Palestine

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/28035946

In mid-March, Google announced that it was paying the staggering sum of $32 billion for the acquisition of the Israeli cloud-computing security company Wiz. The acquisition, pending regulatory approval, will be the largest ever of an Israeli firm.

“Organizations of all sizes—from start-ups and large enterprises to governments and public sector organizations—can use Wiz to protect everything they build and run in the cloud,” Google said in a statement announcing the acquisition. The statement added that Wiz would join Google Cloud, but that the Tel Aviv-based company’s security services would still be available across other cloud platforms used by major firms, including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Oracle Cloud.

What was left unsaid in Google’s announcement, however, were the personal backgrounds of its four founders. The co-founders of Wiz—Yinon Costica, Assaf Rappaport, Ami Luttwak, and Roy Reznik—are all veterans of Unit 8200, the signals intelligence division of the Israeli military, which is playing a key role in helping to carry out Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

The annual exercise, Iniochos 2025, involved F-15s, air combat simulations, and operational coordination. A total of 11 countries took part.

Israel’s participation included intelligence aircraft, a Hercules transport plane, and dozens of ground crews.

Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are among countries whose air forces trained alongside Israel.

France, India, Italy, Poland, Montenegro, Slovenia, and Spain also participated.

The annual exercise also comes after Israel violated the ceasefire agreement with Gaza, killing over 1,000 Palestinians since 18 March.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/28005839

This video shows the situation for Palestinian students on a mild day, i.e. when their town isn't being actively invaded by Israeli forces using lethal force.

Lorenzo Tondo in Jerusalem, Malak A Tantesh in Gaza and Julian Borger
Tue 1 Apr 2025 14.17 EDT

"Dr Ahmed al-Farra, a senior doctor at the Nasser medical complex in Khan Younis, witnessed the arrival of some of the remains.

“I was able to see three bodies when they were transferred to the Nasser hospital. They had bullets in their chest and head. They were executed. They had their hands tied,’’ Farra said. “They tied them so they were unable to move and then they killed them.”"

Germany Turns to U.S. Playbook: Deportations Target Gaza War Protesters (Hanno Hauenstein | The Intercept, 2025-03-31)

https://theintercept.com/2025/03/31/germany-gaza-protesters-deport/
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"Berlin’s immigration authorities are moving to deport four young foreign residents on allegations related to participation in protests against Israel’s war on Gaza, an unprecedented move that raises serious concerns over civil liberties in #Germany.

"The deportation orders, issued under German migration law, were made amid political pressure and over internal objections from the head of the state of #Berlin's immigration agency. The internal strife arose because three of those targeted for deportation are citizens of European Union member states who normally enjoy freedom of movement between E.U. countries."

#Unrechtsstaat #UnlawfulGermany
@palestine@lemmy.ml @palestine@a.gup.pe @israel

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/27946846

Jeremy Scahill Mar 31, 2025

[article contains some details on recent negotiations]

"Hamas’s chief negotiator, Dr. Khalil al-Hayya, announced that Hamas had accepted a deal on Saturday put forward by Qatar and Egypt, the two main regional mediators. “We do not want anything new. We want to respect what was signed, what the guarantors guaranteed, and what the international community approved,” al-Hayya said. “Out of our concern for our people and our families, we dealt with all offers responsibly and positively, with the aim of achieving our goals of stopping the war.” "

from Drop Site News [you may get a request to sign up for free subscription]

Sharif Abdel Kouddous Mar 31, 2025

"The day after the assassination of Palestinian journalist Hossam Shabat, the Israeli military openly celebrated his killing. A correspondent for Al Jazeera Mubasher and a contributor to Drop Site News, Shabat was killed on March 24 when the Israeli military targeted him as he was driving in his car in Beit Lahia. He was 23 years old. Earlier that day, journalist Mohamed Mansour of Palestine Today was killed, along with his wife and son, in an Israeli airstrike on his home in Khan Younis.

On its official X account the following day, the Israeli military confirmed it had “eliminated” Shabat, claiming they had “exposed” his role within Hamas six months earlier, and the statement concluded with the haunting words: “Don’t let the press vest confuse you, Hossam was a terrorist.”"

