Middle East ......

Halifax2TheMax

War crimes being committed by Israel.

UN declares famine in Gaza; 2 people starve to death in 24 hours

• Two Palestinians have starved to death in Gaza in the past 24 hours, which also saw 71 people killed in Israeli attacks across the enclave, according to the territory’s Health Ministry.
• A UN classification system used to determine access to food has officially declared famine in Gaza, saying more than half a million Palestinians are facing catastrophic famine conditions, which include starvation, destitution and death.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2025/8/22/deadly-strikes-continue-as-netanyahu-finalises-plan-to-seize-gaza-city

Halifax2TheMax

AI Unit 8200. Let this sink in. Keep living the lie. Since 1948.

We didn’t understand the goals of the war’: Israel’s inflated Hamas death toll shows lack of strategy in Gaza

‘War dashboard’ showing number of militants killed was objective in itself with no plan for how Gaza could be governed afterwards, say sources in elite Unit 8200

We didn’t understand the goals of the war’: Israel’s inflated Hamas death toll shows lack of strategy in Gaza

‘War dashboard’ showing number of militants killed was objective in itself with no plan for how Gaza could be governed afterwards, say sources in elite Unit 8200

As Israel gears up for a new offensive in Gaza, figures from a classified database suggest the country’s political and military leadership has for two years misled their country and the world about a war that has overwhelmingly killed civilians.

In May this year, Israel’s military intelligence database of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters had 47,653 names. Of them, 8,900 were marked as killed, or probably killed, a joint investigation by the Guardian, the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call has found.

That is less than one in five of the total, and far below figures given publicly by politicians and military commanders, who have given tolls more than double that number, varying between 17,000 and 20,000 for the same period.

An intelligence team reviewing militant casualties concluded that the database probably undercounted the total “by a little” but the significantly higher figures given publicly were “inaccurate”, several intelligence sources said.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/22/israel-defence-forces-war-strategy-hamas-gaza

Halifax2TheMax

Nope. No genocide here. Just normal peace loving Israeli actions. Because, you know, Palestinians from the West Bank had nothing to do with 10/7 and are treated oh so very well, eh? Paid for with US tax dollars, of course.

Israeli military uproots thousands of Palestinian olive trees in West Bank

Israeli destruction in al-Mughayyir near Ramallah is part of push to forcibly displace Palestinians, researcher says.

The Israeli military has destroyed about 3,000 olive trees in a village near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, the head of the local council says, as Palestinians face a continued wave of violence across the territory in the shadow of Israel’s war on Gaza.

The Israeli military issued an order on Saturday to uproot olive trees in a 0.27sq-km (0.1sq-mile) area in al-Mughayyir, a village of about 4,000 residents northeast of Ramallah.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/23/israeli-military-uproots-thousands-of-palestinian-olive-trees-in-west-bank

gimmesometruth27

its just criminal cruelty at this point. and we are complicit in it.

josevolution

Remember during the presidential campaign when all those people who didn’t think Biden was doing enough for Palestinian’s said they wouldn’t vote for him! I wonder how they feel now? This administration hasn’t lifted a finger to help them instead has giving Netanyahu Carter blanch on the treatment of civilians 

gimmesometruth27

josevolution said:

Remember during the presidential campaign when all those people who didn’t think Biden was doing enough for Palestinian’s said they wouldn’t vote for him! I wonder how they feel now? This administration hasn’t lifted a finger to help them instead has giving Netanyahu Carter blanch on the treatment of civilians 

perhaps these voters wanted bibi to have carte blanche and are now happy that he got it?

