التصنيف: estaql

Sabra and Shatila, Lebanon – A week after a much-anticipated speech about Israel’s assault on Gaza that did not declare war on Israel, Hezbollah reiterated that message on Saturday.

While it would keep retaliating against Israeli attacks on south Lebanon, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said, the war with Israel would be long and victory would “take years”.

His message fell short for many Palestinians in Sabra and Shatila, a Palestinian refugee camp that sprawls out across two Beirut neighbourhoods.

“I wanted him to open up the war completely,” said Abdallah*, 25, one of the Palestinians who gathered anxiously at a sidewalk cafe in Sabra and Shatila to watch the speech.

He is one of nearly 250,000 Palestinians languishing in impoverished refugee camps in Lebanon since they were expelled from their homeland during the creation of Israel in 1948.

They have watched, horrified, as Israel systematically and deliberately targeted civilian structures like refugee camps, schools, and hospitals in Gaza.

The attacks have killed more than 11,000 Palestinians – nearly half of them children – and forced hundreds of thousands to flee to the south of Gaza, most of them on foot and often being attacked by Israeli troops even as they fled.

“Hezbollah is fighting and they’re trying, but we want them to make more happen,” said Abdallah.

Not enough pressure

Some Palestinians in Lebanon believe that Hezbollah should take the fight to Israel first.

Since Nasrallah’s earlier speech on November 4, there has been, an uptick in violence between Hezbollah and Israel in south Lebanon. On November 5, an Israeli rocket killed one woman and three children.

According to an Israeli army spokesperson, Hezbollah retaliated by killing an Israeli – with no information about whether the victim was a soldier or civilian.

Just moments before Nasrallah’s speech on November 11, Israel fired a rocket at a Lebanese village roughly 40km (25 miles) from their shared border.

Then, after the speech, Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned that Hezbollah was “close to making a grave mistake”, although it is not clear what he was referring to.

Majdi*, who lives in Shatila, said he is frustrated with Hezbollah.

He expected Hezbollah to assume a more significant role in helping Hamas because the group, he noted, has long posed as a leader of the so-called “axis of resistance”, which includes Iran, Hamas, and other Iran-backed armed groups in the region.

“Nasrallah will escalate against Israel from Lebanon a little bit, but he’s not going to be a partner with Hamas in the big and decisive battle in Palestine. He said that himself,” Majdi told Al Jazeera.

Internal pressure

Nicholas Blanford, an expert on Hezbollah with the Atlantic Council think tank, told Al Jazeera that Nasrallah, who is backed by Iran, is clearly considering his domestic situation.

In his speech, Nasrallah said there were “dissenting voices in Lebanon, but these voices are limited”.

Some Palestinians watching the speech in Sabra and Shatila believe Nasrallah was referring to Samir Geagea, a Christian politician who heads the Lebanese Forces party.

Geagea reportedly told a local television station that Lebanon did not need something “adding to all the miseries of the Lebanese people” shortly after Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel on October 7.

“Dragging Lebanon into a destructive war will do Hezbollah no favours,” Blanford said. “But the buck stops with Tehran. If the Iranian calculus changes and they want Hezbollah to go [into Israel] full scale, then Nasrallah will have to obey, irrespective of the backlash.”

A significant escalation between Hezbollah and Israel could lead to civil strife in Lebanon and the scapegoating of Palestinians, said Abdallah. But he still wants Hezbollah to take more pressure off Palestinians in Gaza.

“The reason I want Hezbollah to escalate is because all I see is Israel killing children. I’m against killing children, regardless if they’re Israeli or Palestinian,” he told Al Jazeera, moments before Nasrallah’s speech was broadcast on television.

Managing expectations

Some Palestinians believe Hezbollah is doing more than enough to help Gaza and blame other Arab leaders such as Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas for being complicit in Israel’s atrocities.

They believe the former has kept the Rafah border crossing with Gaza mostly shut and that the latter has looked to benefit from Israel’s war on Hamas.

