Israel #10

Jim Sciutto {CNN} @jimsciutto | 1:49 PM · May 6, 2024:
Breaking: Hamas agrees to ceasefire proposal from Egypt and Qatar.
Israel has received Hamas response

Jim Sciutto {CNN} @jimsciutto | 4:06 PM · May 6, 2024:
Latest: The Israeli Prime Minister's Office has issued a statement saying that the military operation in Rafah will continue. Multiple explosions now reported in Rafah area.

Gershon Baskin🟣 جرشون باسكين גרשון בסקין @gershonbaskin | 3:55 PM · May 6, 2024 {X}:
Middle East Director, Int'l Communities Organization -ICO, Author, Negotiator, Award winning Times of Israel Columnist and Al Quds Newspaper

It seems that Netanyahu may be trying to sabotage the deal even before the cabinet gets the details and votes on it. The Israeli military operation going on right now (almost 11:00 pm Israel time) is clearly aimed at pushing Hamas to withdraw its agreement for a ceasefire. Netanyahu, it appears, is once again putting his own political self interests ahead of the country and ahead of the Israeli hostages. If this is true, Netanyahu is dangerous to Israel and Netanyahu must go!

Benjamin needs this war to stay in power.....his right wing allies will pull the rug from out under him if he tries to stop it but I don't think he's ever really wanted to anyway. They're in sync with each other even if sometimes his allies might feel the need to warn him. The United States helps him by continuing to send war material to murder and maim what are mostly civilians......children, women, men, the elderly etc. Watching this from afar is beyond grotesque. I have to wonder what kind of bubble Biden is living in not to see this mass murder campaign for what it is.

Just a note in passing. Yes, the timing is probably political (in the face of major protests). But it's refreshing to be outside whatever bubble Biden inhabits.

Colombia to cut diplomatic ties with Israel over Gaza war, Petro says
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/1/colombia-to-cut-diplomatic-ties-with-isr...

>2 lriley: By "right wing allies", I assume you're referring to Hamas?

US pauses shipment of bombs Israel could use in Rafah
Lara Seligman | 05/07/2024

The decision comes amid international outrage over civilian deaths.

...The weapons shipment in question contains 1,800 2,000-lb bombs and 1,700 500-lb bombs, the official said. The administration has not made a final decision on whether to proceed with the shipment...

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/07/us-pauses-shipment-of-bombs-israel-coul...
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Israeli military appears to play down US arms shipment hold-up
Reuters | 8 May 2024

Chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari described coordination between Israel and the United States as reaching 'a scope without precedent, I think, in history'.

...The Israeli military appeared ... to play down an arms shipment hold-up by a US administration troubled at this week's operation in the southern Gazan city of Rafah, saying the allies resolve any disagreements "behind closed doors...

https://www.deccanherald.com/world/israeli-military-appears-to-play-down-us-arms...

{margd: Reuters photo of a field of military vehicles reminded me of Dad's observation from Sinai posting in mid-20th c. He described Palestinian as little guy with a donkey and Israelis as Europeans in jeeps. Now Israelis in military vehicles and Gazans in Rafah in tents? :( }

Sure hope Israeli operation in Rafah is nothing more than pressuring Hamas in negotiations and will soon end--not just smashing the last buildings still standing. Gazans looked so happy in that brief moment when ceasefire was announced ... especially cruel to then send them scrambling once again...

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus @DrTedros | 9:07 AM · May 8, 2024 {X}:
Director-General of the World Health Organization.

One of the three hospitals in Rafah, Al-Najjar, is no longer functioning due to the ongoing hostilities in its vicinity and the military operation in Rafah.

The closure of the border crossing continues to prevent the UN from bringing fuel. Without fuel all humanitarian operations will stop. Border closures are also impeding delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Hospitals in the south of #Gaza only have three days of fuel left, which means services may soon come to a halt.

At a time when fragile humanitarian operations urgently require expansion, the Rafah military operation is further limiting our ability to reach thousands of people who have been living in dire conditions without adequate food, sanitation, health services and security. This must stop now.

