It Could Happen Here - An Update on Gaza and the West Bank

Episode Date: March 14, 2024

Shereen discusses the recent developments in Gaza, the severe starvation Palestinians are experiencing, and the uptick in violence in the West Bank. Sources: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/12/israels-war-on-gaza-list-of-key-events-day-158 https://www.dci-palestine.org/17_palestinian_children_starve_to_death_in_gaza https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/08/28/west-bank-spike-israeli-killings-palestinian-children   https://www.palestinechronicle.com/dangerous-precedent-israelerects-barbed-wire-near-al-aqsa-mosque/  https://nypost.com/2024/03/09/world-news/israeli-protesters-try-to-stop-aid-from-entering-gaza-strip/ https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/09/world/middleeast/yazan-kafarneh-gaza-starvation.html https://jacobin.com/2024/03/israel-flour-massacre-war-crime-gaza https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/its-not-just-israeli-bombs-that-have-killed-children-in-gaza-now-some-are-dying-of-hunger-too https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/03/04/israel-west-bank-settlers-attacks-palestinians https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68514581 https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/02/shocking-spike-in-use-of-unlawful-lethal-force-by-israeli-forces-against-palestinians-in-the-occupied-west-bank/ https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68557035 https://www.politico.eu/article/israels-netanyahu-says-he-will-defy-bidens-red-line-and-invade-rafah/ https://www.npr.org/2024/03/13/1238227682/orphans-gaza-rafah-israel-west-bank-sos-childrens-village-international https://en.royanews.tv/news/49895/2024-03-07  https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2023/10/9/israel-hamas-war-in-maps-and-charts-live-tracker  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Cool Zone Media. Call Zone Media Hello, this is It Could Happen Here, and I am Shireen. Today we have an update for you about what is happening in Palestine. There is a lot that is happening in Palestine, way, way too much to cover in a single podcast episode, but I hope this at least gives you a general idea of where we currently stand. Just for clarity and context, I am recording this on Tuesday, March 12th, so any numbers I mention, unfortunately and probably are different now. At this point, there have been over five months of bombardment and genocide,

and this has caused a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with children starving to death due to malnutrition and dehydration as Israel has imposed restrictions on aid deliveries to Gaza. Five months of genocide on top of more than a decade and a half of blockade have caused relentless mental harm to children in Gaza, according to a report released by Save the Children on Tuesday. 25 Palestinians in Gaza, including at least 20 children and a two-month-old baby, have died of malnutrition and dehydration, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The true death toll due to starvation is feared

to be much higher as many Palestinians, particularly in northern Gaza, face famine and are almost entirely cut off from the severely limited humanitarian aid which is entering Gaza through the southern Rafah crossing. Many Israelis have also been blocking aid from entering Gaza. A group of Israeli protesters have been blocking aid trucks from crossing into the Gaza Strip for weeks now, vowing that, quote, not a single loaf of bread should reach those trapped in the tiny region of the Gaza Strip for weeks now, vowing that, quote, not a single loaf of bread should reach those trapped in the tiny region of the Gaza Strip until all remaining hostages are released. The area around Kerem Shalom, which is Israel's only functioning border crossing with Gaza,

is a closed military zone, but the IOF officers and their presence there hardly deters the dozens of protesters, who are mostly settlers, families of hostages, and deactivated military reservists. It does not deter them from trekking through the area and protesting in an attempt to slow aid trucks from entering Gaza. I'm noticing right now that I'm interchangeably using Gaza and Gaza. Gaza is just how you say it in Arabic. So, FYI, if I jump around, my apologies. On the ground, CNN recorded an interview with protester Debbie Sharon. She pointed to an aid truck convoy and said, this arrives into the tunnels of Hamas, fighting us and holding our hostages.

There is no evidence that the majority of aid, including food and medical supplies, is going to Hamas. Sharon and her fellow protesters are demanding that aid stop entering Gaza, where over 30,000 people have now been killed, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, with people at an increasing risk of starvation. Another protester named Katya said, They should only get the minimum calories to survive. If they are starving to death, give the hostages back. Not a single loaf of bread should go there till our hostages are coming back. When questioned about the scale of human suffering in Gaza, Katya seemed unmoved.

