SICKOFITRADLZ: The big political news of the day

Tatyana Tandanpolie (Salon) reports the big US political news today:

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who earlier this year declared "I never quit," announced Wednesday that he will be resigning from the House of Representatives at the end of the year in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal. The California Republican, who was ousted from the speakership in October following a concerted effort by the lower chamber's far-right flank to give him the boot, began his written announcement by recounting his record as a representative and speaker, including getting more "Republican women, veterans and minorities elected to Congress at one time" than before, leading Republicans to a House majority twice, and keeping "our government operating and our troops paid while wars broke out around the world."

"It is in this spirit that I have decided to depart the House at the end of this year to serve America in new ways," McCarthy wrote. "I know my work is only getting started." The former speaker indicated that his future work will see him recruiting others to run for elected office and assisting the Republican Party's expansion by lending experience to support the "next generation of leaders." He also reflected on how "it often seems that the more Washington does, the worse America gets," writing that the nation's challenges are more likely to find solutions in innovation than legislation and pointing to "the goodness of the American people" as what will uphold the country's values. "I never could have imagined the journey when I first threw my hat into the ring. I go knowing I left it all on the field—as always, with a smile on my face," he added. "And looking back, I wouldn’t have had it any other way." McCarthy echoed the sentiments of his op-ed in an announcement video shared to X, formerly Twitter, Wednesday.

Remember, he's not gone yet. We've got 25 days until the 31st. But George Santos is gone. AP:

A special election to pick a successor to George Santos, the New York Republican who was expelled from the U.S. House last week, will be held on Feb. 13, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday.

The race for a seat representing some Long Island suburbs and a small part of the New York City borough of Queens is expected to be a high-profile contest that will mark the start of a year of consequential congressional elections in the state. Both Republicans and Democrats are zeroing in on New York as a key battleground in the fight to control the House.

For Democrats, the election will be a test of the party’s ability to flip districts around New York City that are seen as vital to their plans to retake control. Republicans are entering the contest with heavy momentum in the city’s suburbs and will fight to hold onto the district as they look to maintain their narrow House majority.

Candidates in the special election will be picked by party leaders, not voters.

What does it all mean? According to The Insider:

Last week, the House overwhelmingly voted to expel Rep. George Santos of New York from Congress.

Rep. Bill Johnson of Ohio is set to leave Congress sometime early next year to become the president of a local university.

Those three vacancies — and there could always be more to follow — will leave the balance of power in the House at 219-213, meaning Republicans, at least for a time, can only afford to lose three votes on any party-line legislation.

Strange days indeed. (Is that John Lennon? Yes. I did a group text. Kat, Mike and C.I. all texted back "Yes" immediately. It's from his "Nobody Told Me.")

Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Wednesday, December 6, 2023. Joe Biden opens his big dumb mouth again, still no proof that rapes were carried out during the October 7th attack (and it's nearly two months later) but the Israeli government has a little presentation they're doing with a 'reliable' 'witness', as they pen their fan fiction and work overtime to ignore the deaths of children and infants, the ongoing assault on Gaza continues.

Let's start with the idiot Joe Biden. There are only ten full months left before the 2024 election. His numbers have been dropping and dropping -- both for lying -- there were no beheaded babies on October 7th and that lie was an outrageous libel that has many Muslim Americans saying they're not voting for him. He's now repeated another lie. AP reports:

President Joe Biden on Tuesday forcefully denounced the reported rape and sexual violence against Israeli girls and women by Hamas militants following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, calling on the world to condemn such conduct “without equivocation” and “without exception.”

Speaking at a campaign fundraiser in Boston, Biden noted that in recent weeks, female survivors and witnesses to the attacks have shared “horrific accounts of unimaginable cruelty.”

“Reports of women raped — repeatedly raped — and their bodies being mutilated while still alive — of women corpses being desecrated, Hamas terrorists inflicting as much pain and suffering on women and girls as possible and then murdering them,” Biden said. “It is appalling.”

There are no witnesses, there are no surivors. At this point, there's only the rumor that the Israeli government has repeated -- as have the dupes like Mayim Bialik -- but that's all. Yes, the Israeli government did a put a woman responsible for illegal torture over an investigation. She's got nothing -- but the torture she's inflicted and overseen that will find her rotting in hell for eternity. That's all she's got.

From Ava and my "Media: Save us from the shallow, uninformed liars" that went up about six hours ago:

Back to the mythical rapes. As THE ELECTRONIC INTIFADA noted yesterday, there is no documentation or poof of any rapes.

Sorry, uninformed Mayim, we'll always trust Nora Barrows Friedman over you. Nora's worked on delivery the truth for decades now and we've been fans since she was on KPFA's FLASHPOINTS.

This is from the MONDOWEIS article mentioned in the video:

On November 18, 2023, CNN aired a report by journalist Jake Tapper. The report claims to provide testimonies on “rape crimes” against Israeli women that allegedly took place on October 7, 2023. Within a few hours of the publication of the CNN report, an international media campaign by Israel and pro-Israeli groups was launched. Other media outlets, including The Washington Post, based their reporting on CNN’s report. Feminist activists and groups who have been calling for a ceasefire in Gaza were also targeted as part of this campaign. Samantha Pearson, the director of the Sexual Assault Centre at the University of Alberta in Canada, was fired from her job a few hours after the airing of the report. She had signed a letter on October 25 that stated that the accusation that Palestinians were guilty of sexual violence remains “unverified.” The letter did not say that sexual violence did not occur but that there was no sufficient evidence yet to support these accusations.

The CNN report represents a serious breach of professional conduct, which we detail in this piece. The most concerning aspect of the report is the fact that every single witness and “expert” in the CNN report proves to either be lacking in credibility or have ties to Israeli government officials and institutions. A deeper examination of the CNN report shows a series of manipulations and professional failures, including the fact that all witnesses that CNN claims to have “found” were featured in previous reports pitched and coordinated by the Israeli government, calling into question how much original reporting or fact-finding went into the CNN report. CNN’s failure to adhere to professional and ethical standards of responsible journalism also raises questions regarding CNN’s possible complicity with a political campaign orchestrated by the Israeli Prime Minister’s office to perpetuate unverified claims of mass rape, and a larger effort to dehumanize Palestinians in order to justify the ongoing genocidal campaign in Gaza.