Tim Simmons

josevolution said:

Remember during the presidential campaign when all those people who didn’t think Biden was doing enough for Palestinian’s said they wouldn’t vote for him! I wonder how they feel now? This administration hasn’t lifted a finger to help them instead has giving Netanyahu Carter blanch on the treatment of civilians 

I dont think they were under the impression that they would get what they want from Trump

mickeyrat

“I cannot forget a minute of that day. When I tell you this, it is like I’m seeing it in front of my face on a movie screen. At 3 AM drones appeared outside the windows of the hospital. Most of my colleagues had already fled. I forgive all of them; few beliefs can override the desire to save one’s own soul. But I could not leave. There were hundreds of patients, and few medical staff remaining. If the last of us left, these patients would have died. The hospital staff assembled in the lobby where we were stripped, handcuffed, blindfolded, and marched into the freezing night. Beneath my blindfold I could see hundreds of fighters with machine guns. I could hear the screams of my colleagues being beaten. My fear was so high I was close to cardiac arrest. Someone speaking weak Arabic put a gun to my head and told me I’d never see my children again. He asked: ‘Where is Hamas? Where are the Hostages?’ I told him: ‘I’m just a nurse; I disagree entirely with October 7th.’ But these guys did not care. They beat us all. The lorries came to transport us to the detention center. At the door of the lorry stood the strongest of their fighters, body-builders. And before entering each detainee received the three hardest punches we will ever receive in our lives. When we arrived we were made to lie on the ground, and they put dogs on us. The dogs had muzzles, but we could not see through our blindfolds. All around me was barking and screaming; I thought my colleagues were being eaten. I was detained for several weeks. The conditions were so bad I prayed to die. One of the prison guards, exactly one, I can accept as my neighbor. The rest had hatred in their eyes. Some spoke English; so I tried to reason with them. I pointed out that half of the detainees had debilitating medical conditions. Some were eighty years old. One man was mentally incapacitated. I asked the guards: ‘How could these people possibly be Hamas?’ But for every claim—they’d have a response. Some reason all of us were guilty. Even when I said: ‘I’m a nurse,’ they replied: ‘Oh, so you treated terrorists.’ To them, every Palestinian deserves to suffer. And nothing you say—nothing-- will convince them otherwise.”

---------------------------------

This anonymous story is part of a series I am doing on the Palestinian staff of Médecins Sans Frontières / MSF (Doctors Without Borders) in Gaza. This man shared his story to bring attention to all of his colleagues who remain in arbitrary detention. It was an excruciatingly difficult decision, as his identity can only be hidden so much, and the Israeli military is currently preparing to enter Gaza City in the next stage of its much-bragged-about genocidal campaign to ethnically cleanse the Palestinian people. “This time,” says security cabinet minister Eli Cohen, ‘We should turn Gaza City into a city of ruins.’

Halifax2TheMax

What is Israel trying to prevent from being reported? Couldn’t possibly be crimes against humanity, could it?

Al Jazeera’s Salama among five Gaza journalists killed in Israeli attack

The attack also killed Reuters photojournalist Hussam al-Masri, as well as journalists Mariam Abu Daqqa, Moaz Abu Taha and Ahmed Abu Aziz.

Five journalists, including Al Jazeera photographer Mohammad Salama, are among 20 people killed in an Israeli attack on Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza, according to the enclave’s Ministry of Health.

The ministry said on Monday that the victims were killed on the fourth floor of the hospital in a double-tap strike – one missile hitting first, then another moments later as rescue crews arrived.

Those killed also included Hussam al-Masri, who worked as a photojournalist for the Reuters news agency; Mariam Abu Daqqa, who worked as a journalist with several media outlets, including The Independent Arabic and The Associated Press news agency; and journalist Moaz Abu Taha, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office.

A fifth journalist Ahmed Abu Aziz, who worked for the Quds Feed Network and other media outlets, succumbed to his wounds, according to the Media Office statement.

“The journalist colleagues were martyred when the Israeli occupation committed a horrific crime by bombing a group of journalists who were on a press coverage mission at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis Governorate and many martyrs fell victim to this crime,” the Media Office said in a statement.

“We hold the Israeli occupation, the American administration, and the countries participating in the genocide crime such as the United Kingdom, Germany, and France fully responsible for committing these heinous brutal crimes.”