“Egypt isn’t letting in enough food into Gaza or opening its crossing to help Palestinians get out,” said Razan*.

Baha*, also from Shatila, said Nasrallah is at least fighting Israel to some degree.

He adds that Abbas is the biggest traitor to Palestinians for continuing his security cooperation with Israel in the West Bank – a product of the 1993 Oslo Accords – and for offering to play a role in administering Gaza if Israel defeats Hamas.

“Hezbollah can’t do it alone,” Baha told Al Jazeera. “But right now, we all like Nasrallah more than our own Palestinian leader [Abbas].”

* The surnames of these Palestinian interviewees have been withheld due to their concerns for their safety.

As the conflict between Israel and Gaza enters its 37th day, these are the main developments.

Here is the situation on Friday, November 12, 2023:

The latest developments

• Israel continues to target hospitals in Gaza from the air as its ground forces have also surrounded several hospitals in the northern part of the besieged enclave. Ahmad Mokhallalati, a surgeon at the al-Shifa Hospital, told Al Jazeera that medical staff and patients “are in the middle of the warzone”.
• At least 13 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike on a house in Khan Younis, health officials in Gaza said on Sunday.
• Are Israel and the United States not on the same page about the future of Gaza? Washington has asked Tel Aviv to clarify Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments on “not giving up security control of Gaza” that clash with US suggestions that the Palestinian Authority should take over the strip after Hamas is “destroyed”.
• Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said on Saturday in his second speech since the start of the war that the Lebanese war front remains “active” and that the armed group has used new weapons against the Israeli military.
• Major cities around the world, including New York, London, Melbourne, Paris, Baghdad, Karachi, Berlin and Edinburgh have continued to see large demonstrations, involving hundreds of thousands, in support of Palestinians and an immediate ceasefire. Thousands rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday to call for the release of captives held by Hamas in Gaza.

Human impact and fighting

• More than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war. But the United Nations said on Sunday that the “collapse of services and communications at hospitals in the north of Gaza” is delaying the Ministry of Health in Gaza from updating the numbers.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) has said it has lost communication with its contacts inside al-Shifa Hospital, and people have been targeted and killed while trying to get out.
• At least two premature babies have died in the hospital due to power blackouts and dozens more are at risk.
• Tens of thousands have fled the northern parts of Gaza in recent days as the Israeli military ramps up its operations there. But Israeli forces also continue to pound Rafah and other spots in the south, leaving no safe place in the strip. More than 70 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents are now displaced.

Diplomacy

• Leaders from across the Arab and Islamic world convened on Saturday in Riyadh as Saudi Arabia hosted members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League to discuss Gaza. They rejected justifying the Israeli aggression as self-defence and called for a ceasefire.
• Tense talks are ongoing at the UN Security Council to break a deadlock that has prevented the world’s most powerful decision-making authority from having any real effect on stopping the killing of civilians. A new resolution has been circulated among members, coming after several failed efforts.
• Ireland’s parliament is expected to vote next week, based on a motion by the left-wing Social Democrats, on whether it will expel the Israeli ambassador.

No respite for the occupied West Bank

• Israeli forces continue to exponentially intensify their raids in the occupied West Bank. Sources in the Palestinian Authority have told Al Jazeera that the number of raids has increased to about 40 per day in the past week.
• The number of Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank since October 7 has now risen to 185, and about 2,500 Palestinians have been arrested by Israeli forces in that time.
• Families, many of them carrying children, are trying to flee areas in the occupied West Bank that are heavily raided, including the Jenin refugee camp.

Tom Aspinall beat Sergei Pavlovich to become the first British heavyweight to win a UFC title, while Alex Pereira used a series of elbows to Jirí Procházka’s head to win the vacant light heavyweight championship in the UFC 295 title fights at Madison Square Garden.