The CNN report begins with an interview with Cochav Elkayam-Levy. She is identified as an “expert in human rights law who organized a civil committee to document evidence.” The speaker is indeed an expert, but not of human rights law. In her former positions, including a post for the Israeli government’s Attorney General’s Office in the International Law Department, she provided the legal justification for Israeli officials committing human rights violations against Palestinians. She had previously published a “guidance for policymaking, government officials and legal advisors in the management of hunger strikes.” There, she provided a detailed legal manual to “standardization through legislation and regulation” for forced feeding – a brutal act of torture used to break political prisoners. In the same year, Israel legalized and regulated the “forced feeding” law to oppress and torture Palestinian prisoners protesting their administrative detentions through hunger strikes.

Yet, CNN considered it appropriate to bring her as a human rights expert. In her interview, which opens the CNN report, Elkayam-Levy presents nothing but justifications for the absence of evidence and facts. While Elkayam-Levy claims to speak under the auspice of the “civil committee,” CNN hides the tight connections between her and the National Security Council for the Israeli Prime Minister. Elkayam-Levy is also the founder and director of the “Dvora Institute,” which works as a close advisory body to the Israeli prime minister’s “National Security Council.” The advisory committee for the Dvora Institute includes a former director of the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, and three former officials in the National Security Council.

The report then claims that CNN “found witnesses to the atrocities.” The report then presented a video of an Israeli soldier, showing his back only, identified by the letter “G,” claiming to be a paramedic of unit “669” – the Israeli Air Force Special Tactics rescue unit.

In his testimony, the soldier says that during a search in the houses of “Kibbutz Be’eri,” during combat, he opened a door of a bedroom to find the bodies of two girls aged between 13 and 15, both killed, one of them naked with semen remains on her lower back.

Upon examining the names of all the girls killed in Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7¹ to match the facts, no pair of Israeli teenagers meeting that description were found dead together.

It's not been verified. And the current Israeli government has a real problem when it comes to be seen as credible on the topic of rape. Let's just look at three things. WIKIPEDIA notes:

Moshe Katsav (Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה קַצָּב; born 5 December 1945) is an Israeli former politician who was the eighth President of Israel from 2000 to 2007.^[1] He was also a leading Likud member of the Israeli Knesset and a minister in its cabinet. He was the first Mizrahi Jew to be elected to the presidency, and second non-Ashkenazi president after Yitzhak Navon.

The end of his presidency was marked by controversy, stemming from allegations of rape of one female subordinate and sexual harassment of others. Katsav resigned from the presidency in 2007 as part of a plea bargain.^[2] Katsav later rejected the deal with prosecutors and vowed he would prove his innocence in court.^[2] In an unprecedented case,^[3]^[4] on 30 December 2010, Katsav was convicted of two counts of rape,^[5] obstruction of justice, and other charges.^[3]^[4] On 22 March 2011, in a landmark ruling, Katsav was sentenced to seven years in prison. Katsav appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court of Israel. On 10 November 2011, the Supreme Court affirmed Katsav's conviction and punishment.

On 7 December 2011, Katsav arrived at Maasiyahu Prison in Ramla to begin serving his seven-year sentence.^[2] He was released under restrictive conditions on 21 December 2016, having served five years of his sentence.

Wow. He committed rape while he was the President of Israel. Not real sure, Mayim, how the mythical wowie of the Israeli government impresses you.

Judah Ari Gross (TIMES OF ISRAEL) reported May 27, 2016 the reaction to Netqnyahu attempted to politicize a woman's rape:

In response to Netanyahu’s first post, Labor MK Shelly Yachimovich said the prime minister should “be ashamed of yourself” for having “zero empathy for rape victims until there’s a window of opportunity to incite” hatred between Jews and Arabs.

Yachimovich accused the prime minister of ignoring issues of sexual violence thus far.

“We never heard a word from your mouth in the case of the rapist Katsav [Israel’s eighth president currently serving a seven-year prison term for rape], no moral statement on the horrifying investigation [into assault accusations against the late IDF general and right-wing politician Rehavam] ‘Gandhi’ [Ze’evi], no comment on the fate of the raped, harassed and persecuted each day and every hour… or on sexual harassment in the IDF,” she accused.

“All of a sudden you take an interest in rape victims?” she asked. “When the rapists are Palestinians. And when there’s an opportunity to exploit the rape for purposes of incitement.”

July 12, 2016, THE TIMES OF ISRAEL reported:

Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot on Monday nominated a rabbi who once appeared to condone rape during wartime to take over as the IDF’s chief chaplain. Rabbi Col. Eyal Karim has also maintained that it is “entirely forbidden” for women to serve in the military for reasons of modesty and has opposed female singing at army events.

Karim was embroiled in controversy in 2012 for his response to a question posed to him (Hebrew link) on the religious website Kipa, asking in the light of certain biblical passages if IDF soldiers, for example, were permitted to commit rape during wartime despite the general understanding that such an act is widely considered repugnant.

In his response, Karim implied that such practices, among several others that were normally prohibited — including the consumption of nonkosher food — were permitted during battle.

Karim now heads the Military Rabbinate of the Israel Defense Forces. And, Lie Mouth Mayim, do you want to share what he said about women? No? Suddenly the cat has your tongue? Because you don't want to explain to US women's group that Krim -- a part of the Israeli government to this day -- has said women shouldn't serve in the Israeli military and that they shouldn't sing in public at military events. We could do a dissertation on Karim and Netanyahu and their true policies and their actual remarks about girls and women. Go whore somewhere else, you dirty piece of trash. Don't you have kids not to vaccinate and other lies to spread?