Reuters reported that their live video feed from the hospital, which was operated by cameraman al-Masri, suddenly shut down at the moment of the initial strike.

Bury the truth’

Al Jazeera condemned the attack as “a clear intent to bury the truth”.

The blood of our martyred journalists in Gaza has not yet dried before the Israeli occupation forces committed another crime against Al Jazeera cameraman Mohammed Salama, together with three other photojournalists,” the network said in a statement.

Despite relentless targeting, Al Jazeera remains resolute in providing live coverage of the Israeli genocide in Gaza for the past 23 months, with occupation authorities barring international media outlets from entering to report on the war.”

Salama married another Palestinian journalist, Hala Asfour, last year, amid the ongoing genocidal war.

Abu Daqqa, meanwhile, leaves behind a 12-year-old son, who was evacuated from Gaza earlier in the war, according to AP editor Abby Sewell.

“She was a true hero, like all of our Palestinian colleagues in Gaza,” Sewell said in a post on X.

The journalists’ killings come barely two weeks after renowned Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif was killed along with four of his media colleagues in front of al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Israel claimed it targeted Anas, who had become the voice of Gaza for his extensive reporting from the enclave – home to more than two million people.

The attack raises the death toll of Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023 to at least 273, according to an Al Jazeera tally.

In addition to the four journalists killed, Hatem Khaled, a photojournalist working for Reuters, was also among those wounded, the agency confirmed. Khaled has extensively documented the war in Gaza for Reuters.

Israel issued a statement saying it waged “a strike in the area of Nasser Hospital”, without explaining the purpose or target of the attack. The short statement, posted on the army’s social media channels, claims the military “does not target journalists as such”.

More journalists killed in Gaza than in any other major conflict

Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said Israel has constantly targeted Palestinian journalists throughout the conflict.

“How many times are we going to continue reporting on the killing of our colleagues or the killing of other journalists working with Al Jazeera and other news outlets?” Khoudary asked.

“I’m one of the Palestinian journalists reporting from hospitals. We are in a two-year war where we have been deprived of electricity and internet, so Palestinian journalists are using these services at hospitals to continue reporting,” Khoudary said, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.

Palestinian journalists are also making hospitals their base to follow stories of wounded Palestinians, those facing malnutrition, and all those killed, she added.

Mohamed Elmasry, media studies professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, says Israel has learned it can “pretty much do whatever it wants” with no repercussions during the course of the Gaza war.

“If there’s anything that Israel has learned over the last 23 months, it’s that it can pretty much do whatever it wants and get away with it,” he told Al Jazeera, referencing attacks targeting and killing paramedics, aid workers and journalists.

“All they’ve [Israel’s army] have had to do is come out with a statement either denying it, deflecting it or blaming Hamas,” Elmasry said. “We’ll see what they say about this [latest attack on Nasser Hospital].

Rights groups have roundly condemned Israel’s targeting of journalists in Gaza, where reporters face more danger than anywhere else in the world.

“No conflict in modern history has seen a higher number of journalists killed than Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,” Amnesty International has said.

Multiple hospitals have been struck or raided across the Strip since the war began, with Israel claiming fighters are operating from inside the medical facilities without providing evidence. Israeli claims have never been backed by evidence.

Israel has been accused of widespread abuse during its 22 months of brutal war on Gaza, killing more than 62,000 people, more than half of them women and children. Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant have been issued arrest warrants for war crimes by the International Criminal Court.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/25/al-jazeera-journalist-mohammed-salama-among-14-killed-in-israeli-attack

Lerxst1992

Conclusions at Odds with the Evidence

Beyond methodological shortcuts, several IPC Gaza outputs reached conclusions that were directly inconsistent with the evidence presented.