Aspinall knocked out Pavlovich in the first round for the interim heavyweight championship on Saturday night in front of a packed crowd that included former President Donald Trump.

The interim title fight was a late addition to the card after the scheduled main event of Jon Jones vs Stipe Miocic in a heavyweight title fight was called off because Jones tore a pectoral tendon off the bone during training.

While UFC waits for Jones to return, it’s Aspinall who now holds the gold.

“It’s been a crazy 2 1/2 weeks,” Aspinall said.

His tearful celebration lasted longer than the fight. Aspinall needed only 69 seconds to earn his 11th career knockout win – he has made it to the second round just once in his eight UFC fights – and then collapsed in tears on the canvas.

Aspinall had landed consecutive rights to Pavlovich’s temple to send the Russian crashing to the canvas.

“He’s a big, scary guy,” Aspinall said. “I’ve never been as scared in my life as fighting this guy. But I’ve got a lot of power, too, and I believe in myself.”

Aspinall draped himself against the cage as fans roared for the new champ.

Pereira crowned light-heavyweight champ

In the co-main event, Pereira won his second UFC championship in just his seventh fight for the promotion.

Brazil’s Pereira, who knocked out Israel Adesanya on November 12 last year to win the middleweight belt before losing it in April in a rematch, had some early success with some vicious leg kicks, but Prochazka’s precise striking posed a problem.

Procházka had won 13 straight mixed martial arts (MMA) fights, including his first three in UFC.

The 31-year-old Czech continued to switch stances and press forward, but his aggression was eventually punished when he was caught out by some precise counter-punches by Pereira that paved the Brazilian’s path to victory and the fight was stopped at 4:08 of the second round.

Pereira became the ninth fighter in UFC history to win championships in two weight classes.

Pereira then used his post-fight interview to call on Adesanya to step up to light heavyweight and face him in a third title fight, saying “Adesanya, come to daddy.”

The light heavyweight division had been without a champion since Jamahal Hill relinquished the title in July after he was injured in a pickup basketball game. Hill was at the Garden to watch the fights.

He wasn’t the only name in the house.

Trump and musician Kid Rock were greeted by cheers and “USA! USA!” chants as they walked to their cageside seats ahead of the start of the main card. UFC President Dana White accompanied Trump and Kid Rock and watched the fights with them. Trump slapped hands with fans and mingled with visitors.

Former UFC 115-pound champion Jéssica Andrade snapped a three-fight losing streak with a TKO win over MacKenzie Dern at 3:15 of the second round. Andrade became the first woman in UFC history to earn four knockdowns in a single fight and tied Amanda Nunes for most wins in UFC women’s history with 16.

UFC has run a major card in November at Madison Square Garden every year (except for 2020) since New York legalised MMA in time for a 2016 debut. Conor McGregor, Georges St-Pierre and Daniel Cormier all headlined pay-per-views at MSG and this one promised to perhaps be the biggest main event yet – Jones defending his heavyweight crown against Miocic.

Jones, on the short list of great MMA fighters, tore a tendon during training last month and was forced to withdraw. White then deemed an interim championship fight was beneath a fighter of Miocic’s stature. The two-time heavyweight champ, Miocic has not fought since March 2021.

The bout could be rescheduled for as early as next summer, depending on Jones’ health.

“That’s the fight they want, that’s the fight that makes sense, that’s the fight that should happen,” White said.

Even without the anticipated fight, there was reason for the company to celebrate with 19,039 fans and a $12.4m gate at MSG. UFC now holds the top-three spots for highest gate at the Garden. Also, Sunday marks 30 years since the company’s debut show, UFC 1.

UFC Hall of Famer Royce Gracie won three fights that night in Denver in a no-rules tournament that was just the start for the billion-dollar company owned by Endeavor that now stands as the global leader in MMA.

UFC was built on personalities as much as great fights and New York native and recovering drug addict Jared Gordon gave fans at the Garden a reason to cheer.