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/27943543

Lorenzo Tondo in Jerusalem, Malak A Tantesh in Gaza, and Julian Borger
Mon 31 Mar 2025 10.24 EDT

"Fifteen Palestinian paramedics and rescue workers, including at least one United Nations employee, were killed by Israeli forces “one by one” and buried in a mass grave eight days ago in southern Gaza, the UN has said.

According to the UN humanitarian affairs office (Ocha), the Palestinian Red Crescent (PRCS) and civil defence workers were on a mission to rescue colleagues who had been shot at earlier in the day, when their clearly marked vehicles came under heavy Israeli fire in Rafah city’s Tel al-Sultan district. A Red Crescent official in Gaza said that there was evidence of at least one person being detained and killed, as the body of one of the dead had been found with his hands tied."

By Ahmed Aziz in Khan Younis, occupied Palestine and Nader Durgham in Beirut
Published date: 30 March 2025 12:37 BST

“At around 1.30am, we were surprised by bombings that shook the entire area,” he said. “We went to social media, Telegram, Facebook and were shocked to see that the strikes hit my sister, her son, her husband and my two cousins. [The #Israelis] targeted their tent with what I believe was a drone strike, and my sister, her son and my two cousins were martyred.”"

By Fayha Shalash in Ramallah, Palestine
Published date: 30 March 2025 10:20 BST

"The Israeli army has announced plans to change the layout of the Palestinian refugee camps in the cities of Jenin and Tulkarm as part of a large-scale military operation in the northern occupied West Bank that has been ongoing since late January.

The plans aim to completely wipe out the Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams refugee camps, transforming them into neighbourhoods within the two cities, with the goal of preventing them from serving as "incubators for terrorist organisations," the military was quoted as saying by Israeli media."

By Nader Durgham and Alex MacDonald Published date: 29 March 2025 16:36 GMT

"Locals were arrested, vehicles were damaged and the gates to animal pens were breached, allowing sheep to escape.

The attack follows another major one on Friday, during which settlers beat Palestinians with iron bars, resulting in at least two major head injuries.

Israeli forces arrested 22 Palestinians - but no settlers."

HRF Files Formal Complaint Against German-Israeli IDF Soldier, Germany Refuses to Uphold Its Own Laws - The Hind Rajab Foundation (2025-03-29)

https://www.hindrajabfoundation.org/perpetrators/hrf-files-formal-complaint-against-german-israeli-idf-soldier-germany-refuses-to-uphold-its-own-laws
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"The Hind Rajab Foundation has filed a criminal complaint in #Germany against Barel Kriel, a German-Israeli dual national and a tank commander in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), for his involvement in serious war crimes committed during Israel’s military assault on Gaza. Despite the visual and testimonial evidence submitted, the German Prosecution has so far refused to open an investigation—failing to apply both German national law and its obligations under international law."

"Germany has both the jurisdiction and the legal obligation to investigate. By failing to do so, it is signaling that some perpetrators of war crimes enjoy protection—not because of the law, but because of geopolitics.”

#HindRajabFoundation #SelectiveJustice
@palestine@lemmy.ml @palestine@a.gup.pe @israel

Must a Palestinian have an Oscar for the world to care when he’s attacked? (Sleman Altehe | +972 Magazine, 2025-03-25)

https://www.972mag.com/hamdan-ballal-attack-arrest-oscar/
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"When news broke of the settler ambush [on the Palestinian village of Susiya], the headlines focused almost exclusively on one thing: [Hamdan] Ballal’s Oscar win."

"... the emphasis was clear: the assault and detention of a Palestinian is notable because he holds international acclaim."

"Why must a Palestinian’s intellectual recognition be the basis for solidarity? Why does the global media insist on highlighting that Ballal is an Oscar-winning filmmaker?

"This kind of solidarity, grounded in fame or intellectual achievement, dangerously aligns with colonial patterns of recognition. It reproduces the logic that some lives — those legible to Western audiences — are more grievable, more shocking to violate, and more worthy of defense."