She said, Even if there is a humanitarian crisis, and there is not, it is my right and my duty to prioritize the kefir bibas over any Gazan babies. Kefir bibas is a one-year-old who is being held hostage along with the baby's parents. So that's what she's referring to, prioritizing Israeli babies over Palestinian babies. US aid drops and Israeli airstrikes targeting civilian areas in northern Gaza happening at the same time, falling on the rubble of destroyed buildings. The aid and the airstrikes dropping at the same moment. It's dystopian and beyond fucked up. Since October 7th, Israel has also shut off entry of food, water, and medicine, as well as other supplies from entering Gaza,

only allowing a trickle of aid trucks through two crossings in the south. Israel has blamed the starvation that Palestinians are enduring in Gaza on UN agencies, saying that they fail to distribute supplies piling up at Gaza crossings. The UNRWA, which is the largest UN agency in Gaza, says Israel restricts goods and imposes cumbersome inspections that slow entry of aid. Also, distribution within Gaza has been crippled, UN officials say. They say that convoys regularly are turned back by Israeli forces, and that the military often refuses safe passage amid fighting, and that the aid does not get to the people that need it the most, often being grabbed from trucks by hungry Palestinians en route to the drop-off points. Recent airdrops of aid by the U.S. and other countries provide far lower amounts of aid

than truck deliveries, which have become increasingly more rare, and they're also sometimes dangerous. The UNRWA says that Israeli authorities haven't allowed it to deliver supplies to the north of Gaza since January 23rd. The World Food Organization, which had paused deliveries because of safety concerns, said the military forced its first convoy to the north in two weeks to turn back on Tuesday. Shireen from the future is here just for this quick update. Shireen from the future is here just for this quick update yesterday Wednesday Israeli forces hit a food distribution center and aid center in Rafah the UNRWA said that one of their staff members were killed and 22 others were injured and it said up to 60 people were believed to have been working there when it was hit those killed were said to be a 15-year-old boy and four men who were between 27 and 50 years old.

Rafah resident Sami Abu Salim said, The UNRWA chief, Philippe Lazzarini, said in a statement that it was one of the very few UNWA distribution centers that was still operating in Gaza after these five months of genocide. He said this attack comes as food supplies are running out, hunger is widespread, and in some areas turning into famine. Every day, we share the coordinates of all of our facilities across the Gaza Strip with parties to the conflict. The Israeli army received the coordinates, including this facility yesterday. Since October, the UNRWA says at least 165 of its 13,000 employees in Gaza have been killed, and that more than 150 of its facilities have been hit by Israeli forces.

Here are the latest casualty figures as of March 13th at 12.40pm. In Gaza, there are at least 31,272 people who have been killed. Of those, there are 12,300 children who have been killed, as well as 8,400 women who have been killed. There are more than 73,024 people who have been injured, including 8,663 children who have been injured and 6,327 women who have been injured. There are more than 8,000 Palestinians who are missing in Gaza. There are more than 8,000 Palestinians who are missing in Gaza. The latest figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health for the occupied West Bank is as follows. At least 432 people have been killed, including more than 115 children. There are more than 4,650 Palestinians who have been injured in the West Bank. In Israel, officials have revised the

death toll from October 7th from 1,405 to 1,139. As far as the injured go in Israel, there are at least 8,730 people who have been injured. According to the latest data from the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Health Organization, as well as the Palestinian government, as of February 25, Israeli attacks have damaged more than half of Gaza's homes. 360,000 residential units have been destroyed or damaged. There have been 392 educational facilities that have been destroyed, including all universities. 12 out of the 35 hospitals are partially functioning. 132 groundwater wells have been damaged or destroyed.