Whores like Mayim are never surprising because War Hawks love to lie. Babies tossed out of incubators. Remember that one? Yellow cake uranium sought from Africa. Remember that one?

There may have been a rape by Hamas during the October 7th attack, there may have not been. At this point, a lot of baseless claims have been made. Now comes Joe to add to it.

He's already repeated the lie that he saw beheaded children. That was a lie.

Is he that lost? Is his brain that far gone? Or is he just a dirty liar?

That's what his statements force people to wonder and to ponder whether he's up to being president. More and more people who planned to vote for him are saying they won't.

USA TODAY quotes Joe stating, "It’s on all of us -- government, international organizations, civil society and businesses -- to forcefully condemn the sexual violence of Hamas terrorists without equivocation. Without equivocation, without exception."

No, it's not and if you keep pulling that nonsense it's going to bite you in the ass.

There is no proof of what you claim.

If we need to all be condemning something, Netanyahu's trial for bribery, fraud and breach of trust is back on. No one noticed that? No one noticed that when that resumed on Monday, Netanyahu and his goon squad really started hitting hard on the myth of the rapes?

He's on trial for corruption -- the head of the Israeli government.

But the world is supposed to believe him?

Joe Biden's a fool.

What we need to be calling out is the Israeli state and their actions which have resulted in the deaths of over 100 UN workers, which have resulted in the deaths of at least 61 journalists. CPJ issued the following on Monday:

The Israel-Gaza war has taken a severe toll on journalists since Hamas launched its unprecedented attack against Israel on October 7 and Israel declared war on the militant Palestinian group, launching strikes on the blockaded Gaza Strip.

CPJ is investigating all reports of journalists and media workers killed, injured, or missing in the war, which has led to the deadliest month for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992.

As of December 3, CPJ’s preliminary investigations showed at least 61 journalists and media workers were among the more than 16,000 killed since the war began on October 7—with more than 14,800 Palestinian deaths in Gaza and the West Bank and 1,200 deaths in Israel. The deadliest day of the war for journalist deaths was its first day, October 7, with six journalists killed; the second-deadliest day occurred on November 18, with five killed.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told Reuters and Agence France Press news agencies that it could not guarantee the safety of their journalists operating in the Gaza Strip, after they had sought assurances that their journalists would not be targeted by Israeli strikes, Reuters reported on October 27.

Journalists in Gaza face particularly high risks as they try to cover the conflict during the Israeli ground assault, including devastating Israeli airstrikes, disrupted communications, supply shortages and extensive power outages.

As of December 3:

61 journalists and media workers were confirmed dead: 54 Palestinian, 4 Israeli, and 3 Lebanese.
11 journalists were reported injured.
3 journalists were reported missing.
19 journalists were reported arrested.
Multiple assaults, threats, cyberattacks, censorship, and killings of family members.

CPJ is also investigating numerous unconfirmed reports of other journalists being killed, missing, detained, hurt, or threatened, and of damage to media offices and journalists’ homes.

“CPJ emphasizes that journalists are civilians doing important work during times of crisis and must not be targeted by warring parties,” said Sherif Mansour, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator. “Journalists across the region are making great sacrifices to cover this heart-breaking conflict. Those in Gaza, in particular, have paid, and continue to pay, an unprecedented toll and face exponential threats. Many have lost colleagues, families, and media facilities, and have fled seeking safety when there is no safe haven or exit.”

The list published here includes names based on information obtained from CPJ’s sources in the region and media reports. It includes all journalists* involved in news-gathering activity. It is unclear whether all of these journalists were covering the conflict at the time of their deaths, but CPJ has included them in our count as we investigate their circumstances. The list is being updated on a regular basis.

Journalists reported killed, missing, or injured:

KILLED

December 1

Abdullah Darwish

A Palestinian cameraman for the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV, Darwish was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, according to the Amman-based news outlet Roya News, the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, and the International Federation of Journalists.

Montaser Al-Sawaf

Al-Sawaf, a Palestinian cameraman for Anadolu Agency, was killed in Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, as confirmed by Anadolu Agency, Middle East Monitor, and the International Federation of Journalists.

Adham Hassouna

Hassouna, a Palestinian freelance journalist and media professor at Gaza and Al-Aqsa universities, was killed, along with several members of his family in an Israeli airstrike in the city of Gaza, as reported by the Ramallah-based Palestinian news network SHFA and the Beirut-based press freedom group SKeyes, and the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate.

November 24

Mostafa Bakeer

Bakeer, a Palestinian journalist and cameraperson for the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, southern Gaza, according to the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa radio, the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, and the International Federation of Journalists.

November 23, 2023

Mohamed Mouin Ayyash

Ayyash, a Palestinian journalist and a freelance photographer, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on his home in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, along with 20 members of his family, according to the Amman-based news outlet Roya News, the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, and the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency Wafa.

November 22, 2023

Mohamed Nabil Al-Zaq

Al-Zaq, a Palestinian journalist and a social media manager for the Hamas-affiliated Al-Quds TV, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Shejaiya in northern Gaza, according to the Amman-based news outlet Roya News, the Ramallah-based news website Wattan TV, the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, and the International Federation of Journalists.

November 21, 2023

Farah Omar

Omar, a Lebanese reporter for the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Mayadeen TV channel, was killed by an Israeli strike in the Tayr Harfa area in southern Lebanon, close to the border with Israel, according to Al-Mayadeen, Al-Jazeera, and the Beirut-based press freedom group SKeyes. She was reporting on escalating hostilities across the Lebanese-Israeli border and gave a live update an hour before her death.

Rabih Al Maamari

Al Maamari, a Lebanese cameraperson for the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Mayadeen TV channel, was killed by an Israeli strike in the Tayr Harfa area in southern Lebanon, close to the border with Israel, along with his colleague Farah Omar, according to Al-Mayadeen, Al-Jazeera, and the Beirut-based press freedom group SKeyes.

