Over the weekend, at least 82 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes on Jabaliya refugee camp, including multiple United Nations schools sheltering Palestinians. At least 85 incidents of Israeli bombing have impacted 67 facilities run by the United Nations relief agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) in the last two months. We speak with Tamara Alrifai, spokesperson for UNRWA, about the organization sheltering close to a million Palestinians from Israel’s assault, which has killed 104 of her colleagues since the beginning of the war — the highest number of United Nations aid workers killed in a conflict in the history of the United Nations. Alrifai says her agency is only getting half of the fuel they need to serve people in Gaza, being forced to choose between clean water, food and transport. “If UNRWA ceases to exist tomorrow, then there is a huge layer of stabilizing and stability that UNRWA usually offers in a very, very volatile area that also collapses.”

  • Annoyed_🦀 🏅A
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    297 months ago

    A reminder that the number one priority of this “war” for Israrl is to eliminate Hamas(while laying waste to Gaza, making it inhabitable), while the hostage is second. The longer they drag the likelier the hostages is gonna end up dead, and Netanyahu is complicit on their death.

        • HuddaBudda
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          187 months ago

          unlike what you see here…
          what you see here is propaganda.

          Propaganda for better solutions that don’t involve bombing city blocks because one gang thug had an RPG outside a hospital.

          Maybe I am not comfortable with Israel’s aim

          Maybe I am not comfortable with killing children and teenagers for the sins of a gang of thugs.

          Maybe I am not comfortable with killing civilians if it is going to lead to a broader war.

          Either way, what really irks me, is that everyone is okay with it. If this happened in any other place in the world, we would be clawing bloody murder, but because it happens in un-wealthy Gaza. I am a propagandist?

          Guess it’s okay to kill kids so long as they are poor and (possibly) Muslim? What kind of propaganda are you spewing?

          • OBIWAN_SALAMI
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            -297 months ago

            @HuddaBudda

            @stopthatgirl7 @Annoyed_Crabby @OurTragicUniverse\

            i will keep saying this until i am dead… war is terrible. you don’t like it? then don’t get in one. when a group locates legitimate targets among civilians and human shields, THAT IS THE WAR CRIME HERE. you deal with that by attacking anyway and demonstrate to the enemy that tactic does not work and will not be tolerated. you want to get mad? then direct the anger where its deserved. at the group which purposely uses their own people as propaganda by using them as human shields and crying about civilian deaths.

            the situation is beyond the point of tiptoeing around world opinion and rose-colored glasses wearing people like you. any org that employs the tactics hamas has used should be wiped out. period. i said the same thing about the taliban years ago and i’ll say it again.
            what you see is what happens in war. civilians die. don’t like it? then do whatever you have to in order to avoid it.

            • be_excellent_to_each_other
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              197 months ago

              you deal with that by attacking anyway and demonstrate to the enemy that tactic does not work and will not be tolerated.

              And when that doesn’t work you do it again
              and again
              and again
              and again
              and again

              Because it’s more important to demonstrate that you absolutely will kill innocents who have been put in harm’s way in order to show Hamas (and the rest of the world) exactly what your version of justice looks like than it is to try something different.

              And we’re paying attention, I can promise you that.

              • OBIWAN_SALAMI
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                -157 months ago

                @be_excellent_to_each_other
                no. its a demonstration that the tactics of terrorists will not be a deterrent. what will paying ransoms to hostage takers get you? more hostages. what will not attacking targets with human shields get you? more human shields. you fucking people don’t seem to realize you are justifying and enabling those actions. its not justice. its war. justice would be prosecuting the terrorists. terrorists ARE NOT SOLDIERS. hamas ARE NOT SOLDIERS. people need to get that through their collective heads.

                @stopthatgirl7 @Annoyed_Crabby @OurTragicUniverse @HuddaBudda

                • be_excellent_to_each_other
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                  7 months ago

                  what will not attacking targets with human shields get you? more human shields.

                  You know what attacking targets with “human shields” gets you? More dead innocent people. Try not to forget the “human” part of that word.

                  Edit: Gonna start adding this article to a lot of my replies on this topic. More people should read this and encourage this kind of future. When I figure out what sub it belongs in, I’ll post it as a thread there.

                  https://lifeisasacredtext.substack.com/p/hand-in-hand

                  • OBIWAN_SALAMI
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                    7 months ago

                    @be_excellent_to_each_other
                    tell that to the organization that is actively using the human shields. then tell the palestinians that it will all stop when they stand up to hamas.

                    and my edit.
                    by all means keep your link in mind, never forget it, and shout it at the top of your lungs any time you see a terrorist kill civilians, any time you see a rocket launcher in front of an apartment complex, any time you see a terrorist turn his weapon on a person who is not a uniformed soldier, or does that just apply to empathy for palestinians?

            • HuddaBudda
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              157 months ago

              legitimate targets among civilians and human shields, THAT IS THE WAR CRIME HERE.

              Like when Israel bombed a refugee camp to get a single Hamas Leader?

              Oh, maybe you meant when Hamas targeted the preschools on Oct 7?