>6 margd: What I'm expecting is another bloodbath.

There are some noises that the Biden Administration is holding up some of some of the arms shipments such as the 2000 lb. bombs. Hopefully but honestly for me it's like we've been here before numerous times. The 35,000 dead Palestinian numbers have been stable for some time but what Israel would call Hamas numbers.....well Hamas would get those numbers from Gaza's civil authority particularly from the hospital system and that's all destroyed. If there's nobody to count deaths and casualties they don't get counted. They were undercounts anyway in that those who disappeared under rubble weren't counted before and they're still under and they're dead....some buried alive, kids and little children too.....as well the IDF's recent assaults on hospitals left hundreds dead and missing. Mass graves then found later of doctors, nurses, patients some still attached to hospital lines like they were taken right off their beds, many also with their hands bound behind......pretty much mass executions. There's been nothing humane about the world's most moral army and any claim of supporting human rights by those supporting this genocide are just lies.

FWIW I'm a boomer and might not be around 10/15/20 years from now when this will be looked back upon with universal condemnation (in most of the world it already is looked at that way) and eventually it's going to get there. There is a point to at least try to be on the right side of things.

Trinity College Dublin agrees to divest from Israeli firms after student protest (Guardian)

Five-day encampment in university grounds that caused the college major loss of income ended in victory for campaigners...

Biden PANICS Over Israel's Genocide
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIxkI6HREHA
Owen Jones is particularly trenchant in this one.

The New York Times @nytimes | 1:10 AM · May 9, 2024 {X}:

New satellite imagery taken after Israeli forces pushed into Rafah shows widespread damage to the southern Gaza city — including large areas of flattened structures — and clusters of Israeli armored vehicles.

Satellite photo (https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1788436267694223494)
From nytimes.com

Just a bit of hypocrisy. The Israeli govt. is destroying Bedouin homes in the Negev desert. Ben Gvir claiming they are 'illegal constructions'. The law is the law. 'The police will fight anyone who seizes land and tries to build another reality on the ground' he says. No reason to worry though......illegal settlements and the stealing of parts of the West Bank by Jewish settlers is still totally fine.

>5 margd: contd.

"Israeli officials have slammed the United States and have descended into a bout of infighting over US President Joe Biden’s remarks that he would halt some shipments of American weapons to Israel if a full-scale ground operation is launched into the city of Rafah...The announcement has also exposed the deep divisions between Israel’s various political parties. "

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/09/middleeast/biden-weapons-deliveries-israel-reacti...

Closure of Rafah crossing imperils humanitarian aid in Gaza
Copy link
Mariano Zafra and Jon McClure | 9 May 2024

After Israel began ground operations in Rafah, a move staunchly opposed by most Western allies, the flow of critical aid into Gaza has ground to a near halt...

https://www.reuters.com/graphics/ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS/MAPS/movajdladpa/#closure-o...
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First shipment of aid to the US-built floating pier in Gaza departs from Cyprus

MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS and SAM MEDNICK
Updated 9:38 AM EDT, May 9, 2024

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A shipment of humanitarian aid left a port in Cyprus on Thursday morning and was on its way to the U.S-built pier in Gaza, the first delivery to the newly built ramp, Cyprus’ foreign minister said...

https://apnews.com/article/cyprus-aid-shipment-gaza-c2f2545739b7c9499476e6b4cfa9...
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World Central Kitchen Resuming Gaza Operations
April 28, 2024

...We will continue to get as much food into Gaza, including northern Gaza, as possible—by land, air, or sea. We have 276 trucks, with the equivalent of almost 8 million meals, ready to enter through the Rafah Crossing. We’ll also send trucks from Jordan. We’re exploring the maritime corridor and utilizing the Ashdod Port. In addition to 68 community kitchens, we’re building a third high production kitchen in Mawasi (the other two are in Rafah and Deir al-Balah). The Mawasi Kitchen is affectionately known as Damian’s* Kitchen, being built to his favorite saying, "No Problems, Only Solutions."...