November 20, 2023

Ayat Khadoura

Khadoura, a Palestinian freelance journalist and podcast presenter, was killed along with an unknown number of family members in an Israeli airstrike on her home in Beit Lahya in northern Gaza, according to the Beirut-based press freedom group SKeyes, the news website Arabi 21, and London-based Al-Ghad TV. Khadoura shared videos on social media about the situation in Gaza, including a November 6 video, which she called “my last message to the world” where she said, “We had big dreams but our dream now is to be killed in one piece so they know who we are.”

Alaa Taher Al-Hassanat

Al-Hassanat, a Palestinian journalist and presenter at AlMajedat Media Network, was killed, along with multiple members of her family, in an Israeli airstrike that hit her house in the Gaza Strip, according to the Beirut-based press freedom group SKeyes, Quds News Network, and the Ramallah-based Palestinian news network SHFA. In 2015, Al-Hassanat wrote an article about the 2014 war on Gaza, in which she detailed what she endured, adding that “our role as journalists is now more important than ever.”

November 19, 2023

Bilal Jadallah

Jadallah, director of Press House-Palestine, a non-profit which supports the development of independent Palestinian media, was killed in his car in Gaza in an Israeli airstrike, according to the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, Al Qahera News, and the Cairo-based Youm7.

November 18, 2023

Abdelhalim Awad

A Palestinian media worker and driver for the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV, Awad was killed in a strike on his home in the Gaza Strip, according to the London-based Al-Ghad TV, the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, and the Beirut-based press freedom group SKeyes. Awad had been working full-time since the beginning of the war in Khan Yunis and had left to visit his family last week, his colleague Ziad AlMokayyed told CPJ via messaging app.

Sari Mansour

Mansour, director of the Quds News Network, and his colleague and friend Hassouneh Salim were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, according to the Cairo-based Elwatan news, the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, Al-Jazeera, and Anadolu Agency.

Hassouneh Salim

Salim, a Palestinian freelance photojournalist, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, along with his colleague and friend Sari Mansour, according to the Jordan-based Roya news, Al-Jazeera, and the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate.

Mostafa El Sawaf

El Sawaf, a Palestinian writer and analyst who contributed to the local news website MSDR News, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on his home along with his wife and two of his sons in Shawa Square, Gaza City, according to the Beirut-based press freedom group SKeyes, the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, and the Cairo-based Youm7.

Amro Salah Abu Hayah

A Palestinian media worker in the broadcast department of the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV channel, Abu Hayah was killed in a strike in Gaza, according to the Jordan-based Roya News and the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate.

Mossab Ashour

Ashour, a Palestinian photographer, was killed during an attack on the Nuseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip but his death was not reported until November 18, soon after his body was discovered, according to the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, TRT Arabi, and Anadolu Agency.

November 13, 2023

Ahmed Fatima

A photographer for the Egypt-based Al Qahera News TV and a media worker with Press House-Palestine, Fatima was killed in a strike in Gaza, according to Al Qahera News TV, the Egypt-based Ahram Online, the Palestinians Journalists’ Syndicate, and the Amman-based news outlet Roya News.

Yaacoub Al-Barsh

Al-Barsh, executive director of the local Namaa Radio, was killed after sustaining injuries on November 12 from an Israeli airstrike on his home in northern Gaza, according to the Beirut-based press freedom group SKeyes, the Ramallah-based Palestinian news network SHFA, and the Palestinian press freedom group MADA.

November 10, 2023

Ahmed Al-Qara

Al-Qara, a photojournalist who worked for Al-Aqsa University and was also a freelancer, was killed in a strike at the entrance of Khuza’a town, east of the southern city of Khan Yunis, according to the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate and the Cairo-based Al-Dostor newspaper.

November 7, 2023

Yahya Abu Manih

A journalist with Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa radio channel, Abu Manih was killed in a strike in the Gaza strip, according to the Amman-based news outlet Roya News, Al-Jazeera, and the Beirut-based press freedom group SKeyes.

Mohamed Abu Hassira

Abu Hassira, a journalist for the Palestinian Authority-run Wafa news agency, was killed in a strike on his home in Gaza along with 42 family members, according to the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency Wafa, the London-based news website The New Arab, and the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate.

November 5, 2023

Mohamed Al Jaja

Al Jaja was a media worker and the organizational development consultant at Press House-Palestine, which owns Sawa news agency in Gaza and promotes press freedom and independent media. He was killed in a strike on his home along with his wife and two daughters in the Al-Naser neighborhood in northern Gaza, according to the London-based news website The New Arab, the Beirut-based press freedom group SKeyes, and the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate.

November 2, 2023

Mohamad Al-Bayyari

Al-Bayyari, a Palestinian journalist with the Hamas affiliated Al-Aqsa TV channel, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City, according to the Amman-based news outlet Roya News, the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency Wafa, the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, and the International Federation of Journalists.

Mohammed Abu Hatab

A journalist and correspondent for the Palestinian Authority-funded broadcaster Palestine TV, Abu Hatab was killed along with 11 members of his family in an Israeli airstrike on their home in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency Wafa and the Amman-based news outlet Roya News.

November 1, 2023

Majd Fadl Arandas

A member of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate who worked for the news website Al-Jamaheer, Arandas was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate and the Beirut-based press freedom group SKeyes.

Iyad Matar

Matar, a journalist working for the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV, was killed along with his mother in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, according to the Amman-based news outlet Roya News and the local channel Palestine Today.

October 31, 2023

Imad Al-Wahidi

A media worker and administrator for the Palestinian Authority-run Palestine TV channel, Al-Wahidi was killed with his family members in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, according to a statement issued by the channel, the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency Wafa, and the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate.

Majed Kashko

Kashko, a media worker and the office director of the Palestinian Authority-run Palestine TV channel, was killed with his family members in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, according to a statement issued by the channel, the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency Wafa, and the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate.