267 places of worship have also been destroyed. I really want to emphasize how damaging starvation is and famine is. Starvation causes long-lasting damage to the body. Large numbers of people in Gaza are experiencing malnutrition. Studies of famines in other countries show that famines can have long-lasting impacts on people's health and even that of their descendants. A new type of video has been circulating online from the Gaza Strip. Footage showing families baking quote-unquote bread, which is made from birdseed, eating weeds, and giving newborn babies days to suck on instead of milk. The accountability program director at Defense for Children International Palestine said,

It is unthinkable that in 2024, in a world that produces more than enough food for all people, that Palestinian children are starving to death. The starvation of children is a hallmark of genocide and a deliberate political choice by Israel, backed by the Biden administration. It is complete madness that Israeli authorities

continue to prohibit and restrict food and other life-saving supplies to a starving population while the international community stands by. Palestinians in Gaza started to experience chronic hunger within weeks of October 7th. At this point in time, Israeli strikes have killed more than 30,000 Palestinians, and this is according to Gaza's Ministry of Health. The death tolls that come out of the Palestinian Ministry of Health, they account for Palestinians who die at hospitals or whose families report their deaths to the ministry. Due to the telecommunications blackout, the collapse of the medical system, Israeli ground invasion, and continued Israeli aerial bombardment, many Palestinians are not able to reach hospitals. And so this number is likely far, far greater than it actually is.

And as I mentioned, Israeli authorities have repeatedly blocked and severely restricted any humanitarian aid from entering Gaza. On Tuesday, Israeli forces attacked Palestinians who were waiting for aid trucks at the Kuwait roundabout south of Gaza City, and they killed seven people. Keep in mind, this is after what has become known as the Flower Massacre. On February 29th, the Israeli occupation forces, aka the IOF, killed at least 118 Palestinians who were attempting to get aid from a convoy in Gaza City. In this Flower Massacre, along with the 118 Palestinians who were attempting to get aid from a convoy in Gaza City. In this flower massacre, along with the 118 Palestinians who were shot and killed, at least 750 additional Palestinians were injured. They were just trying to get food from the aid trucks to feed their family. The United

States recently delivered two airdrops of aid alongside the Jordanian military into northern Gaza. The airdrops contained a total of 74,800 meals, and this was widely criticized as a public relations move because the Biden administration is still clearly complicit in Israel's genocide of Palestinians. International criminal law prohibits serious atrocities, including core crimes of genocide, the crime of aggression, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, and provides for individual criminal responsibility for perpetrators. The crime of genocide constitutes the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group in whole or in part.

Genocide can result from killing or by creating conditions of life that are so unbearable. Intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is an underlying act of genocide and it amounts to a war crime. I've said this before on this podcast, I'll say it again, but at this point, international law means nothing. It means it hasn't meant anything for a long time. Nothing happens when Israel continues to break international law. So, that phrase is a little empty to me, when they are in violation of international law. But here we are. And it should be noted that starvation of civilians also contributes and is an act of genocide. I've talked about why this is genocide in other episodes, but it's a clear act of genocide what Israel is doing to Palestinians.

And many scholars agree with that. Anyway, let's continue. As weeks of blockades on food and other aid have turned into months, starvation has reached historic proportions. One recent report by the Global Nutrition Cluster, which is a United Nations Children's Fund, aka UNICEF, led partnership of humanitarian organizations, it found that in December of 2023 and January of 2024, 9 in 10 children under the age of 2 and more than 9 in 10 pregnant and breastfeeding women surveyed had consumed two or fewer food groups in the previous day. This situation is considered severe food poverty. Nearly two-thirds of households were eating just once a day, if at all. In the northern Gaza Strip, one in six babies and

toddlers were acutely malnourished. Aid organizations say that these numbers today are likely to be far, far worse, and that the rapid onset and complexity of Gaza's food crisis is unprecedented. Ted Shaiban is the Deputy Executive Director for Humanitarian Action and Supply Operations at UNICEF. He said in a recent statement, plummet, leading to preventable deaths or health issues which will affect the children of Gaza for the rest of their lives and have potential intergenerational consequences. There are nearly 2.2 million people living in the Gaza Strip, nearly half of whom are children. Nearly 160 million other people worldwide are facing hunger, including millions of people in Somalia, Afghanistan, and Sudan. The short-term health consequences of food scarcity have been studied extensively. In children, an especially vulnerable group, severe acute malnutrition can lead to muscle wasting,