https://wck.org/news/chefs-for-gaza

* one of 7 WCK staff killed by IDF

A couple days ago Biden was slamming college protestors (a large % of whom are Jewish and also Arabic....another Semitic group, just saying) as anti-semitic. Then he goes on TV and says he's going to pause weapons shipments to Israel if the IDF invades Rafah which they already were doing that. What to make of that other than that there's quite a lot of cognitive dissonance I would say here though by this point I'm used to all these unheeded warnings from us to them. Politicos on both sides---particularly the Republican side coming out against Biden on this. Just to say something about our political representatives and their dual loyalties. So the declared Zionist Joe is an anti-semite now? Meanwhile Ben Gvir comes out with a twitter post.....Biden loves Hamas. So there you go. You bend over backwards for these right wing fascists and they kick you in the ass. And all your 'friends' on the other side of the aisle and some of those on your own are there to cheer you getting your ass handed to you.

.....and then we get the following......'Senior Israeli officials warning the U.S. (that's our govt.) that the Biden Administration's decision to pause a (that's one single) weapons shipment could jeopardize hostage negotiations'. Parsing through that I conclude that they need the weapons to continue the war to get their hostages back because they've never really seemed interested in negotiating about anything. Their ambition is to destroy Hamas and take the territory....not negotiate with them.....that's pretty clear and that they'll kill or displace the entire population to accomplish that. Even if the remaining hostages are all released they intend to resume their war. As for the hostages. It's 7 months----they've been bombed no doubt multiple times like the rest of the population in the Strip. Food, water, sanitation, hospitals, medicine are all severely compromised if not wiped out and some of the hostages are middle aged or older. How many of them are still alive is one question.....another question is how much the ruling govt. of Israel really wants them back?---because they've been useful to whip up the Israeli population throughout to keep the war going and the hostages they got back earlier made it clear they weren't too happy about being bombed by the IDF and were more often than not negative on Netanyahu and gang.

Unrwa Jerusalem HQ closed after ‘Israeli extremist’ arson attack (Guardian)

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has temporarily closed its East Jerusalem headquarters after “Israeli extremists” set fire to the perimeter following weeks of repeated attacks. “This evening, Israeli residents set fire twice to the perimeter of the Unrwa headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem,” the head of the agency, Philippe Lazzarini, said on X, lamenting that it was the second attack on the compound in a matter of days. He said: “A crowd accompanied by armed men were witnessed outside the compound chanting ‘Burn down the United Nations’.” Unrwa and staff from other UN agencies were on the compound, which has on its grounds petrol and diesel stations for a fleet of UN cars. “While there were no casualties among our staff, the fire caused extensive damage to the outdoor areas,” Lazzaroni said, adding that Unrwa staff had put out the fire themselves. The attack came after two months of “Israeli extremists staging protests outside the Unrwa compound”, he said. One protest earlier this week “became violent when demonstrators threw stones at UN staff and at the buildings of the compound”, he said. Thursday’s arson attempts marked “an outrageous development”, Lazzarini said. “Once again, the lives of UN staff were at a serious risk”... The Unrwa chief said that “over the past months, UN staff have regularly been subjected to harassment and intimidation”. “Our compound has been seriously vandalised and damaged. On several occasions, Israeli extremists threatened our staff with guns”...

UN general assembly calls on Security Council to admit Palestine as member (BBC)

The United Nations General Assembly has enhanced Palestine's rights within the organisation and called for it to be accepted as a member. Palestine has had non-member observer state status since 2012, which allows some rights short of a full member. Membership can only be decided upon by the UN Security Council. The US recently vetoed a bid for full membership, but Friday's vote can be seen as a gesture of support for the Palestinians... several European countries plan to recognise a Palestinian state... Friday's UN resolution confers additional rights on Palestine at the world body, allowing it to take part fully in debates, propose agenda items and have its representatives elected to committees. It will still not, however, have the right to cast a vote - something the General Assembly does not have the power to grant and would have to be backed by the Security Council... According to the Reuters news agency, Palestinian statehood has been recognised by 139 out of 193 UN member states - although this is largely seen as symbolic... Security Council resolutions are legally binding, whereas General Assembly resolutions are not.