Gordon scored his first KO since 2017 when he beat 2016 Olympic silver medal wrestler Mark Madsen in a prelims bout. Gordon has been open about his drug issues, overdoses and difficulty staying clean while pursing a brutal MMA career. He had a new reason to appreciate fighting in New York.

“I used to shoot heroin in Penn Station underneath this building,” he said. “Now I’m fighting in it and knocking guys out.”

A week into Israel’s war on Gaza, 800 eminent scholars and practitioners of law sounded the alarm about an imminent genocide in the territory. What made this warning both powerful and chilling was that so many legal experts came to this sombre conclusion together. It is not a claim that can be made easily.

Since that letter was released, the situation in Gaza has only gotten worse. The death toll has passed 11,000, while some 2,650 individuals, including approximately 1,400 children, are reported missing, potentially trapped or deceased beneath the rubble. Tens of thousands of wounded are overwhelming struggling medical facilities. The humanitarian situation has reached horrific levels, compounded by the lack of food, water, fuel and electricity.

To understand what is transpiring in Gaza, we must turn to the key legal frameworks that define genocide: Article 6 of the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court and Article 2 of the Genocide Convention.

According to these documents, genocide involves acts committed with the specific intent to destroy, either in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. These acts encompass killing members of the group, causing them serious harm, and imposing conditions of life aimed at physical destruction of the group in whole or in part, among other underlying acts. Notably, the people targeted can be a geographically limited part of the group.

Gaza’s devastating reality mirrors these components of genocide. Despite claiming to target only Hamas, Israel is engaged in an all-out assault on the whole population of Gaza. In just the first week of its relentless assault, it dropped more than 6,000 bombs on the Strip – nearly as many as the United States used in Afghanistan in a full year.

Using high-impact munitions in one of the most densely populated places in the world inevitably leads to a high death toll among civilians, as we have witnessed already in Gaza. In a month, the Israeli bombardment has killed more than 4,400 children and 2,900 women, with many of the men in these horrific statistics also non-combatants.

The Israeli army has also dropped any pretence to “precision strikes”, as its spokesperson Daniel Hagari said its emphasis is “on damage and not accuracy”.

It has also mass-targeted civilian buildings, including hospitals and schools sheltering the displaced. It has bombed residential buildings, wiping out whole families from the population registrar; more than 45 percent of homes were destroyed or damaged, many of them in the supposed “safe areas” of the south where the Israeli army had instructed Palestinians to evacuate to.

This mass killing of civilians is accompanied by the imposition of life conditions aimed clearly at the physical destruction of the Palestinian people. Israel has put Gaza under complete siege, with “no electricity, no food, no water, no gas”, as declared by Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

Israel’s bombing of hospitals, the targeting of their solar panels and the blocking of fuel deliveries indicate an intent to prevent Palestinians from accessing life-saving healthcare. More than one-third of hospitals and two-thirds of primary healthcare in Gaza have already shut down.

The Israeli refusal to allow adequate amounts of much-needed humanitarian aid – including food and water – indicates it is willing to allow the Palestinian population to succumb to starvation and disease.

Israeli government and military officials have also verbalised their genocidal intent towards the Palestinian people. On October 9, when announcing the full blockade, Gallant described the 2.3 million people in Gaza as “human animals”. On October 29, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used Judaic scripture to justify the killing of Palestinians. “You must remember what Amalek did to you, says our Holy Bible,” he said, quoting a verse that goes on to say: “Now go and smite Amalek … kill both man and woman, infant.”

On November 5, Heritage Minister Amihai Eliyahu said one of Israel’s options in Gaza is to drop a nuclear bomb. He also explained that no humanitarian aid should be provided to Palestinian civilians as “there is no such thing as uninvolved civilians in Gaza”. While his statement faced criticism from Israeli officials, the concerns raised were primarily centred around the potential impact on “Israel’s image” rather than acknowledging the grave implications of such remarks as a potential tool of genocide.

