ISRAEL 2023
• October 7, 2023: Hamas attack kills over 1,200 people in Southern Israel; thousands were injured, and 230 were taken hostage, including children; 31 hostages are believed to have died.
Citizens of several countries were among the victims, including 54 Thais, 15 Argentinians, 12 Germans, 12 Americans, 6 French, six Russians, two Tanzanians, two Filipinos, one Chinese, and one Sri Lankan. 235 Israeli soldiers have been killed since October 7.
Hostages
• February 6, 2024: An investigation is looking into witness allegations that a home in Kibbutz Be’eri that was shelled by an Israeli tank on October 7 killed 12 Israeli hostages being held there by Hamas. (from Reuters.com)
• February 12, 2024: Two hostages (Fernando Marman and Louis Har) were rescued from an apartment building in Rafah, Gaza, by Israeli security forces. According to Lieutenant Colonel Dr Avital, former commander of the IDF, in an interview on ILTV News, more operations are planned. He said that Gazans living in Rafah would be told to evacuate to safe havens in the north or west. He admitted that moving 1.3 million Gazan citizens will be a tall order and one of the main challenges.
• February 13, 2024: South Africa asked the International Court to stop Israel’s assault on Rafah because the refugees have nowhere else to go.
• February 14, 2024: Israeli family members filed a war crimes lawsuit in the International Court against Hamas leaders to order the return of the 134 remaining hostages. (ILTV Israel News)
Hostages released so far: (from American Jewish Committee AJC.org)
- October 20: Israeli-American hostages Judith & Natalie Raanan.
- October 23: Nurit Cooper & Yocheved Lifshitz.
- October 30: Israeli soldier Ori Magdish
- November 24: 13 Israeli women and children ages 2 to 85; 10 Thai nationals; and one Filipino.
- November 25: 4 Thai nationals and 13 Israeli women, including two children, Emily Hand and Hilda Rotem
- November 26: 14 Israelis, 1 US citizen (four-year-old Avigail Idan, whose parents were killed October 7), and 3 Thai nationals.
- November 27: 11 hostages released, Including two teenage boys, Or & Yagil Yaakov.
- November 28: 12 hostages released, including 8 elderly women, one teenage girl, and her mother.
- November 29: An unverified claim that Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas had been killed in an Israeli bombing.
- November 30: Mia Schem, Amit Soussana, and six others
GAZA 2023
• October 7, 2023: Israel cuts off water and electricity, slows humanitarian and other essential services, and orders evacuation of all people from northern Gaza before the bombing begins. Over 46,000 homes were destroyed, and 234,000 were damaged. Israeli airstrikes target 24 hospitals, 342 schools, universities, businesses, and sewer and desalination water infrastructure. Lack of electricity, fuel, water, food, medicine, healthcare, sanitation, safety, and shelter.
- 85% (1.9 million Palestinians are displaced)
- Over 28,600 Palestinians (including 8,400 women and 12,300 children) have been killed between Oct-Dec 2023.
- 64,291 Palestinians were injured.
- 126 journalists killed; 154 aid workers killed
- 2,873 Palestinians jailed (Israeli Prison Services)
Rafah Attack (from apnews.com)
• February 12, 2024: Israeli military launched a special operations attack on Rafah on the Gaza/Egyptian border without a proposed plan to evacuate civilians in place, according to an Associated Press report. Over 1.4 million Palestinians, previously ordered by the Israeli forces to evacuate south, are now sheltering in buildings and makeshift tents throughout and surrounding the town. “Associated Press footage showed a large area of flattened homes, tattered tents, and lines of bloodied bodies brought into nearby hospitals.” Compiled lists from Rafah hospitals showed 27 children and 22 women were among the 74 killed in the areas bombed, which AP reported were designed to distract from a special operations attack at an apartment building elsewhere in town where two hostages (Fernando Marman and Louis Har) were successfully rescued.
Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis Attacked (from reuters.com)
• February 15, 2024: Gunfire rang out as Israeli military special forces raided the biggest functioning hospital in Gaza. Patients and staff were evacuated to Rafah, but six intensive care patients and three infants in the neonatal ward remained. Rear Admiral Hagari said Israel had arranged a transfer of medical supplies and fuel. UN Aid chief calls “evacuation to a safe place in Gaza an illusion.”