UN general assembly votes to back Palestinian bid for membership (Guardian)

Assembly votes 143 to nine, with 25 abstentions, signalling Israel’s growing isolation on the world stage...

US finds Israel’s use of weapons in Gaza ‘inconsistent’ with human rights law, but will not cut flow of arms (Guardian)

The US says it is “reasonable to assess” that the weapons it has provided to Israel have been used in ways that are “inconsistent” with international human rights law, but that there is not enough concrete evidence to link specific US-supplied weapons to violations or warrant cutting the supply of arms... In Israel’s case, the report expresses deep misgivings about Israeli compliance but says the US does not have sufficient evidence about individual cases to recommend that US arms supplies be suspended...

The students protesting in Dublin are on the right side of history – and they know it (Guardian)

With their success in persuading their university to divest from Israeli companies, they join a rich tradition of student activists...

#16--It took 7 months for the United States to decide that weapons that we've been sending to Israel have been used inconsistently with human rights laws? Really? 7 months......watching one horror after another day after day. Holding up one arms shipment now. Holding it up.....not meaning the IDF won't get it. Holding this shipment up and saying not enough evidence to link the dropping of 2000 lb. bombs on civilian homes and living structures? when it's been all over the internet from any number of sources for months and months. When pretty much half or more of the standing buildings in the Gaza are not fit for living in now if they're not altogether reduced to rubble. Hospitals all destroyed or severely damaged. Schools all destroyed or severely damaged. The Israeli govt. demanding more and more weapons from us to continue this assault. What the United States is saying here is coming out both sides of its mouth......'reasonable to assess' but we're not sure. The ICC was pretty sure.....they have all kinds of evidence and warnings to nations who won't stop supporting a genocide. At the same we're refusing to budge on Palestine statehood at the UN.

It's interesting our congress too. Some republicans want to impeach because of this one holdup of weapons. Lawmakers on both sides are mad though and demanding more bloodshed. What's happened isn't enough for them. But it's also the more bloodshed means more help from the Israeli state for their elections. That's what really matters most for any number of our lawmakers. My guess is Biden is somewhat worried now though about all the possible voters he might lose. He's absurdly referenced many young voters protesting this genocide as anti-semites, more or less saying those arrested are haters and deserve it. Our younger people here, lots and lots of them, of all faiths including the Jewish faith in large numbers.....the same young people who are the backbone that have been driving the get out the vote campaigns for the democrats for decades. But now some of the pro-Israel democratic voters are upset too over this one shipment and among them are many of Biden's largest donors. So there we go. I wonder why this administration couldn't have seen the Israeli response all the way back in October was way out of hand and took charge and put the Israelis in their place because someone needed to. They depend on us for support and not the other way around. We don't need weapons or financial help from them.

Song of the now.
MACKLEMORE - HIND'S HALL (AUDIO ONLY)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmg6vbt04TY

At least eight Israeli strikes on Gaza aid groups since October, says report (Guardian)

Israeli forces have carried out at least eight strikes on humanitarian convoys and their facilities in Gaza since October, even after aid organisations provided their coordinates to the Israeli authorities, according to a report by Human Rights Watch. HRW said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) did not issue warnings to the aid organisations before the strikes, which killed or injured at least 31 people...