There has been a litany of other official statements employing dehumanising language towards Palestinians, along with incitement by common Israelis for the “annihilation of Gaza”. These reveal the intent to commit war crimes, crimes against humanity, and, indeed, genocide.

In the words of genocide expert and survivor of the Bosnian genocide, Arnessa Buljusmic-Kastura, “That sort of rhetoric is not uncommon when it comes to cases of genocide. It is obviously one of the most important stages when you really consider it, and to hear the openly dehumanising language spoken with so much fervour in the media from government leaders, and from regular people too, is horrifying and it all leads us to where we are at right now, which is the fact that what is happening in Gaza is a genocide.”

While what is happening in Gaza shares common features with other previous situations of genocide, there are also particular elements unique to it. Among these distinct features are the enduring occupation of Palestinian lands, the relentless siege on Gaza, and the staggering proportion of the Palestinian nation already displaced by previous acts of ethnic cleansing.

Additionally, at the heart of this tragedy lies a discourse of dehumanisation, serving both as a strategy and an outcome. The longstanding anti-Palestinian discourse, ongoing since the inception of Zionism, has systematically denied the existence and the rights of Palestinians. The narrative of Israel as “a land without a people, for a people without a land” has effectively erased an entire indigenous population, along with its history, heritage, and grievances.

In parallel, Palestinians have been systematically demonised through narratives that portray them as terrorists, anti-Semites, and even Nazis. Evoking absurd claims of the “Nazification of Palestinians”, Israel, a powerful settler colonial state that has presided over the longest occupation in modern history, is trying to depict itself as a victim; its tormentor – the people it has systematically oppressed and dispossessed for decades.

It is imperative to grasp these distinct aspects of the unfolding genocide in Gaza, as we confront and respond to it. We must not forget that what is happening now is part of a long history of Israeli actions against the Palestinians, extending beyond the Gaza Strip, with genocidal intent and practices targeting other Palestinian communities

We must not forget it as Israel and its allies try to decontextualise what is going on in Gaza and portray it as a war “provoked” by Hamas’s October 7 attack.

Talk about self-defence for Israel is dominating Western rhetoric, with minimal consideration for human lives and adherence to the rules of armed conflict, let alone the 56-year military occupation and 16-year siege of Gaza. This constitutes a fundamental flaw in the appraisal of these events, and, consequently, the ability to address their root causes, as subtly alluded to by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in his October 24 address to the Security Council.

The lessons of the Holocaust were meant to serve as safeguards against state violence and genocide, particularly for vulnerable groups. What we are witnessing today, however, is an unprecedented global dehumanisation campaign against the Palestinians, pushing their narratives, experiences, and histories to the margins.

Historically, the initiation of such campaigns has often been a precursor to genocide. Therefore, it is imperative to restore the Palestinian people’s humanity and recognise their shared history and rights, as a people, as we push for an immediate cessation of the unfolding genocide.

We are witnessing a rapidly growing anti-Palestinian sentiment not only in Israel but also in many European countries, clearly visible in how the authorities are dealing with demonstrations and support for the Palestinian people. It is incumbent upon the international community to address this hatred with the same vigour as it has addressed anti-Semitism.

While the 1949 Geneva Conventions require all state parties “to respect and ensure respect” of these conventions in all circumstances, the Genocide Convention places a legal obligation on every member state to prevent and punish even the attempt to commit this heinous crime, without waiting for it to fully manifest.

“Never again” was meant to be a warning for future generations, yet we have seen genocides occur since the Holocaust, met with global silence. It is time to make “never again” a living principle, an urgent call to action.

In Gaza, “never again” is now.

The views expressed in this article are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

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Hundreds of thousands of people rallied in London in solidarity with Palestinians and to demand a ceasefire in Gaza. It was the largest pro-Palestinian demonstration held in the UK so far and organisers say it was also one of the largest in British political history.