stunted growth, and medical complications, including sepsis, meningitis, diarrhea, and severe anemia. Worldwide, nearly half of all deaths of children less than five years of age are linked to malnutrition. A growing body of research is finding that even if these children return to normal nutrition levels, a period of acute malnutrition can lead to long-lasting damage later in life, and it may impact future generations. This is one of many examples of why Israel's genocide of the Palestinian people isn't just about death, and the lives they've destroyed, and the land that they've taken. Israel's genocide is also about robbing Palestinians of any livable future, affecting generations of Palestinians to come. And they've done this since 1948. That's why it's no accident when children are targeted

by the IOF, when they're starving, or when they're shot. They are murdered as a way to prevent Palestinians from having a future or having any hope. We see how the IOF shoots children with the intention to kill. There are many, many examples of this, but here's a recent example. Two children were killed in November in the West Bank. Adam Samer El Ghul, 8 years old, was shot in the head. Bazel Suleiman Abu El Wafa, 15 years old, was shot in the chest. These children were both murdered and shot with the intention to kill. The Israeli military and border police forces have been killing Palestinian children with virtually no recourse for accountability for decades. Back in August of 2023, well before October 7th of 2023, Bill Van Esfeld, who was the Associate Children's

Rights Director at Human Rights Watch, said, Israeli forces are gunning down Palestinian children living under occupation with increasing frequency. Unless Israel's allies, particularly the United States, pressure Israel to change course, more Palestinian children will be killed. And that is exactly what has been happening. Many, many more Palestinian children have been killed. All preventable. Human Rights Watch researchers, in documenting four killings that happened, interviewed in person seven witnesses, nine family members, and other residents, lawyers, doctors, staff, and field workers at Palestinian and Israeli rights groups, as well as reviewed CCTV footage and videos that were posted on social media, as well as statements by Israeli security agencies, medical records, and news reports.

cases that they researched. Israeli forces shot the children's upper bodies without, according to witnesses, issuing warnings or using common, less lethal measures like tear gas, concussion grenades, or rubber-coated bullets. I also want to draw attention to how this genocide is also a mass disabling event that will harm an entire generation and make them reliant on infrastructure that does not physically exist. More than 10 children a day lose a limb in Gaza. And this is from the source Save the Children. At least 17,000 children, which is 1% of Gaza's overall displaced population of 1.7 million, have now been orphaned in the Gaza Strip. And the number of children who have been killed in Gaza, this number is now reaching 13,000 children. The number of children reported killed in just four months in Gaza is higher than the number of children killed in four years of war around the world combined. Let's take an ad break and we'll be right back. From the chaotic world of generative AI to the destruction of Google search, better offline

is your unvarnished and at times unhinged look at the underbelly of tech from an industry veteran with nothing to lose. This season I'm going to be joined by everyone from Nobel winning economists to the leading journalists in the field and I'll be digging into why the products you love keep getting worse and naming and shaming those responsible. Don't get me wrong though though. I love technology. I just hate the people in charge and want them to get back to building things

that actually do things to help real people. I swear to God things can change if we're loud enough. So join me every week to understand what's happening in the tech industry and what could be done to make things better. Listen to Better Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever else you get your podcasts.

Check out betteroffline.com. On Thanksgiving Day, 1999, a five-year-old boy floated alone in the ocean. He had lost his mother trying to reach Florida from Cuba. He looked like a little angel. I mean, he looked so fresh. And his name, Elian Gonzalez, will make headlines everywhere.

Elian Gonzalez. Elian Gonzalez. Elian. Elian. Elian Gonzalez. At the heart of the story is a young boy and the question of who he belongs with. His father in Cuba. Mr. Gonzalez wanted to go home and he wanted to take his son with him.

Or his relatives in Miami. Imagine that your mother died trying to get you to freedom. At the heart of it all is still this painful family separation. Something that as a Cuban, I know all too well. Listen to Chess Peace, the Elian Gonzalez story, as part of the My Cultura podcast network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Gianna Parenti. And I'm Jimei Jackson-Gadsden.