#WestBank #HamdanBallal
@palestine@lemmy.ml @palestine@a.gup.pe

It Took an Oscar: How German Media Discovered Settler Violence (The Third Draft - Hanno Hauenstein, 2025-03-29)

https://open.substack.com/pub/hannohauenstein/p/it-took-an-oscar-how-german-media
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“The settler attack on No Other Land co-director Hamdan Ballal rightly sparked outrage. Even Axel Springer’s outlets are covering the West Bank. What’s behind this sudden empathy for a Palestinian?”

“No Other Land recently won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, after receiving an award at the Berlinale last year – followed by a disturbing campaign led by Germany’s right-wing tabloid media, Berlin’s mayor, and the country’s justice and culture ministers, …”

“In much of #Germany’s media coverage this week, the Oscar was the hook: an award-winning filmmaker, attacked by settlers. The headline wrote itself. Unlike so many victims of state-backed Israeli violence – especially in Gaza – Hamdan Ballal was named, quoted, made visible. For once, newsrooms simply spelled out the facts.”

#HamdanBallal #WestBank
@palestine@lemmy.ml @palestine@a.gup.pe

Academy Apologizes for Not Naming Hamdan Ballal Amid Outcry (Variety, 2025-03-28)

https://variety.com/2025/film/awards/academy-members-hamdan-ballal-statement-mark-ruffalo-1236351147/
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“The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has sent out a statement to its 11,000 members following mounting criticism over its lack of public support for Hamdan Ballal, the Palestinian co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary ‘No Other Land,’ who was recently detained by Israeli forces.

“On Friday, the Academy issued a follow-up letter explicitly naming Ballal and apologizing for omitting both him and the film from a statement sent earlier in the week.”

#HamdanBallal #Oscar #NoOtherLand
@palestine@lemmy.ml @palestine@a.gup.pe @israel

By MEE staff. Published date: 28 March 2025 19:51 GMT

Jeremy Scahill Mar 28, 2025

[article contains quotes and viewpoints of #Hamas, #Qatar, and #Egypt.]

Hoda Osman, Farah Jallad, Sofía Álvarez Jurado
March 27 2025, 3:00 a.m.

"Al-Wahidi and his colleagues weren’t the only journalists attacked in Jabalia that day. A kilometer way, about half an hour earlier, Mohammed al-Tanani, a cameraman for Al Aqsa TV, was killed in an airstrike. Tamer Lubbad, the channel’s correspondent, was injured in the same attack. They, too, were in the “yellow” zone designated by the Israeli military, according to Lubbad.

“It’s clear to everyone that we are journalists,” Lubbard said, noting that they were wearing press gear. “We were targeted.”"

Hoda Osman, Youssr Youssef March 27 2025, 3:00 a.m.

"According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ, the war is the deadliest conflict for journalists since the group began keeping records. At least 165 Palestinian journalists have been killed — more than the number of journalists killed during six years of World War II.

As the toll on journalists grew, drone journalists suffered a proportionately huge loss. According to al-Tabatiby, around 10 drone journalists were working in Gaza at the outset of the war. Five have been killed, and one was severely injured."

By Azad Essa
Published date: 27 March 2025 20:05 GMT

"...in the prompts provided by the teacher, Khalil is described as a supporter of terrorism; is accused of having celebrated the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023 on southern Israel; and students who took part in the protests at Columbia University are described as "Hamas students". "

By MEE staff
Published date: 27 March 2025 11:46 GMT

"The Palestinian movement confirmed the death and said that the attack would only strengthen its resistance.

"The occupation's targeting of the movement's leaders and spokespeople will not break our will, but will only increase our determination to continue on the path of liberation," it said.

Qanoua is the latest high profile Hamas figure to be killed since Israel resumed the war last week, in what appears to be a targeted assassination campaign."

Rasha Abou Jalal Mar 27, 2025

"Over the past week, the streets of Gaza City’s western neighborhoods have been transformed into a densely crowded maze of tents, with laundry lines criss-crossing between them and the cacophony of children's voices filling the air. Over 142,000 people were newly displaced across Gaza, according to the United Nations, between March 18 and 23. Many are now living on the streets and in desperate need of food, drinking water, and basic shelter."