Mortality data ignored or downplayed. Throughout the war, the IPC analysis ignored the fact that official figures for malnutrition-related deaths were orders of magnitude below the thresholds it prescribes for crude death rates (CDR) and under-five mortality. At no point did the mortality evidence come close to justifying a famine declaration, or even a Phase 4 classification. When a systematic mortality survey — required under IPC methodology — was finally conducted, its results conflicted with the phase classifications being advanced. Instead of prompting correction, the inconsistency was downplayed: only the aggregate death rates were released, while the more decisive non-violent mortality figures, central to famine determination, were withheld and requests to release the full survey data were ignored, in direct violation of the transparency principle. However, even the published total death rates remained well below famine thresholds - a fact that was brushed aside in the final conclusions.

Malnutrition rates not consistent with phase designation. Similarly, the MUAC prevalence rates themselves rarely supported the severity of the classifications. For much of the period, they were below the 15 percent Phase 4 threshold, and in most cases well within Phase 3 or even Phase 2 territory. Yet the reports continued to project worsening conditions and “imminent famine”.

The June 2024 Famine Review Committee report. The clearest example of conclusions contradicting evidence came in the June 2024 FRC review. That report presented a number of food consumption indicators that pointed to a relatively small share of the population in Phase 4 and Phase 5. However, the percentages cited in the final report were several times higher than what the actual hard data suggested. This demonstrated not only weak methodology, but also a willingness to override the data to sustain a narrative of crisis.

Lack of Transparency

Although the IPC formally upholds transparency as one of its guiding principles, the Gaza analyses often fell short of this standard. Repeatedly, the reports relied on datasets that were not publicly available, preventing independent verification. At the same time, requests to access the underlying data - or even to obtain clarification on the reasoning process that produced the final classifications - were routinely ignored. The result was a process that not only lacked transparency in practice, but also undermined confidence in the credibility and robustness of the conclusions.

Conclusion: A Systemic Bias and Credibility Problem

The Gaza IPC reports reveal more than isolated technical errors. They expose a systematic lowering of standards: neutrality safeguards abandoned, critical stakeholders excluded, data selectively used, projections skewed toward worst cases, famine thresholds bent until they no longer matched the IPC manual, and transparency sidelined as key datasets and analytical reasoning remained inaccessible to outside scrutiny.

Analyses that should have reflected transparent, evidence-based consensus were instead produced by a narrow circle of actors, relying on non-public data, without the inclusive multi-stakeholder validation that IPC requires, and in disregard of the system’s own rules. Given the enormous political and legal weight attached to IPC outputs, this pattern is not just a technical flaw — it is a credibility crisis for the IPC system as a whole.

Halifax2TheMax

Genocide is occurring in Gaza.

Lerxst1992

Conclusions at Odds with the Evidence

Beyond methodological shortcuts, several IPC Gaza outputs reached conclusions that were directly inconsistent with the evidence presented.

Mortality data ignored or downplayed. Throughout the war, the IPC analysis ignored the fact that official figures for malnutrition-related deaths were orders of magnitude below the thresholds it prescribes for crude death rates (CDR) and under-five mortality. At no point did the mortality evidence come close to justifying a famine declaration, or even a Phase 4 classification. When a systematic mortality survey — required under IPC methodology — was finally conducted, its results conflicted with the phase classifications being advanced. Instead of prompting correction, the inconsistency was downplayed: only the aggregate death rates were released, while the more decisive non-violent mortality figures, central to famine determination, were withheld and requests to release the full survey data were ignored, in direct violation of the transparency principle. However, even the published total death rates remained well below famine thresholds - a fact that was brushed aside in the final conclusions.

Malnutrition rates not consistent with phase designation. Similarly, the MUAC prevalence rates themselves rarely supported the severity of the classifications. For much of the period, they were below the 15 percent Phase 4 threshold, and in most cases well within Phase 3 or even Phase 2 territory. Yet the reports continued to project worsening conditions and “imminent famine”.

The June 2024 Famine Review Committee report. The clearest example of conclusions contradicting evidence came in the June 2024 FRC review. That report presented a number of food consumption indicators that pointed to a relatively small share of the population in Phase 4 and Phase 5. However, the percentages cited in the final report were several times higher than what the actual hard data suggested. This demonstrated not only weak methodology, but also a willingness to override the data to sustain a narrative of crisis.