October 30, 2023

Nazmi Al-Nadim

Al-Nadim, a deputy director of finance and administration for Palestine TV, was killed with members of his family in a strike on his home in Zeitoun area, eastern Gaza, according to the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency Wafa and Egypt’s state-run Middle East News Agency.

October 27, 2023

Yasser Abu Namous

Palestinian journalist Yasser Abu Namous of Al-Sahel media organization was killed in a strike on his family home in Khan Yunis, Gaza, according to the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency Wafa, Al-Jazeera, and the Hamas-affiliated Al-Quds network.

October 26, 2023

Duaa Sharaf

Palestinian journalist Sharaf, host for the Hamas-affiliated Radio Al-Aqsa, was killed with her child in a strike on her home in the Yarmouk neighborhood in Gaza, according to Anadolu Agency and Middle East Monitor.

October 25, 2023

Jamal Al-Faqaawi

Al-Faqaawi, a Palestinian journalist for the Islamic Jihad-affiliated Mithaq Media Foundation, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on his home in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, according to Al-Jazeera, the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, the Palestinian News Network, and the International Federation of Journalists.

Saed Al-Halabi

Al-Halabi, a journalist for the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, the Palestinian press freedom group MADA, and Al-Jazeera.

Ahmed Abu Mhadi

A journalist for the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV, Mhadi was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate and Youm7.

Salma Mkhaimer

Mkhaimer, a freelance journalist, was killed alongside her child in an Israeli airstrike in Rafah city in the southern Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate and the independent Egyptian online newspaper Mada Masr.

October 23, 2023

Mohammed Imad Labad

A journalist for the Al Resalah news website, Labad was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City, according to RT Arabic and the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency Wafa.

October 22, 2023

Roshdi Sarraj

A journalist and co-founder of Ain Media, a Palestinian company specializing in professional media services, Sarraj was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency Wafa and Sky News.

October 20, 2023

Roee Idan

On October 20, Israeli journalist Idan was declared dead after his body was recovered, according to The Times of Israel and the International Federation of Journalists. Idan, a photographer for the Israeli newspaper Ynet, was initially reported missing when his wife and daughter were killed in a Hamas attack on October 7 on Kibbutz Kfar Aza. CPJ confirmed that he was working on the day of the attack.

Mohammed Ali

A journalist from Al-Shabab Radio (Youth Radio), Ali was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate and the Cairo-based Al-Dostor newspaper.

October 19, 2023

Khalil Abu Aathra

A videographer for the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV, Abu Aathra was killed along with his brother in an Israeli airstrike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, as reported by the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate and the Amman-based news outlet Roya News.

October 18, 2023

Sameeh Al-Nady

A journalist and director for the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV, Al-Nady was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate and the Palestinian press agency Safa.

October 17, 2023

Mohammad Balousha

Balousha, a journalist and the administrative and financial manager of the local media channel “Palestine Today” office in Gaza, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Al-Saftawi neighborhood in northern Gaza, reported Anadolu Agency and The Guardian.

Issam Bhar

Bhar, a journalist for the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip, according to TRT Arabia and the Cairo-based Arabic newspaper Shorouk News.

October 16, 2023

Abdulhadi Habib

A journalist who worked for Al-Manara News Agency and HQ News Agency, Habib was killed along with several of his family members when a missile strike hit his house near the Zeitoun neighborhood, south of Gaza City, according to the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate and the independent Palestinian news organization International Middle East Media Center.

October 14, 2023

Yousef Maher Dawas

Dawas, a contributing writer for Palestine Chronicle and a writer for We Are Not Numbers (WANN), a youth-led Palestinian nonprofit project, was killed in an Israeli missile strike on his family’s home in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahia, according to WANN and Palestine Chronicle.

October 13, 2023

Salam Mema

The death of Mema, a freelance journalist, was confirmed on this date. Mema held the position of head of the Women Journalists Committee at the Palestinian Media Assembly, an organization committed to advancing media work for Palestinian journalists. Her body was recovered from the rubble three days after her home in the Jabalia refugee camp, situated in the northern Gaza Strip, was hit by an Israeli airstrike on October 10, according to the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate and the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency Wafa.

Husam Mubarak

Mubarak, a journalist for the Hamas-affiliated Al Aqsa Radio, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip, according to the Beirut-based press freedom group Skeyes and the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate.

Issam Abdallah

Abdallah, a Beirut-based videographer for the Reuters news agency, was killed near the Lebanon border by shelling coming from the direction of Israel. Abdallah and several other journalists were covering the back-and-forth shelling near Alma Al-Shaab in southern Lebanon between Israeli forces and Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group.

October 12, 2023

Ahmed Shehab

A journalist for Sowt Al-Asra Radio (Radio Voice of the Prisoners), Shehab, along with his wife and three children, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on his house in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, Palestinian press freedom group MADA, and the London-based news website The New Arab.

October 11, 2023

Mohamed Fayez Abu Matar

Abu Matar, a freelance photojournalist, was killed during an Israeli airstrike in Rafah city in the southern Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate and the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency Wafa.

October 10, 2023

Saeed al-Taweel

Al-Taweel, editor-in-chief of the Al-Khamsa News website, was killed when Israeli warplanes struck an area housing several media outlets in Gaza City’s Rimal district, according to the U.K.-based newspaper, The Independent, Al Jazeera, and the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency Wafa.

Mohammed Sobh

Sobh, a photographer from Khabar news agency, was killed when Israeli warplanes struck an area housing several media outlets in Gaza City’s Rimal district, according to the U.K.-based newspaper The Independent, Al Jazeera, and the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency Wafa.

Hisham Alnwajha

Alnwajha, a journalist with Khabar news agency, was injured when Israeli warplanes struck an area housing several media outlets in Gaza City’s Rimal district, according to the U.K.-based newspaper The Independent, Al Jazeera, and the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency Wafa.

He died of his injuries later that day, according to the Palestinian press freedom group MADA, the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, and Palestinian news website AlWatan Voice.