Israeli public opinion is shifting on the Gaza war – but this may make Netanyahu even more reckless (Guardian)

At 7.40pm on Monday 6 May, Hamas issued a statement saying that it had accepted a ceasefire proposal offered by Qatari and Egyptian mediators. Spontaneous demonstrations, led by the relatives of Israelis who were kidnapped on 7 October, broke out in Tel Aviv and elsewhere in Israel, calling for the government to accept the deal. At 10pm on the same night came the first reports from Rafah indicating that the long awaited and feared Israeli attack had begun. In a nutshell, this sequence of events reflects the contradictory situation in which Israel finds itself: on the one hand, growing voices saying that the only way to bring back the hostages is to end the war, a demand that was almost a taboo until just a few weeks ago; and on the other, the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, reluctant to accept any end to the war, claiming that the only way to bring back the hostages is through military pressure, in Rafah and elsewhere...

>19 John5918:

Earlier, UNWRA was attacked in E Jerusalem while Israeli authorities stood by. UNWRA staff extinguished flames themselves. Note passive voice in DW's tweet:

DW News @dwnews | 5:49 AM · May 14, 2024
A UN staff member was killed and another injured in Rafah on Monday when their UN-marked vehicle was struck on its way to a hospital in the area. UN chief Guterres called for a "full investigation."
Photo of UN-marked vehicle (https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1790318419427938594/photo/1)

david🔻roser @5th_davidroser | 5:50 AM · May 14, 2024:
Who struck them, DW, you cowards!

Concerned Jewish Faculty Against Antisemitism

The Statement* from Concerned Jewish Faculty against Antisemitism was written on Friday, May 3rd, 2024, two days after the House of Representatives passed the Antisemitism Awareness Act. The Statement drew more than 1000 signatures in its first week.

...The signatories are scholars of different generations and hold a variety of political views. They represent the diversity of U.S. higher education from community colleges to the Ivy League. They include numerous winners of Macarthur, Pulitzer, and Guggenheim fellowships and prizes.

You can read the full statement here.*
https://concernedjewishfaculty.org/
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* We accordingly urge our political leaders to reject any effort to codify into federal law a definition of antisemitism that conflates antisemitism with criticism of the state of Israel. This includes ongoing efforts to codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, which has been internationally criticized for conflating antisemitism with legitimate criticism of Israel.

We hold varied opinions on Israel. Whatever our differences, we oppose the IHRA’s definition of antisemitism. If imported into federal law, the IHRA definition will delegitimize and silence Jewish Americans–among others–who advocate for Palestinian human rights or otherwise criticize Israeli policies. By stifling criticism of Israel, the IHRA definition hardens the dangerous notion that Jewish identity is inextricably linked to every decision of Israel’s government. Far from combating antisemitism, this dynamic promises to amplify the real threats Jewish Americans already face.

If our leaders are earnestly concerned with antisemitism, they should join hundreds of Jewish scholars from across the globe who have endorsed alternative definitions of antisemitism–such as those contained in the Nexus Document or Jerusalem Declaration. Unlike the IHRA definition, these documents offer meaningful tools to combat antisemitism without undermining Jewish safety and civil rights by insulating Israel from legitimate criticism.

{Signatories}
https://concernedjewishfaculty.org/

National Security Memorandum on Safeguards and Accountability With Respect to Transferred Defense Articles and Defense Services
White House | February 08, 2024
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2024/02/08/nationa...
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Report to Congress under Section 2 of the National Security Memorandum on Safeguards and Accountability with Respect to Transferred Defense Articles and Defense Services (NSM-20)
{Unclassified Version. 46 p}

{Israel, pp 18-32}

https://www.justsecurity.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Report-to-Congress-under...
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US report finds possible Israeli violations of international law in Gaza
Aljazeera | 10 May 2024

A report from the administration of President Joe Biden has found that Israeli forces likely used United States-supplied weapons in a manner “inconsistent” with international law, but it stopped short of identifying violations that would put an end to the ongoing military aid.

In the report, released on Friday after a delay, the US State Department indicated Israel did not provide adequate information to verify whether US weapons were used in possible violations of international law during its war in Gaza.

...Overall, the report said that US intelligence agencies have “no direct indication of Israel intentionally targeting civilians”, but they assessed that “Israel could do more to avoid civilian harm”.