              There are no saints in this war.

              you deal with that by attacking anyway and demonstrate to the enemy that tactic does not work and will not be tolerated.

              Hamas, seems to be doing fine, it’s the people of Gaza that have to take the hits. Also not a warm idea for the hostages you’ve doomed to death.

              the situation is beyond the point of tiptoeing around world opinion and rose-colored glasses wearing people like you.

              Empathy, the word you are looking for is called Empathy.

              any org that employs the tactics hamas has used should be wiped out.

              Agreed, use better tactics, aim, and FFS stop hitting the children.

              • OBIWAN_SALAMI
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                -167 months ago

                @HuddaBudda
                hmm. spoken by someone that shows zero understanding of the real world. “Like when Israel bombed a refugee camp to get a single Hamas Leader?”-----yes. exactly that.

                “Oh, maybe you meant when Hamas targeted the preschools on Oct 7?”
                “Empathy, the word you are looking for is called Empathy”

                do you have empathy for those killed on oct 7? do you have empathy for those crammed in shelters due to indiscriminate or blatant attacks on civilians by hamas? while their rockets may not be precision accurate, the ballistic characteristics alone offer enough accuracy to avoid them dropping in the middle of population centers in israel. do you have empathy for that?

                empathy goes out the window after what happened oct 7. i watched the twin towers fall on 9/11 in new york. there was no talk of empathy. from anyone. but i heard a few comments about the world needing a reminder of what a nuke can do.

                we are beyond empathy here. eliminating hamas and their underground infrastructure requires the tactics israel is using. THAT IS WAR. you want to talk empathy? have at it. civilians always lose in war. but don’t talk like israel is the unholy offender here. hamas deserves what they are getting and palestinians need to oust hamas themselves to get my empathy. the video of them dancing in the streets the day after 9/11 tells me all i need to know about them.

                @stopthatgirl7 @Annoyed_Crabby @OurTragicUniverse

                • HuddaBudda
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                  137 months ago

                  do you have empathy for those killed on oct 7? do you have empathy for those crammed in shelters due to indiscriminate or blatant attacks on civilians by hamas? while their rockets may not be precision accurate, the ballistic characteristics alone offer enough accuracy to avoid them dropping in the middle of population centers in israel. do you have empathy for that?

                  We call this multi-tasking, but yes. Generally one can feel empathy for more then one party, it isn’t a zero sum game.

                  empathy goes out the window after what happened oct 7. i watched the twin towers fall on 9/11 in new york. there was no talk of empathy. from anyone. but i heard a few comments about the world needing a reminder of what a nuke can do.

                  It is a shame people only watched our rage, and didn’t learn the lesson 10 trillion dollars later, and all our hard work evaporating in 3 days.

                  Hypocrite that I am, fool I am not. Learn from our mistakes or be doomed to repeat them.

                  we are beyond empathy here. eliminating hamas and their underground infrastructure requires the tactics israel is using.

                  I disagree, there are better methods, more informed methods, safer methods for sure, if we thought about this any other way beside treating bombs like magic pixie dust that makes problems disappear.

                • xerazal
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                  87 months ago

                  Lol love hearing jackasses say “you don’t understand the real world” when it’s actually them that doesn’t understand the real world and as an excuse to justify a genocide.

                  When the US took out Osama, it didn’t do it with bombs. It was with special forces. Same is needed here.

                  • OBIWAN_SALAMI
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                    -117 months ago

                    @xerazal
                    most of you don’t. the real world isn’t rainbows and unicorn color farts.
                    calls me a jackass and then proceeds to somehow confuse 1 man with an organisation. nice job. if this is the best you can come up with then you are NOT doing yourself any favors.
                    you show me 1 special ops org in the world that can eliminate hamas by itself. there isn’t one. anywhere. that requires these things called “armies”. which have well equipped soldiers with support units, lines of communication and resupply, things you bleeding heart armchair wannabe generals don’t know about.

                    and btw, look up the definition of genocide, how the term has been used historically, and then understand why it doesn’t apply here. because there is a difference in scale, motivation, and outcome. and i’ll ask this of all those who spout this shit…if its a genocide then why aren’t israeli’s invading west bank? and no, a few raids and strikes doesn’t count.

                    which all says its a campaign against hamas. which has little power in west bank.

                    try again.

          • OBIWAN_SALAMI
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            -227 months ago

            @IchNichtenLichten

            ah yes a nonstop chain of left biased sources spewing loaded words.
            great source. try again. this time how about something from international policy experts. how about from ANY PEER REVIEWED CREDIBLE SOURCE?
            i doubt you nor anyone else here can or will put in the effort to.

            • be_excellent_to_each_other
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              147 months ago

              Just out of curiosity - do you think you need to tag people in order for them to see your replies to them? Because you don’t.