October 8, 2023

Assaad Shamlakh

Shamlakh, a freelance journalist, was killed along with nine members of his family in an Israeli airstrike on their home in Sheikh Ijlin, a neighborhood in the southern Gaza Strip, according to the Beirut-based advocacy group The Legal Agenda and BBC Arabic.

October 7, 2023

Shai Regev

Regev, who served as an editor for TMI, the gossip and entertainment news section of the Hebrew-language daily newspaper Maariv, was killed during a Hamas attack on the Supernova music festival in southern Israel. Regev’s death was confirmed after she was reported missing for six days, according to Maariv and The Times of Israel.

Ayelet Arnin

A 22-year-old news editor with the Israel Broadcasting Corporation Kan, Arnin was killed during a Hamas attack on the Supernova music festival in southern Israel, according to The Times of Israel and The Wrap entertainment website.

Yaniv Zohar

Zohar, an Israeli photographer working for the Hebrew-language daily newspaper Israel Hayom, was killed during a Hamas attack on Kibbutz Nahal Oz in southern Israel, along with his wife and two daughters, according to Israel Hayom and Israel National News. Israel Hayom’s editor-in-chief Omer Lachmanovitch told CPJ that Zohar was working on that day.

Mohammad Al-Salhi

Al-Salhi, a photojournalist working for the Fourth Authority news agency, was shot dead near a Palestinian refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency Wafa, and the Journalist Support Committee (JSC), a nonprofit which promotes the rights of the media in the Middle East.

Mohammad Jarghoun

Jarghoun, a journalist with Smart Media, was shot while reporting on the conflict in an area to the east of Rafah city in the southern Gaza Strip, according to the BBC and UNESCO.

Ibrahim Mohammad Lafi

Lafi, a photographer for Ain Media, was shot and killed at the Gaza Strip’s Erez Crossing into Israel, according to the Palestinian press freedom group MADA, the Beirut-based press freedom group SKeyes, and Al-Jazeera.

CPJ safety advisories

As we continue to monitor the war in Israel/Gaza, journalists who have questions about their safety and security can contact us emergencies@cpj.org.

For more information, read:

These are available in multiple languages, including Arabic.

INJURED

November 18, 2023

Mohammed El Sawwaf

Mohammed El Sawwaf, an award-winning Palestinian film producer and director who founded the Gaza-based Alef Multimedia production company, was injured in an Israeli airstrike on his home in Shawa Square in Gaza City. The airstrike killed 30 members of his family, including his mother and his father, Mostafa Al Sawaf, who was also a journalist, according to the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, Anadolu Agency, and TRT Arabic.

Montaser El Sawaf

Montaser El Sawaf, a Palestinian freelance photographer contributing to Anadolu Agency, was injured in the same Israeli airstrike that injured his brother, Mohammed El Sawwaf and killed their parents and 28 other family members, according to the Anadolu Agency, the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, and TRT Arabic.

November 13, 2023

Issam Mawassi

Al-Jazeera videographer Mawassi was injured after two Israeli missiles struck near journalists in Yaroun in southern Lebanon covering clashes, which also resulted in damage to the journalists’ cars in the area, according to multiple media reports, some of which show the journalists live on air the minute the second missile hit the area. CPJ reached out to Mawassi via a messaging app but didn’t receive any response.

October 13, 2023

Thaer Al-Sudani

Al-Sudani, a journalist for Reuters, was injured in the same attack that killed Abdallah near the border in southern Lebanon, Reuters said.

Maher Nazeh

Nazeh, a journalist for Reuters, was also injured in the same southern Lebanon attack.

Elie Brakhya

Brakhya, an Al-Jazeera TV staff member, was injured as well in the southern Lebanon shelling, Al-Jazeera TV said.

Carmen Joukhadar

Joukhadar, an Al-Jazeera TV reporter, was also wounded in the southern Lebanon attack.

Christina Assi

Assi, a photographer for the French news agency Agence France-Press (AFP), was injured in that same attack on southern Lebanon, according to AFP and France 24.

Dylan Collins

Dylan Collins, a video journalist for AFP, was also injured in the southern Lebanon shelling.

October 7, 2023

Ibrahim Qanan

Qanan, a correspondent for Al-Ghad channel, was injured by shrapnel in the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, according to MADA and JSC.

Firas Lutfi

Police assaulted Lufti, a correspondent with privately owned Sky News Arabia, along with other Sky News journalists in the southern city of Ashkelon, according to members of the television crew. Lutfi said Israeli police aimed rifles at his head, forced him to remove his clothes, confiscated the team’s phones, and made them leave the area under police escort.

MISSING

October 7, 2023

Oded Lifschitz

Lifschitz, a lifelong Israeli journalist who wrote for Al-Hamishmar for many years and was also a Haaretz contributor, was reported missing from Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel. Oded’s wife was one of the two hostages released by Hamas on October 24, 2023, according to The Times of Israel and The Telegraph.

Nidal Al-Wahidi

A Palestinian photographer from the Al-Najah channel, Al-Wahidi was reported missing by MADA. Later, Al-Wahidi’s family informed the media that the journalist had been detained by the Israeli army.

Haitham Abdelwahid

A Palestinian photographer from the Ain Media agency, Abdelwahid was also reported missing by MADA.

The deaths of the above are not in question. How do you explain the deaths of journalist or UN workers? You don't. You just lie and whore and pretend that there are rapes! rapes! rapes! It's a good distraction and certainly the US playbook was to pin going to war with Afghanistan on what happened to women.

But there are real events, verifiable events that are known. And you can't excuse it. So you lie and whore like Mayim and like Julianne Margulies and like Joe Biden. You just lie and whore.

It's not surprising because the death of all these children in Gaza has been ignored by the whores like Amy Schumer and Mayim and Julianne and so many more.

'Be upset about these rapes that there's no proof of! It will help you forget about the infant corpses!'

Joe needs to start listening to advisors (he was urged not to make the remarks he did yesterday -- the same as he was urged not to lie that he'd seen evidence of beheaded children). Poppy Bush antagonized many with the Gulf War and there was a year and eight months between the end of that and the 1992 election.