In addition, the State Department pledged to continue to monitor the situation in Gaza, particularly with regards to the delivery of aid.

“This is an ongoing assessment and we will continue to monitor and respond to any challenges to the delivery of aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza moving forward.”...

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/10/us-report-punts-on-possible-israeli-vio...
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Bernie Sanders says Israel shouldn't receive 'another nickel' in US military aid after State Dept. report
Danielle Wallace | May 12, 2024

Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders claims Israel becoming 'pariah nation,' broke international law

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bernie-sanders-israel-shouldnt-receive-another-...

Egypt joins ICJ case against Israel as one official warns Rafah op puts peace at risk
Lazar Berman and AP |12 May 2024|

As IDF deepens action in city, Cairo escalates pressure on Jerusalem to pull back troops; at the same time, country’s FM insists peace treaty {1978 Camp David Accord} is ‘core pillar of regional stability’

...Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry...“The peace agreement with Israel has been Egypt’s strategic choice for 40 years, and it represents a core pillar of peace in the region for peace and stability,” he said, adding that there are mechanisms for adjudicating violations of the agreement.

...the decision (to support South Africa’s ongoing lawsuit in the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza) “comes in light of the worsening severity and scope of Israeli attacks against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, and the continued perpetration of systematic practices against the Palestinian people, including direct targeting of civilians and the destruction of infrastructure in the Strip, and pushing Palestinians to flee.”

...Egypt has said it would not open its borders to allow large numbers of Gazans to escape the fighting...

...The Wall Street Journal reported in February that Egyptian officials had warned the decades-long peace treaty between Egypt and Israel could be suspended if Israel Defense Forces’ troops were to enter Rafah, or if any of Rafah’s refugees are forced southward into the Sinai Peninsula.

In an effort to forestall a massive influx of refugees, Egypt has stationed tanks near its border with Gaza, after reinforcing the border wall since the beginning of the war, both structurally and with surveillance equipment...

https://www.timesofisrael.com/egypt-warns-rafah-op-puts-peace-treaty-at-risk-joi...
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Egypt deals ‘diplomatic blow’ to Israel by joining ICJ genocide case (1:21)
Aljazeera | 12 May 2024

...Israel’s former foreign minister tells Al Jazeera it represents an ‘unbelievable diplomatic blow to Israel’.

https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2024/5/12/egypt-deals-diplomatic-blow...

DW News @dwnews | 4:29 PM · May 15, 2024:

Israeli activists said "Jewish terrorists" threw away aid meant for Gaza after witnessing far-right settlers attack a humanitarian convoy.

1:23 (https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1790841934723870956)

Barak Ravid @BarakRavid | 2:40 PM · May 18, 2024:
Political reporter for Axios covering foreign policy & the 2024 election. CNN analyst. Washington correspondent for Walla. Author of Trump's Peace.

BREAKING: Israeli War Cabinet member Benny Gantz gives an ultimatum to Netanyahu and says his party will leave the government if the cabinet doesn't approve a strategy for the war in Gaza by June 8

Netanyahu rejects Gantz's ultimatum. In his statement Netanyahu made clear he is against a Palestinian state as part of normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia

The apex of the event came when the pope embraced Maoz Inon, an Israeli whose parents were killed in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, and Aziz Sarah, a Palestinian, whose brother was killed in the war. Calling them “brothers,” Francis proceeded to hug each, calling the embrace “a project for the future.” This was met by a thunderous standing vocation, but followed by a moment of silence for the victims of the war.

(link)

>25 margd: contd.