We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline, the early career podcast from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. One of the most exciting things about having your first real job is that first real paycheck. You're probably thinking, yay, I can finally buy a new phone. But you also have a lot of questions like how should I be investing this money? I mean, how much do I save?

And what about my 401k? Well, we're talking with finance expert Vivian Tu, aka Your Rich BFF, to break it all down. I always get roasted on the internet when I say this out loud, but I'm like, every single year you need to be asking for a raise of somewhere between 10 to 15%. I'm not saying you're going to get 15% every single year, but if you ask for 10 to 15 and you end up getting eight, that is actually a true raise.

Listen to this week's episode of Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we are back. In the 24 hours between Sunday, March 10th and Monday, March 11th, during which the vast majority of Americans were busy watching the stupid fucking Oscars. Seven massacres were committed by Israeli occupation forces against families in Gaza, killing 67 Palestinians and injuring 106 others. This happened as people were distracted by watching this dumb display of nothing. Palestinians are continuing to be murdered. And as for where things currently stand right now, there are more than 1.7 million

civilians who are trapped in the Rafah, which is Gaza's last place of refuge. It's right on the southern border. And this is after Israel kept telling Palestinians to go south because of these quote-unquote safe zones that were clearly not safe at all. A massacre is happening in the Rafah right now and the world is silent. And to make matters worse, not that they can get any worse, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that he intends to press ahead with the invasion of the city of Rafah. Joe Biden, useless, warned that the offensive would be a quote red line. But as we know, a slap on the wrist for Israel means absolutely nothing and they continue to act with impunity without any repercussions.

When asked on Sunday whether Israeli forces would move into Rafah, Netanyahu replied, we'll go there. We're not going to leave them. You know, I have a red line. And you know what the red line is? That October 7 does not happen again. It never happens again. He also dismissed the idea of a ceasefire for Ramadan, saying that he would like to see another hostage release because without a release, there's not going to be a pause in the fighting and he also doubled down on his rejection of the possibility of a Palestinian state. He says the positions that I espouse are supported by the overwhelming majority of Israelis who say to you after October 7 we don't want to see a Palestinian state. The Israeli people also support my position

that says that we should resoundingly reject the attempt to ram down our throats a Palestinian state. That is something they agree on. The evening of Sunday, March 10th, was also the first day of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. Tariq Ahmed, who is the UK minister of state responsible for relations to the Middle East, who is the UK Minister of State responsible for relations to the Middle East, North Africa, and the UN, on Monday he urged Israel to, quote, allow unhindered access to Jerusalem's holy sites during Ramadan. What has Israel done since then, you may ask? Well, Israel has put up a barbed wire fence around the Al-Aqsa Mosque, something it hasn't done since 1967. Israel erected barbed wire on a fence around the Lion's Gate area adjacent to the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem.

The Jerusalem governor's office itself said in a statement on Monday, this is a dangerous precedent that has never occurred since 1967. The Lion's Gate, also known as Bab al-Asbat, is located within Jerusalem's Old City and is one of the main gates leading to the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Israel clearly aims to prevent Palestinians from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque during the holy month of Ramadan. Israeli forces have also imposed a strict siege on the Al-Aqsa Mosque for the past five months, preventing entry into it. On Sunday night, Israeli forces prevented hundreds of Palestinians from entering the mosque to perform the Taraweeh, a special night of prayers during the holy month of Ramadan. They also beat a Palestinian man near Bab al-Zahra, one of the gates leading to the mosque, before detaining

him. Soldiers also reportedly detained an al-Aqsa mosque guard from the old city of Jerusalem. Continuing along with the news from just this week, on Monday, Israeli forces arrested six Palestinian boys from the town of al-Asawiyah, northeast of occupied Jerusalem, video footage showed a group of Israeli soldiers tying the Palestinians with a rope and dragging them in a humiliating manner through the streets of El Esawiyah. You see this in this footage. They wrangle them and treat them like fucking cattle. Worse than fucking cattle. They're treated worse than animals. And the entire world is witnessing this. And what is absolutely sickening to me is that so many Americans would probably care more about a dead dog than about a dead Palestinian. And if that sentence made you uncomfortable,

well, it's supposed to. Palestinians have not been treated or depicted as human for so long that it's just become normal. But it is not normal, and Palestinian life matters just as much as any other. off our second season digging into how tech's elite has turned Silicon Valley into a playground for billionaires. From the chaotic world of generative AI to the destruction of Google search, better offline is your unvarnished and at times unhinged look at the underbelly of tech from an industry veteran with nothing to lose. This season, I'm going to be joined by everyone from Nobel winning economists to leading journalists in the field. And I'll be digging into why the products you love keep getting worse and naming and shaming those responsible. Don't get me wrong, though.

