
We affirm that we have not and will not hesitate to fulfill our ethical, functional, and national duty in serving our people. We will not allow any administrative vacuum in Gaza. Just as we stood alongside our people during the aggression, sacrificing our best government leaders and personnel, we will stand together in the battle of rebuilding and reconstruction. We also affirm our openness and full readiness to adhere to any nationally agreed-upon framework that our people accept for managing their lives and affairs.
We once again salute our people, who have demonstrated the highest examples of sacrifice and heroism, writing with their blood an epic that history will record in letters of light.
The international community must not close the doors of hope to our people or block their access to a dignified life. Our people deserve a free and honorable life, free from occupation.
Mercy to the martyrs, healing to the wounded, and freedom to the prisoners and Al-Aqsa.
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The Yemeni health ministry says 31 people have been killed and 101 wounded, mostly women and children