Israel has no plan for Gaza after Hamas rule, the Israeli defense chief says
Daniel Estrin | May 16, 2024

How the controversy began
Israel's far-right dream: settlements in Gaza
Netanyahu's political bind

https://www.npr.org/2024/05/16/1251564884/israel-gaza-day-after-gallant-netanyah...
-----------------------------------

"...In his speech and in a letter to Netanyahu on Saturday {5/1/2024}, Gantz presented a six-point plan he demanded the prime minister adopt by June 8:
1. Prioritizing the return of Israeli hostages from Gaza;
2. returning Israeli civilians displaced by fighting near the restive Lebanon border to their homes by September;
3. advancing a normalization deal for diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia;
4. creating a governing body, overseen by the U.S., European and Arab parties, and unspecified Palestinians, to manage Gaza's civilian affairs after the war; and
5. agreeing to a law for equal military and national service including ultra-Orthodox Jews who have long been exempt..."
{6?? ending Hamas's rule??}

https://www.npr.org/2024/05/18/1252325103/member-of-israeli-war-cabinet-threaten...
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{margd: With Israel manning crossing points on the Gaza side, Egypt must fear 2,000 lb bombs opening up the border so that thousands of traumatized, hungry Gazans can pour through. Could that be what Israel has in mind?}

Uh oh? Did Israel chose this time and place? Threat of wider war would save Nethanyahu's skin--once again... No plausible denial, if, for example, Russia did it, say, to distract US??

Anton Gerashchenko @Gerashchenko_en | 9:14 AM · May 19, 2024:

⚡️A helicopter carrying the Iranian president Ibrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, crashed. The president and minister were returning from a visit to Azerbaijan, media report.

No information on their condition yet. Rescue services trying to reach them.

Photos (https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1792181960187555893/photo/1)
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Gantz says Israel will respond to Iran ‘in the place, time and manner it chooses’
Sam Sokol | 16 April 2024
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/gantz-says-israel-will-respond-to-i...
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ETA
DW News tweeted: One of the helicopters in the convoy carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi made a "hard landing" on Sunday. It is unclear whether Raisi was on board.

Iran: Helicopter in presidential convoy in 'hard landing'
DW | {5/19/2024} 43 minutes ago

...helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was involved in an "accident" in the north of the country...

Jolfa is located about 600 kilometers (375 miles) northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran, on the border with Azerbaijan.

The helicopter was carrying (President) Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, East Azarbaijan Governor Malek Rahmati and several other passengers, state media reported.

...rescue and relief teams have been dispatched to the area and search operations are continuing. However, foggy weather and the inaccessibility of the area have hampered search efforts.

...Raisi was in Azerbaijan early Sunday to inaugurate a dam with the neighboring country's president, Ilham Aliyev. The dam is the third built by the two nations on the Aras River...

https://www.dw.com/en/iran-helicopter-in-presidential-convoy-in-hard-landing/a-6...
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ETA: Could crash have been weather-related?

Faytuks News @Faytuks | 9:54 AM · May 19, 2024:

IRNA has released footage of rescue workers trying to locate the helicopter carrying Iran's president after it suffered an accident

0:21 (https://x.com/Faytuks/status/1792192211834286292)
https://t.me/irna_1313/283983

>28 margd: It could be Israel but it also could be just what it appears on face---a helicopter going down in bad weather. Either way I don't think it serves a good purpose. Politicos and a lot of people in the West and in Israel/Saudi Arabia have a thing about Iran and lots of pols and media are always at work trying to stoke the fire---keep their populations enraged while not talking or doing the diplomacy that they should be doing to bring the temperature down. It's like we need other countries and their peoples to hate. We've also the nonsense idea that just by being us we're the good guys and all of our perceived/manufactured enemies are the bad ones.

>29 lriley: Maybe...Iranian president lives? Fingers so crossed that it was demonstrably an accident!

Anton Gerashchenko @Gerashchenko_en | 9:53 AM · May 19, 2024:
Media reports appeared that president of Iran is fine and is continuing his travel by vehicle.

ETA:
The New York Times tweeted at 10:21 AM · May 19, 2024:
Breaking News: A helicopter carrying Iran’s president and foreign minister crashed, but is yet to be found, state media said. Their status is unknown.
President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran, who was with the country’s foreign minister on a helicopter that crashed on Sunday, according to Iran’s state media.