I love technology. I just hate the people in charge and want them to get back to building things that actually do things to help real people. I swear to God things can change if we're loud enough, so join me every week to understand what's happening in the tech industry and what could be done to make things better.

Listen to Better Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you get your podcasts. Check out betteroffline.com. On Thanksgiving Day, 1999, a five-year-old boy floated alone in the ocean. He had lost his mother trying to reach Florida from Cuba. He looked like a little angel. I mean, he looked so fresh. the ocean. He had lost his mother trying to reach Florida from Cuba. He looked like a little angel. I mean, he looked so fresh. And his name, Elian Gonzalez, will make headlines everywhere. Elian Gonzalez.

Elian. Elian. Elian. Elian. Elian. Elian Gonzalez. At the heart of the story is a young boy and the question of who he belongs with. His father in Cuba. Mr. Gonzalez wanted to go home and he wanted to take he belongs with. His father in Cuba. Mr. González wanted to go home

and he wanted to take his son with him. Or his relatives in Miami. Imagine that your mother died trying to get you to freedom. At the heart of it all is still this painful family separation. Something that as a Cuban, I know all too well.

Listen to Chess Peace, the Elian Gonzalez story, as part of the My Cultura podcast network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Gianna Parenti. And I'm Jimei Jackson-Gadsden. We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline, the early career podcast from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. One of the most exciting things about having your first real job is that

first real paycheck. You're probably thinking, yay, I can finally buy a new phone. But you also have a lot of questions like, how should I be investing this money? I mean, how much do I save? And what about my 401k? Well, we're talking with finance expert Vivian Tu, aka Your Rich BFF, to break it all down. I always get roasted on the internet when I say this out loud, but I'm like, every single year you need to be asking for a raise of somewhere between 10 to 15%. I'm not saying you're going to get 15% every single year, but if you ask for 10 to 15 and you end up getting eight, that is actually a true raise. Listen to this week's episode of Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I want to also take a moment to talk about what's happening in the West Bank. According to Amnesty International, Israeli forces have unleashed a brutal wave of violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in the last five months, carrying out unlawful killings, including by using lethal force without necessity or disproportionately during protests and arrest raids, as well as denying medical assistance to those injured. The organization investigated four emblematic cases where Israeli forces used unlawful lethal force, three incidents in October and one in November,

which resulted in the unlawful killing of 20 Palestinians, including seven children. Researchers remotely interviewed 12 people, 10 of them eyewitnesses, including seven children. Researchers remotely interviewed 12 people, 10 of them eyewitnesses, including first responders and local residents. The organization's crisis evidence lab verified 19 videos and four photos in examining these four incidents. Amnesty International's research also found that Israeli forces obstructed medical assistance to people with life-threatening wounds, as well as attacked those attempting to assist injured Palestinians, including paramedics. Since October 7th, Israeli forces have stepped up raids, carrying them out almost daily across the occupied West Bank in what it describes as search and arrest operations. West Bank and what it describes as search and arrest operations. In one recent incident that you may have seen online, Israeli forces carried out a raid masquerading as medical staff. In 2023, at least 507 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank, including 81 children, making it the

deadliest year for Palestinians since the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs began recording casualties in 2005. Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International's Director of Global Research, Advocacy and Policy, said, Under the cover of the relentless bombardment and atrocity crimes in Gaza, of the relentless bombardment and atrocity crimes in Gaza, Israeli forces have unleashed unlawful lethal force against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, carrying out unlawful killings and displaying a chilling disregard for Palestinian lives. These unlawful killings are a blatant violation of international human rights law and are committed with impunity in the context

of maintaining Israel's institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination over Palestinians. These cases provide shocking evidence of the deadly consequences of Israel's unlawful use of force against Palestinians in the West Bank. Israeli authorities, including the Israeli judicial system, have proven shamefully unwilling to ensure justice for Palestinian victims. In this climate of near total impunity, an international justice system worth its salt must step in. The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court must investigate these killings and injuries as possible war crimes of willful killing and willfully causing great suffering or serious injury. The situation in Palestine and Israel is a litmus test for the legitimacy and reputation of the court.

