The day began with bombings in Gaza and murdering of Palestinians in the West Bank. Israel finally opened the passage of humanitarian aid through Egypt but what they allowed to pass is a mockery and they now threaten to bomb another hospital. Hamas freed two American hostages and mobilizations in solidarity with Palestine continue to spread around the world.
Friday, October 20
The bombings of Gaza and raids on West Bank refugee camps continued last night and this morning. Israeli forces killed 13 Palestinians, including 7 children, in the Nur Shams camp this morning, and have arrested 900 in the past two weeks.
Today a funeral was held for the 18 people killed in yesterday’s bombing of the St. Porphirius Greek Orthodox Church. The Israeli forces cynically declared that it was a mistake, that the target was next to the church and tha,t as a result of the attack, “a wall of a church in the area was damaged. We are aware of reports of deaths and injuries.” The images show the total destruction of the church building.
Condemnations also continue for the bombings that killed dozens of people in several bakeries. The Zionists will continue to murder civilians, they want to exterminate the Palestinian people. Tents are accumulating in Khan Yunis for people displaced from their homes, generating images that recall the Nakba of 1948. Thousands of Gazan workers displaced to the West Bank have no possibility of returning to their homes.
Now Israel threatens to bomb the Al-Quds Hospital, which houses 400 wounded and some 12,000 displaced civilians. The Red Crescent Society said evacuation of the hospital is impossible and issued the following statement:
“A few minutes ago we received a threat from the Israeli authorities that they would bomb Al-Quds Hospital and so demanded the immediate evacuation of the hospital, which houses more than 400 patients and some 12,000 displaced civilians. We call on the world to take immediate and urgent measures to avoid a new massacre like the one that occurred at the National Baptist Hospital.”
In Gaza there are already 7 hospitals and 21 health centers that are out of service. 46 members of medical teams have been killed and 23 ambulances have been destroyed. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health spoke at the Al-Shifa Hospital, saying that it is on the verge of collapse and that “doctors are using vinegar to disinfect wounds.”
The same spokesperson declared that deaths in Gaza now exceed 4,137, including 1,661 children, there are at least 13,260 injured and at least 1,400 are missing, including 720 children.
80% of those interviewed by the newspaper Maariv affirm that Netanyahu must “take responsibility for the country’s failures that led to the Hamas attacks.” The Israeli regime is preparing to close media outlets that “harm national security,” that is, that tell the truth, and is working to cancel Al Jazeera’s broadcasts.
Former Israeli intelligence chief Tamir Hayman: “If Hezbollah continues to escalate in the north, it is better to postpone the defeat of Hamas for a period of time to defend against Hezbollah.”
Israel fired around 100 artillery shells and white phosphorus into southern Lebanon to allow the evacuation of its dead and announced that it will evacuate 20,000 residents from Kiryat Shmona, one of the largest settlements near the Lebanese border.
After delaying for days and throughout today the much-announced delivery of food, medicine and water with the excuse that “it should not reach Hamas,” Israel allowed a few trucks to pass into Gaza. Cynically, far from containing much-needed medicine and food, many were filled with body bags. Six United Nations special reporters accuse Israel of crimes against humanity.
Hamas released two American hostages “for humanitarian reasons, in response to Qatari efforts, and to demonstrate to the American people and the world that the claims made by Biden and his fascist administration are false and baseless.”
The battle is also about information, the monumental propaganda apparatus of Western imperialism lies and does everything necessary to impose a pro-Israel narrative.
After putting its hands in the fire for Israel’s innocence in the hospital massacre, the US “does not see appropriate” an international investigation.
The EU governments, openly pro-Israel, fearing attacks, continue to take repressive and persecutory measures in all areas of society, even in stadiums, against those who express their support for Palestine and against Arab footballers.
Flights from Europe to Israel were suspended. In Washington, Von der Leyen, on behalf of the European imperialist bloc, made a straightforward definition: “there is only one answer for democracies, to help Israel.”
Biden and Putin try to appear as “humanitarians” concerned about Palestinian lives, but they only act on the basis of their strategic interests, both imperialists are murderers of peoples, one of the Palestinians and the other of the Ukrainians. Various world leaders will meet tomorrow in Egypt, seeking to contain the expansion of the conflict.
Some 800 Shiite militiamen from the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces arrived from Baghdad at the cborder with Jordan in Anbar, Iraq’s closest point to the West Bank.
Mobilizations in solidarity with Palestine continue to expand. Iraqis held a sit-in on the border with Jordan to demand an end to the blockade. In Istanbul and Ankara, after prayers, thousands of Turks protested against Israel’s crimes. There were new mobilizations in Egypt, Yemen, Jordan, Malaysia and Indonesia. On Saturday there will be demonstrations of solidarity with Palestine in Madrid, Barcelona and other cities in the Spanish State.
In Buenos Aires, the ISL mobilized to the French embassy as part of a global campaign to demand the release of Lebanese activist Georges Abdallah. We continue to promote mobilization and resistance, it is the only path that makes it possible to stop the Zionist genocide.