            • @relevants@feddit.de
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              87 months ago

              I would post the UN human rights council’s analysis but I already know you would just move the goalposts and say the UN aren’t “international policy experts” so why even bother

              • OBIWAN_SALAMI
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                7 months ago

                no. i would say to take a look at who’s been leading it and what their agenda is.

                https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Human_Rights_Council#Accusations_of_bias_against_Israel

                Speaking at the IDC’s Herzliya Conference in Israel in January 2008, Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen criticized the actions of the Human Rights Council actions against Israel. “At the United Nations, censuring Israel has become something of a habit, while Hamas’s terror is referred to in coded language or not at all. The Netherlands believes the record should be set straight, both in New York and at the Human Rights Council in Geneva”, Verhagen said.[146]

                At UNHRC’s opening session in February 2011, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticized the council’s “structural bias” against the State of Israel: “The structural bias against Israel – including a standing agenda item for Israel, whereas all other countries are treated under a common item – is wrong. And it undermines the important work we are trying to do together.”[147]

                In March 2012, the UNHRC was criticized for facilitating an event in the UN Geneva building featuring a Hamas politician. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu castigated the UNHRC’s decision stating, “He represents an organization that indiscriminately targets children and grown-ups, and women and men. Innocents – is their special favorite target”. Israel’s ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor denounced the speech stating that Hamas was an internationally recognized terrorist organization that targeted civilians. “Inviting a Hamas terrorist to lecture to the world about human rights is like asking Charles Manson to run the murder investigation unit at the NYPD”, he said.[148]

                The United States urged UNHRC in Geneva to stop its anti-Israel bias. It took particular exception to the council’s Agenda Item 7, under which at every session, Israel’s human rights record is debated. No other country has a dedicated agenda item. The US Ambassador to UNHRC Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe said that the United States was deeply troubled by the “Council’s biased and disproportionate focus on Israel.” She said that the hypocrisy was further exposed in the Golan Heights resolution that was advocated by the Syrian regime at a time when it was murdering its own citizens.[149]

        • @yesman@lemmy.world
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          17 months ago

          I just want to point out that amidst all the death and destruction, you’re problem is how people are using a word. What can be more bad faith than ignoring the reality and fighting over the signifier?

          Words are not reality; you cannot drive home in the word “car”.

          • R0cket_M00se
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            17 months ago

            Words explain ideas, improper definitions lead to miscommunications. Words matter and changing definitions has always been a sign of an attempt to smuggle ideas in.

            “Genocide” used to mean a concerted attempt to actively exterminate a group of people based on their race. Now it just means “anything that disrupts local culture.” It’s like watering down the word “murder” to mean “physical assault.” It’s not that assaulting people is ok, it’s that it’s not murder.

            “Words don’t matter” is some of the most smooth brain bullshit I’ve ever seen, as if our entire conceptualization of ideas isn’t rooted in what words we use to define them.

    • queermunist she/her
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      97 months ago

      Every dead hostage is another propaganda victory for Israel. While Hamas will truthfully say that the hostage died due to an airstrike, Israel can just blame Hamas for killing the hostage.

      • R0cket_M00se
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        07 months ago

        Why do you take the word of genocidal religious terrorists at face value? You just assume they’re telling the truth? Strange, especially considering they’d kill you without a second thought just on your username alone.

        You might as well go support fundamentalist Christian Republicans and take their word without evidence.

        • queermunist she/her
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          7 months ago

          Why do you take the word of genocidal religious terrorists at face value?

          I can ask you the same thing about your support for Israel and believing all their lies lol

          • R0cket_M00se
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            07 months ago

            You assume I support Israel just because I don’t believe Hamas? Lol

            That’s the problem with you reactionary types, you can’t even conceive of someone that hates both groups.

            • queermunist she/her
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              7 months ago

              Oops I actually got you confused with a different argument I’m having.

              Let me try again: what proof do you have that Hamas is killing hostages? That’s unsound strategically, hostages are far more useful alive.

              Sounds like you think Hamas are animals.

              • R0cket_M00se
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                17 months ago

                That’s because Hamas are animals. They’re radical fundamentalist Muslims that want everyone thats not willing to convert to their religion dead. They specifically want all Jews dead regardless. It’s not conjecture, it’s their mission statement.

                If you don’t believe me, just go over there and tell them You’re LGBTQ and identify as female, you’ll see how animalistic they truly are.

                I lived under Sharia law for almost two years and saw the dangers of letting religion rule your law/culture. The Israelis and their surrounding Arab neighbors are going to keep killing each other until the heat death of the universe.

                • queermunist she/her
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                  -47 months ago

                  The “founding document” you’re referring to is outdated and all the people who wrote it are likely dead. In it they declared Jews the enemy because Zionists declared themselves the Representatives of all Jews. That’s blowback.

                  In their most recent manifesto they actually changed this stance and outlined a clear difference between Zionism and Jews, and clarified their position as opposition to Zionist occupation. They saw that they fell for one of Zionism’s many lies and rectified it.

                  As for queerphobic Palestinians, I can not hate them for having backwards ideas about gender and sexuality. Not only do they have few opportunities to learn better, but their enemies fly rainbow flags when they murder Arabs. That’s blowback and can be layed solely at the feet of Israel and the US.

                  Grow up.