Lack of Transparency

Although the IPC formally upholds transparency as one of its guiding principles, the Gaza analyses often fell short of this standard. Repeatedly, the reports relied on datasets that were not publicly available, preventing independent verification. At the same time, requests to access the underlying data - or even to obtain clarification on the reasoning process that produced the final classifications - were routinely ignored. The result was a process that not only lacked transparency in practice, but also undermined confidence in the credibility and robustness of the conclusions.

Conclusion: A Systemic Bias and Credibility Problem

The Gaza IPC reports reveal more than isolated technical errors. They expose a systematic lowering of standards: neutrality safeguards abandoned, critical stakeholders excluded, data selectively used, projections skewed toward worst cases, famine thresholds bent until they no longer matched the IPC manual, and transparency sidelined as key datasets and analytical reasoning remained inaccessible to outside scrutiny.

Analyses that should have reflected transparent, evidence-based consensus were instead produced by a narrow circle of actors, relying on non-public data, without the inclusive multi-stakeholder validation that IPC requires, and in disregard of the system’s own rules. Given the enormous political and legal weight attached to IPC outputs, this pattern is not just a technical flaw — it is a credibility crisis for the IPC system as a whole.

Halifax2TheMax

From August's Harper's Index:

Portion of Americans taking online surveys who have used AI to write their responses: 1/3

Average percentage by which AI-generated misinformation on X receives more views than misinformation produced by humans: 8

By which it receives more reposts: 21

More likes: 50

War crimes and genocide are happening in Gaza.

Lerxst1992

Lerxst1992 said:

Conclusions at Odds with the Evidence

Beyond methodological shortcuts, several IPC Gaza outputs reached conclusions that were directly inconsistent with the evidence presented.

Mortality data ignored or downplayed. Throughout the war, the IPC analysis ignored the fact that official figures for malnutrition-related deaths were orders of magnitude below the thresholds it prescribes for crude death rates (CDR) and under-five mortality. At no point did the mortality evidence come close to justifying a famine declaration, or even a Phase 4 classification. When a systematic mortality survey — required under IPC methodology — was finally conducted, its results conflicted with the phase classifications being advanced. Instead of prompting correction, the inconsistency was downplayed: only the aggregate death rates were released, while the more decisive non-violent mortality figures, central to famine determination, were withheld and requests to release the full survey data were ignored, in direct violation of the transparency principle. However, even the published total death rates remained well below famine thresholds - a fact that was brushed aside in the final conclusions.

Malnutrition rates not consistent with phase designation. Similarly, the MUAC prevalence rates themselves rarely supported the severity of the classifications. For much of the period, they were below the 15 percent Phase 4 threshold, and in most cases well within Phase 3 or even Phase 2 territory. Yet the reports continued to project worsening conditions and “imminent famine”.

The June 2024 Famine Review Committee report. The clearest example of conclusions contradicting evidence came in the June 2024 FRC review. That report presented a number of food consumption indicators that pointed to a relatively small share of the population in Phase 4 and Phase 5. However, the percentages cited in the final report were several times higher than what the actual hard data suggested. This demonstrated not only weak methodology, but also a willingness to override the data to sustain a narrative of crisis.

Lack of Transparency

Although the IPC formally upholds transparency as one of its guiding principles, the Gaza analyses often fell short of this standard. Repeatedly, the reports relied on datasets that were not publicly available, preventing independent verification. At the same time, requests to access the underlying data - or even to obtain clarification on the reasoning process that produced the final classifications - were routinely ignored. The result was a process that not only lacked transparency in practice, but also undermined confidence in the credibility and robustness of the conclusions.

Conclusion: A Systemic Bias and Credibility Problem

The Gaza IPC reports reveal more than isolated technical errors. They expose a systematic lowering of standards: neutrality safeguards abandoned, critical stakeholders excluded, data selectively used, projections skewed toward worst cases, famine thresholds bent until they no longer matched the IPC manual, and transparency sidelined as key datasets and analytical reasoning remained inaccessible to outside scrutiny.