It cannot afford to fail it. Since October 7th, across the West Bank, Israeli security forces' use of unlawful force during law enforcement operations has been unrelenting, sowing fear and intimidation among entire communities. It has also been used to disperse rallies and protests held in solidarity with Gaza and demanding the release of Palestinian prisoners and detainees. prisoners and detainees. Between October 7th and December 31st of 2023, 299 Palestinians were killed, marking a 50% increase compared to the first nine months of the year. At least 61 more Palestinians, including 13 children, have been killed so far in 2024 as of the end of January, according to the numbers reported by OCHA. Israel has a well-documented track record of using excessive and often lethal force to stifle dissent and enforce its system of apartheid against Palestinians,

leading to a historic pattern of unlawful killings committed with impunity. In one illustrative case investigated by Amnesty International, Israeli military and border police forces used excessive force during a 30-hour-long raid on Nur Shams refugee camp on October 19th. During the operation, Israeli forces killed 13 Palestinians, including six children, four of them under the age of 16, as well as arrested 15 people. Israeli military sources quoted in media reports said that one Israeli border police officer was killed and nine were injured after an improvised explosive device was thrown at them by Palestinians. Residents told Amnesty International that during the operation, Israeli soldiers stormed more than 40 residential

homes, destroying personal belongings and drilling holes in the walls for sniper outposts. Water and electricity to the camp was cut off and soldiers used bulldozers to destroy public roads, electricity networks, and water infrastructure. Among those killed during the October 19th raid was 15-year-old Taha Mohammed, who Israeli forces shot dead in front of his house when he came out to check whether Israeli forces had left the area. Taha was unarmed and posed no threat to the soldiers at the time he was shot, and this is based on eyewitness testimony and videos that were reviewed by Amnesty International. A video filmed by one of videos that were reviewed by Amnesty International. A video filmed by one of his sisters and verified by Amnesty's crisis evidence lab shows Taha walking on the street, peeking to check for the presence of soldiers,

and then collapsing on the street outside of his house after the sound of three gunshots. Fatima, Taha's sister, told Amnesty International, They did not give him a chance. They did not give him a chance. In an instant, my brother was eliminated. Three bullets were fired without any mercy. The first bullet hit him in the leg, the second in his stomach, the third in his eye. There were no confrontations. There was no conflict. An eyewitness told Amnesty International that when Taha's father, Ibrahim Mohammed, then attempted to carry his injured son to safety, Israeli forces shot him in the back.

A verified video filmed by one of Taha's sisters immediately after the shooting shows Taha's father lying on the ground next to him before limping away. My father raised his hands, showing the soldiers that one example, but many, many more have happened since then and before then. Protests in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza have been held frequently across the occupied West Bank since October 7th. Some protesters have been seen throwing stones in response to the presence or forceful intervention of the Israeli forces. The IOF's use of lethal force in response to rock throwing is not new, even if the rock throwing is done by children. In theory, lethal force in law enforcement can only be used when there is an imminent threat to life. Its use is not a proportionate response to stone throwing. In another egregious case that happened on October

13th in Tulkaram, two eyewitnesses described to Amnesty International how Israeli forces stationed at a military watchtower, both at one of the main entrances to the town, as well as on the roof of a nearby home. And then they opened fire on a crowd of at least 80 unarmed Palestinians who were peacefully demonstrating in solidarity with Gaza. journalists who were at the scene separately told Amnesty International that they saw Israeli forces firing two tear gas canisters at the crowd and shortly afterwards opening live fire at them without any warning shots. The two journalists saw four people being shot and injured as they tried to run away from the shooting. A few minutes later, Israeli forces then opened fire in the direction of the journalists, even though they were both wearing vests clearly marked as press. They hid behind a wall, along with three children, and had to remain there for about two hours as the operation continued. During this time, they also witnessed a