'Oh, well, H Ross Perot was in that election!'

Yes, they did have an independent candidate. I don't see Cornel West getting on many ballots. Junior? He's got the money to blow. And No Labels is looking for a candidate (this week they're making comments about how if Nikki Hayley doesn't get the GOP nomination, they're open to her).

Meanwhile, Monday ALJAZEERA reported:

Muslim American leaders in several pivotal states pledged on Saturday to rally their communities against President Joe Biden’s bid for re-election due to his steadfast backing of Israel’s war in Gaza.

The #AbandonBiden campaign began when Minnesota Muslim Americans demanded Biden call for a ceasefire by October 31, and has spread to Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Florida.

POLITICO added, "Organizers from Michigan, Minnesota, Arizona, Wisconsin, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania are calling the campaign #AbandonBiden, vowing to ensure that Biden is a one-term president. These leaders have run separate pressure campaigns in their respective states, members of the coalition said, but they felt now was the time to coordinate their response ahead of the 2024 election."

You have created this problem for yourself. Taking the issue further with lies is not going to help you.

And I do love the propaganda the torture queen has put out and shown to the BBC. It's cute. Free of facts and comparing the attackers to . . . ISIS. ISIS didn't seize Mosul for a few hours. ISIS seized it for months and months and years and . . . But in only a few hours, Hamas was raping women -- gang raping them -- slicing off breasts in the middle of the gang rape -- tossing the sliced off breast to comrades who basically played kick ball with it while a woman continued to be gang raped. You have 'witnesses' including the man who says it went on for an hour. He didn't do anything. He didn't even film or take pictures for evidence.

Oh, wait. That's because, he explains, he didn't see it. He didn't see any of it. He just heard screams. He's a witness to screams. Didn't see what was actually going on but his cowardly mind painted pictures and that's his testimony. Screams for an hour and a grown man didn't even try to defend the woman -- real or imagined. But he's going to tell us all now what happened.

It's cute propaganda and a little better than what Torie Clarke did when she was trying to whip up support for war. They picked badly, the Israeli government. They probably got the best liar they could. But they didn't factor in her past with torture so now they have to work double time convincing outlets not to identify her past work.

This morning, THE WASHINGTON POST notes, "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet met with family members of the more than 120 hostages estimated to still be held by Hamas. At the contentious meeting, the frustrated relatives accused the Israeli government of not doing enough to free the hostages, Reuters reported." Between that and the resuming of his corruption trial, Netanyahu knows he needs a distraction. Jamie Gray (NBC NEWS) notes:

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency said Wednesday that it faces several challenges that are pushing its operations in Gaza "to the brink."

In a post on X today, UNRWA listed these challenges as heavy bombardment and the resumption of military operation, the lack of regular deliveries of humanitarian aid and fuel, its dependency on one crossing point and the overwhelming needs in Gaza — including in overflowing UNRWA shelters.

From yesterday's DEMOCRACY NOW!

AMY GOODMAN: We’re broadcasting from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates at the U.N. climate summit.

The World Health Organization is warning the crisis in Gaza is getting worse by the hour as Israel intensifies its ground and air assault across all parts of the Gaza Strip. UNICEF says there’s, quote, “no safe zones” remaining in any part of Gaza, where the death toll from the Israeli bombardment is approaching 16,000. Israeli troops have reportedly encircled Jabaliya, the largest refugee camp in Gaza. A spokesperson for the Gaza Health Ministry said hospitals are struggling to cope with the surge of patients.

ASHRAF AL-QUDRA: [translated] The wounded and patients are on the floor. There is no life-saving health service in the hospitals of southern Gaza Strip, hence hospitals in southern Gaza have totally collapsed. They cannot deal with the quantity and quality of injuries that arrive at the hospitals. It is difficult for the ambulances to reach the injured in the targeted areas. The Israeli occupation targets ambulances that move in the southern areas of the Gaza Strip. It prevents them from reaching the targeted places.

AMY GOODMAN: On Monday, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric, traveled to Gaza.

MIRJANA SPOLJARIC: I have just visited the European Gaza Hospital. And the things I saw there, it’s beyond anything that anyone should be in a position to describe. What shocked me the most were the children with atrocious injuries and at the same time having lost their parents, with no one looking after them. We are facing a situation here that will not be healed by sending in more trucks. We need to provide protection to the civilians in Gaza, to the women and children, to the elderly people that I saw today that have nowhere to go. The majority of people I met today have been displaced several times. I met people who have lost limbs because they needed to evacuate between treatments, and they lost a hand or a foot because they couldn’t be treated in the hospital where they arrived first. I was told today that the north has lost its entire surgical capacity.

AMY GOODMAN: That’s ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric.

We begin today’s show in Jerusalem, where we’re joined by Shaina Low. She’s a communications adviser in Palestine for the Norwegian Refugee Council, has spent much of the last 15 years working in Palestine.

Shaina, thanks so much for joining us in this very desperate time in Gaza. Can you describe the overall situation to us?

SHAINA LOW: What we’re hearing from our staff on the ground in Gaza is just that day after day things are getting more and more hectic, chaotic, desperate. We’re hearing about massive influxes of people fleeing Khan Younis, fleeing south and west to barren areas of land where there’s no facilities able to accommodate them. We’re hearing about shelters that are overwhelmed and bursting at the seams and cannot house any additional people. We’re hearing about people being so desperate that they are sleeping on the streets, trying to salvage whatever materials they can find in order to build a makeshift shelter. Yesterday our office lost internet connection because people had actually cut the internet cable in order to use that to help make a shelter. This is the level of desperation that we’re getting at.

Stores have shut down because there’s no food available or no stocks available to be sold. Yesterday our staff survived on eating crackers, because there was nothing else available. Day after day, the situation is getting more and more desperate. About 1.9 million people out of 2.3 million, over 80% of Gaza’s population, is internally displaced with nowhere to go. We desperately need a ceasefire in order to be able to finally address these dire needs, because we cannot address them while there are ongoing hostilities. It is simply impossible.