West Bank (2023)
- 464 Palestinians (109 children) killed by Israeli settlers
- 1,004 homes and structures demolished as of Dec 2023 (OCHA)
- 1,870 Palestinians displaced
- 93 Palestinian communities attacked (Israeli Human Rights group Yesh Din)
- 1,257 Palestinians displaced Oct-Dec (OCHA)
- 12,855 new housing units in Israeli settlements approved in the occupied West Bank (Israeli Peace Now)
- 7,677 Palestinians in custody for security offenses, including 200 children (Israeli Prison Services)
US Vetos Gaza Ceasefire in UN
(General Assembly votes can be reversed by a veto from one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (US, UK, China, Russia, France))
• October 18, 2023: US Vetos UN Security Council resolution calling for a humanitarian pause to deliver aid to millions in Gaza
• December 12, 2023: UN General Assembly votes by a large majority for immediate humanitarian ceasefire US Vetos
• December 22, 2023: The UN Security Council passed a resolution for more humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza. The US abstained from the vote.
(Since 1945, the US has vetoed 33 resolutions pertaining to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian Territories or the country’s treatment of the Palestinian people.)
US suspends aid to UNRWA (UN Relief & Works Agency)
• January 27, 2024: US suspends aid to UNRWA after Israeli allegations (without evidence, according to Human Rights Watch and journalists who reviewed the 6-page summary) that 12 UNRWA workers had ties to the Hamas October 7 attack. (UNRWA, which runs humanitarian programs, has 13,000 workers in Gaza). As a result, the UN ordered an investigation and, in the meantime, fired nine of those accused (one other was dead, and the identities of two were being clarified). The UN also ordered a comprehensive review of UNRWA. The summary estimates there are around 190 Hamas or Palestine terrorist operatives working for UNRWA. However, aside from the 12 persons named, Israel provided no documentation to the UN investigators.
After the US announced it was temporarily pausing support – Britain, Canada, Germany (all four countries continuing military aid to Israel), Austria, Australia, Italy, and Finland followed suit, pending the completion of the UN investigation.
•February 2024: Five countries, including Canada, signaled their intentions to reinstate funding to UNRWA, while Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway confirmed continued financial support.
(The US contributed $206.8 million to UNRWA in support of humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees in June 2023 for 2023/24 and has been its largest donor. Previously, US Aid to UNRWA was cut off by the Trump Administration in 2018. The Biden Administration reinstated US support in 2021 but suspended it on January 27, 2024.)
Weapons Sales to Israel
• February 12, 2024, Associated Press reported a Dutch appeals court ruling has halted weapons sales to Israel and demanded the government review Israeli Occupation Forces aggression in Gaza. The humanitarian group bringing the appeal said that “the Netherlands’ continual supply of fighter jet parts makes it complicit in Israel’s possible war crimes against Palestinians.” A similar lawsuit has been brought in the UK.
• February 13, 2024: Meanwhile, the US Senate passed $14 billion in new military aid to Israel in a bill that now goes to the House for approval. The bill also provides $61 billion to Ukraine, $4.83 billion to partners, including Taiwan, and $9.15 billion in humanitarian civilian aid to Gaza, the West Bank, Ukraine, and other conflict zones.
(After October 7, the Biden administration requested $14.3 billion for further arms to Israel in addition to the $3.8 billion in US military aid Israel receives annually. The total US national security budget for 2024/25 is $895 billion. However, that could change through amendments in the past 2023/24. budget expires March 1).
International Court of Justice Ruling
•December 2023: South Africa filed a case at the International Court of Justice charging Israel with breaching the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.
• January 26, 2024: The court ruled that Israel is committing probable genocide in Gaza and ordered humanitarian aid be allowed in, and that Israel provide proof within one month of protections put in place to prevent genocide.
Worldwide Public Protests in Support of Palestinians
Protests in support of Palestinians led by Jewish Voice for Peace, If Not Now, Jews for Ceasefire Now, American Muslims for Palestine, American Palestinian Women’s Association, Code Pink, Amnesty International, and others in US cities and college campuses and around the world including “Standing Together” and “The Mothers Cry” in Israel continue.
The Armed Conflict Location & •Event Data Project estimated at least 7,283 pro-Palestinian and 845 pro-Israel protests happened between October 7 to November 24, 2023.
Sources:
Human Rights Watch World Report:https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2024/country-chapters/israel-and-palestine
UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): https://www.unocha.org/publications/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/humanitarian-coordinator-lynn-hastings-briefs-press-geneva
ACLED (a non-profit that tracks data on conflicts around the world): https://acleddata.com/2023/11/13/mapping-the-conflict-in-israel-and-gaza-protests-sweep-around-the-globe-as-israels-war-in-gaza-grinds-on-reuters/
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Categories: History