Palestinian man who was riding past them on a bike, being shot by an Israeli soldier. One of the journalists also saw another demonstrator being shot in an Israeli soldier. One of the journalists also saw another demonstrator being shot in the head. She described how the victim was suddenly shot and fell to the ground. The obstruction of medical assistance by Israeli forces during operations like this across Palestine is unfortunately a routine practice, and Amnesty International has documented this for years, saying it is a part of Israel's system of apartheid. Under international law, Israeli forces have an obligation to ensure anyone injured by their forces is able to access medical treatment. Amnesty International investigated five

occasions where the Israeli forces hindered or prevented those who were seriously injured in demonstrations and raids from receiving critical medical assistance. They also shot at Palestinians trying to help, including medics tending to the wounded. During the raid I mentioned earlier on Nur Shams on October 19th, three eyewitnesses, including a paramedic on the scene, said two ambulances were stopped at the entrance of the camp and prevented from reaching the injured. The witnesses said the residents were forced to transport the wounded to a hospital in private cars. Since October 7th, according to the UN, more than 400 Palestinians have been killed, 107 of those being children in the West Bank.

have been killed, 107 of those being children in the West Bank. I also want to mention the settler attacks on Palestinians, not just by the IOF, because these settler attacks have also become routine. Settlers have burned cars and houses, blockaded roads, damaged electricity networks, seized farmland, severed irrigation lines, attacked people in their fields and olive groves, and killed people, all without repercussion. The UN has recorded 573 attacks by settlers in the West Bank since October 7th, with Israeli forces, the IOF, accompanying them half of the time. At least nine people have been killed by settlers, and 382 have been killed by the IOF, according to these numbers by the UN. Human rights groups in Israel and the West Bank allege a long pattern of violence that has been enabled by the IOF. The army, however, of course, denies this.

Human rights groups in Israel and the West Bank allege a long pattern of violence by settlers that is enabled by the occupation forces. The army, of course, denies this. As I mentioned earlier, the IOF has a long history of using unnecessary lethal force, and we're seeing that increasingly happen in the West Bank. I want to end this episode with a quote from the Israeli group B'Tselem. They told the BBC, Since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip, Israel has continued to implement a lethal open fire policy in the West Bank. Of the almost 400 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since October 7th,

many did not pose a threat at the level that would justify the use of lethal force. With extremely rare exceptions that usually involve low-ranking soldiers, no one is brought to justice for the killing of Palestinians. This reflects Israel's profound disregard for the lives and bodies of Palestinians. And that is our episode for today. As usual, please, please keep talking about Palestine. Please keep raising awareness about this ongoing genocide that's happening in both Gaza and the West Bank. And yeah, just don't stop talking about it. Free Palestine. Free Palestine. could happen here, updated monthly at coolzonemedia.com slash sources. Thanks for listening. culture in the new iHeart podcast, Sniffy's Cruising Confessions. Sniffy's Cruising Confessions will broaden minds and help you pursue your true goals. You can listen to Sniffy's Cruising Confessions, sponsored by Gilead,

now on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Thursday. Welcome to Gracias Come Again, a podcast by Honey German, where we get real and dive straight into todo lo actual y viral. We're talking música, los premios, el chisme, and all things trending in my cultura. I'm bringing you all the latest happening in our entertainment world and some fun and impactful interviews

with your favorite Latin artists, comedians, actors, and influencers. Each week, we get deep and raw life stories, combos on the issues that matter to us, and it's all packed with gems, fun, straight-up comedia, and that's a song that only nuestra gente can sprinkle. Listen to Gracias Come Again on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Ed Zitron, host of the Better Offline podcast. And we're kicking off our second season digging into Tex Elite and how they've turned Silicon Valley into a playground for billionaires.

From the chaotic world of generative AI to the destruction of Google search. Thank you.