AMY GOODMAN: So much of the population has moved from the north to the south, Khan Younis and even more south. These are places that they went to because the Israeli military said they would be safe. Now they’re saying in order to destroy Hamas, they must bomb those places, as well. Where are they telling them to go, Shaina?

SHAINA LOW: You know, they’re telling people to go not to safe places, but to so-called safer places. But what we’ve been seeing for the last eight weeks in Gaza is that there simply is no safe place in Gaza. There’s no place that’s safe from bombardment, from land, air and sea. We’re seeing that there’s no safe place for people to seek shelter, not only because of the ongoing bombardments, but simply because there aren’t facilities able to accommodate so many people. People are being exposed to the elements. They’re in overcrowded shelters where there’s diseases spreading. We’re already hearing about hepatitis A being detected inside some of the U.N. shelters. There really is no safe place.

We have been calling on Israel to stop these directives calling on people to flee. These directives are violations of international humanitarian law, because Israel is neither guaranteeing the safe passage of people to reach areas of safety, they aren’t guaranteeing safety in those areas, and they aren’t guaranteeing people the right to return home once hostilities have ended.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about what is happening in the hospitals? And also, how many staff do you have in the Norwegian Refugee Council in Gaza? And what has happened to their families?

SHAINA LOW: Well, what we’re hearing about the situation in hospitals is that there is a desperate need for additional beds. There are about 1,500 beds, I heard from the World Health Organization yesterday during a briefing. There’s an estimated need of around 5,000 beds. There used to be 3,500 beds in Gaza, so we’re seeing — as needs increase, we’re seeing the number of beds decrease. Of course, there’s a shortage of — chronic shortage of medical supplies, medicines, clean water just to make sure that places are sterile and that patients can be treated safely. We’ve been hearing for weeks reports of maggots coming out of people’s wounds because they cannot be properly cared for and treated.

We have a staff of 54 currently inside of Gaza. And thankfully, all of our staff has stayed alive. But I cannot say that they are safe or unharmed. Multiple members of our staff have lost family members. We had one staff member, Amal, who had followed Israel’s directives to flee from the north, as she fled her home in northern Gaza and ended up in Rafah, where the home she was seeking shelter in was bombed, killing her only child, her 7-year-old son Khaled, and killing 10 other members of her family. Just this week, we had another colleague who was injured in an airstrike on Rafah, allegedly one of those safer places, and two of her family members were killed. We have staff who are sleeping on the streets because they have no place to go, including one staff member who has a 2-month-old baby. They are unable to find shelter. People are desperate. We are doing the best that we can not just to support people, ordinary people, in Gaza, but to support our staff. But we are increasingly finding our hands tied and are unable to do things because it’s not safe for us to operate. We cannot reach the aid that we have stored in warehouses in Gaza, either because the roads are cut off or because it simply isn’t safe for us to access them.

AMY GOODMAN: Have you been able to reach people in Gaza? We’ve been trying all morning. People we have been able to reach in the past, we cannot reach today.

SHAINA LOW: I was able to be in touch with my colleague Yousef this morning. He told me that he was on his way to go and check on the rest of his family, who are staying in Khan Younis. Unfortunately, because connectivity is very difficult, I hadn’t been able to get in touch with him since the early morning. I reached out to one of our security managers, because I was concerned that I hadn’t heard from him. And thankfully, about 10 minutes before I came on the air, I got notice that, yes, Yousef was safe and had reached our office, returned to our office.

But this is the difficulties and challenges that we’re living with, where we’re wondering not just if our staff is OK, but wondering if we’ll be able to connect with them. It’s not just worrying on a personal level, because these aren’t just our colleagues. These are our friends. These are the people that we work with day after day. But also it’s impossible for us to have any type of humanitarian response without being able to coordinate that, neither coordinate between our office in Jerusalem and our office in Gaza, but also with our staff in Gaza who are trying to manage this response. If they can’t get in touch with each other, our operations come to a standstill.

AMY GOODMAN: I want to ask you about a comment of State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, who said it’s too soon to judge whether Israel has been doing enough to protect civilians in Gaza. He was challenged by a veteran Palestinian journalist, Said Arikat. This is a clip.

SAID ARIKAT: And you don’t think that Israel intentionally kills civilians?

MATTHEW MILLER: We think far too many people —

SAID ARIKAT: When you bomb — when you bomb neighborhoods —

MATTHEW MILLER: I have not seen evidence that they are intentionally killing civilians. We believe that far too many civilians have been killed. But again, this goes back to the underlying problem of this entire situation, which is that Hamas has embedded itself inside civilians —

SAID ARIKAT: Come on.

MATTHEW MILLER: — inside civilian homes, inside mosques, in schools, in churches. It is Hamas that is putting these civilians in harm’s way.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you respond to what State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said?

SHAINA LOW: From what we’ve been seeing and hearing, it seems that Israel is not proportionate in its response, is not adhering to international humanitarian law. While there may be legitimate military targets, the principles of humanitarian law of distinction, proportionality and precaution still apply. When 70% of those who are killed are women and children, it seems that proportionality is not being taken into consideration.

Just yesterday, it was reported that Israeli military officials said that they would start employing technology to try and lower the number of civilian deaths. The fact that they’re realizing that they need to lower, and have the ability to lower, the number of civilian deaths would indicate that prior to that, that they were not taking those appropriate precautions. They were not making sure that their attacks were proportionate according to international humanitarian law. And it seems that with the indiscriminate bombardments that are happening, it’s impossible to distinguish between civilian and military objectives.

AMY GOODMAN: Shaina Low, we want to thank you for being with us, communications adviser in Palestine for the Norwegian Refugee Council, has been an daily touch with her colleagues in Gaza, usually several times a day when connectivity allows, has spent much of the last 15 years in Palestine.

New content at THIRD: