Israel’s war on Gaza live: Central Gaza ‘massacre’ by Israel kills dozens

Lebanon’s civil defence says two of its paramedics have been killed in an Israeli air strike on a healthcare centre in Lebanon’s southern town of Bint Jbeil.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry strongly condemned Thursday’s deadly attack, which also resulted in the complete destruction of the civil defence facility, along with damage to a number of ambulances belonging to the centre.

Namibia’s Justice Minister Yvonne Dausab has taken the floor at the ICJ, demanding the court recognises Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories as illegal.

She made the following points:

• “Namibia considers it a moral duty and a sacred responsibility to appear before this court” and address the question of the “indefensible occupation of Palestine by Israel.”
• The parallels between Palestine and Namibia are “striking and painful”. Instead of exerting their right to govern themselves, “Palestinians and Namibians suffered the loss of human dignity … and the outright theft of their land and natural resources”.
• Namibia still suffers from the effects of a long and unlawful occupation. The ICJ “played a vital role in our liberation struggle”. In its 1971 opinion, the court confirmed the right to self-determination as a “legal imperative”, paving the way to Namibia’s independence in 1990.
• Because of Namibia’s experience with apartheid, “we cannot look the other way in the face of the brutal atrocities committed against the Palestinian people”. We ask the court “not to look away either”, she added.

Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu has presented the security cabinet with a document regarding the “management” of Gaza after the war, the Times of Israel has reported.

Here are its main points:

• The Israeli army will continue the war in Gaza until it achieves its goals: the dismantlement of military capabilities and infrastructure operated by Hamas and Islamic Jihad; the return of all captives abducted on October 7; and the removal of all security threats originating from Gaza.
• Once the war ends, Gaza will be run by “local officials” who are not tied to “countries or entities that support terrorism”. It is unclear whether representatives of the Palestinian Authority will be involved.
• Israel will promote a “de-radicalisation plan … in all religious, educational and welfare institutions in Gaza” with the involvement of “Arab countries that have experience in promoting de-radicalisation”.
• The plan envisions Gaza’s “complete demilitarisation … beyond what is required for the needs of maintaining public order”.
• Israel will only allow the reconstruction of Gaza to begin after the completion of the Gaza’s de-militarisation and the commencement of a “de-radicalisation process”.
• The Israeli army will maintain indefinitely the freedom to intervene in Gaza to prevent the resurgence of “terror activity”.
• Israel will continue to establish a security buffer zone on the Palestinian side of the Strip’s border that will remain in place “as long as there is a security need for it”.
• Israel will enforce a “southern closure” on the border between Egypt and Gaza with assistance from the US and in cooperation with Egypt “as much as possible”.
• Israel will maintain security control “over the entire area west of Jordan” from the land, air and sea to “thwart threats” from the occupied West Bank.
• The UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, will be shut.
• Israel rejects any international dictates regarding a permanent settlement with the Palestinians, which should only be reached through direct negotiations between the parties, and will continue to oppose the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, which it views as a “reward for terror”.

Blood all over his face, eyes swollen, Ramadan Shamlakh arrived at a hospital after passersby found him struggling to walk southwards from northern Gaza.

The 21-year-old man said he had endured beatings, a stripping and a war crime – he was used as a human shield – by Israeli soldiers when they raided his family home in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood.

“We were telling them that we are civilians and it is not our fault, but to no avail,” the young man said, while receiving treatment at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.

After a period of torture and interrogation, the soldiers who had raided his home ordered Shamlakh to take off his clothes, remain in his underwear, and head south.

“I was walking with great difficulty, my body bleeding and my face coated in blood. The cold chilled me to the bone, and I shivered uncontrollably.”

The Palestinian presidency has rejected Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan for the future of Gaza, saying it continues Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories and prevents the establishment of a Palestinian state.

“Gaza will only be part of the independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, and any plans other than that are doomed to failure, and Israel will not succeed in its attempts to change the geographical reality,” said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the official spokesman for the presidency.

He added that if “the world wants there to be security and stability in the region”, it must end the occupation and recognise an independent Palestinian state.

Netanyahu has presented a plan for the future of Gaza which envisions the installation of “local officials” to govern the Palestinian enclave and for an “indefinite freedom to operate” the presence of the Israeli military, the Times of Israel reported earlier.

This is a new Maariv poll. That’s a newspaper group here in Israel. They’d commissioned looking at what would happen if a general election was held today. Of the 120 Knesset seats, only 18, according to this poll, would end up in the hands of Likud party members. That’s Netanyahu’s party.

There would be a much larger series of seats available to Benny Gantz’s party. He would become the largest party leader under this poll. And the right-wing party, as part of the portfolio of Itamar Ben-Gvir, the leader of that party, and the national security minister, they also look like they would increase their share of votes and their share of seats inside the Knesset.

There’s a huge amount of variables before there is a next general election. We don’t know when that will be. Over the next few days, there will be local municipal election and analysts are telling us that those are historically a very good indicator of what will happen down the road, come a general election.

Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/23/israels-war-on-gaza-live-local-authorities-report-central-gaza-massacre