Analyses that should have reflected transparent, evidence-based consensus were instead produced by a narrow circle of actors, relying on non-public data, without the inclusive multi-stakeholder validation that IPC requires, and in disregard of the system’s own rules. Given the enormous political and legal weight attached to IPC outputs, this pattern is not just a technical flaw — it is a credibility crisis for the IPC system as a whole.

Lerxst next time don’t forget to post the link, or they’ll think it’s ai lol. 

Oh wait, there’s one of those candle holder thingies on the letterhead, they ain’t gonna buy it…

https://govextra.gov.il/mda/ipc/gaza/

mickeyrat

“The last thing I heard was the voice of my children playing, then everything went black. When I opened my eyes I thought I’d gone blind. I couldn’t see anything. I could no longer hear their voices. I checked to see if my wife was alive. Her back and legs were fractured, but she was alive. So I turned on the light of my phone and tried to find the children. My three-year-old daughter Julia was calling to me from beneath the rubble: ‘Baba, Baba, where are you?’ I carried her to a safe place then went back for my second son Kareem. He had severe head trauma. He was in a trance. He kept saying: ‘I’m sorry Mama. Please don’t blame me. I’m sorry.’ When I brought them to the hospital, I refused to let my colleagues deal with their injuries. I dealt with them alone. I did the dressing. I removed the sutures. I wanted them to feel: ‘Our dad is taking care of us, maybe he can still protect us. Maybe he’s still our hero.’ We’re doing OK, I guess. My wife is in a wheelchair now; she can’t walk. So I’m everyone’s caregiver. The children’s wounds are healing slowly. But there is a big problem with their brain. They cannot eat well, cannot talk well. Julia is still waking in the night and screaming. Every time she hears a rocket she starts trembling and crying. I used to tell her: ‘Don’t worry. They’re not targeting us.’ It’s a myth that all of us in Gaza tell our children. But it doesn’t work anymore; she knows that it’s a lie.  I'm trying to keep myself together, so they can still see me as their hero. But no, I am not strong now. I'm weak. I’m not eating well. I used to wear better clothes. I’m not OK. There’s so much fear. Fear that they will never recover. If there’s another strike, even near us, they will lose their mind. You understand me? And I have so much guilt, because I’m the reason we stayed. We had a chance to leave Gaza, one year ago. But I refused. Because I love my people. I love my patients, so I chose to stay.  But I regret all of it. My children had the right to live their life. Not this life I chose for them. I'm not okay. I didn't do well with my children. I didn't save them or protect them. We used to be a beautiful family.  But now, I don’t know.”

------------------------------------

Dr. Ahmed Seyam is a surgeon with Médecins Sans Frontières / MSF(Doctors Without Borders). His story is a part of a series I am doing on the Palestinian Staff of Doctors Without Borders in Gaza. My co-creator for this series is Nour Alsaqqa, who is serving as field producer and photographer.

gimmesometruth27

when is enough enough?

Halifax2TheMax

Nice to see Israeli government propaganda showing up in the thread. Fair and balanced, I'm sure.

mickeyrat

josevolution

So the end game is total annihilation of Palestinian people they are to be no more? 

Lerxst1992

Australia is in on it also.


might as well add liberal forums being stooges for the Iranian govt. can easily insert AMT in the below. Guess we are not concerned about what appears on the google.

its the game plan of Iran. Always was. They never had any interest in peace with the infidels, and they are good at getting the infidels to do its dirty work.

From bbc.com,


” Australia has given Iran's ambassador seven days to leave the country after alleging the country's government directed antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.

Intelligence services linked Iran to an arson attack on a cafe in Sydney in October last year, and another on a synagogue in Melbourne in December, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told a press conference on Tuesday.

Albanese added the two incidents were "attempts to undermine social cohesion and sow discord in our community".