The State of Israel begins its genocidal offensive against Rafah
Featured image: millions of Yemeni people take the streets of Sana in support of Palestine. Source: AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA).
The genocide perpetrated by the State of Israel and the imperialists, mainly Yankee imperialism, continues its course in the Gaza Strip. The updated death-toll is 34,789 murdered in Gaza, 14,500 of them are children; additionally there are 78,204 injured and more than 8,000 missing. This is in addition to 498 murdered in the West Bank, including 124 children, and 4,950 injured.
The Israeli army issued an evacuation order for the residents of the eastern outskirts of Rafah on Monday. The directive preceded the subsequent military operation that is already taking place in the area. 100,000 people would have been affected by the evacuation order, and currently another 1,4 million are living in the city. According to satellite images, the Israeli army already deployed 300 military vehicles the previous day near the border with Rafah. For its part, the Palestinian resistance already warned that in case of entering Rafah, Israeli troops will suffer the consequences.
All this happens in the midst of negotiations for a ceasefire, which even though it would have been accepted by Hamas, is not being taken into account by the State of Israel, which continues its genocidal offensive against Rafah. This is not something strange since on previous occasions in which a ceasefire was agreed, the Israeli defense forces continued to attack the Palestinian civilian population. In this case, the Israeli army has taken and blocked Rafah’s crossing points to Egypt and the main road to the rest of Gaza, deepening its genocidal policies by fully blocking the city wanting to prevent the arrival of external aid.
Israeli crimes are uncountable, and among them there are many extrajudicial murders, torture and mistreatment of prisoners. A recent case that has came up is the murder of the doctor of the Al-Shifa hospital, Dr. Adnan Al-Bursh, tortured and killed in an Israeli prison. Additionally, the state of Israel does not want its crimes to be published and denounced so the attack on journalists on the field is constant. Recently, the Al Jazeera channel has been banned in the Israeli territory and its offices have been raided as if it was a criminal organization.
The State of Israel is not only attacking Palestinian territory, but as usual, it has attacked Syrian territory again. Recently, eight Syrian soldiers were reportedly injured in an attack against Damascus, in Najha’s area.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is conducting an investigation and there is a lot of concern among the Israeli ruling classes, about arrest warrants being issued against the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Minister of Defense Yoay Gallant and the Chieff Commander of the Israeli Defense Forces, Herzi Halevi. Given this possibility, which would be the logical seeing the brutal crimes committed by the State of Israel, Yankee imperialism has rushed to meet with the ICC to express its concern about it and to stop this possibility.
The people of Palestine opposing these Israeli crimes by fierce resistance. Recently, the Al-Quds Brigades have launched “multidimensional operations”, including rocket and mortar shelling and ambushes with snipers. This Monday a hell has been unleashed in Netzarim where attacks have been carried out against command positions and vehicle parks by combined forces of the Abu Ali Mustopha Brigades, al-Mujahideen Brigades, the National Resistance Brigades, the al-Qassam Brigades and the Martyr Jihad Jibril Brigades.
At the same time, recently the Al-Qassam Brigades have hit an Israeli military base on the Southern border of Gaza, in Kerem Shalom. It is reported that up to 15 Israeli soldiers would have been injured, several of them seriously.
In the West Bank the Palestinians resist fiercely against Israeli occupying troops. Recently, a fierce battle has been reported in the town of Deir al-Ghosoun, Tulkarem, occupied West Bank, in which an Israeli assault began on Friday and involved a large number of military vehicles and Israeli soldiers. They focused on attacking a house in which there were two Palestinian resistance fighters: the house was surrounded by special forces, they shot about 30 missiles and attacked with bulldozers, etc. Finally, the two Palestinian fighters were martyred but imposed a high cost of Israeli occupying forces. A video has been published showing part of the fight:
Hezbollah continues to develop its campaign of attacks against Israeli military positions and illegal settlements. In the last week it has been regularly informed of it. In the last two days, dozens of drones and rockets are reportedly launched by Hezbollah. In these attacks a military objective has been hit near Metula in which two Israelis have been eliminated. Hezbollah has also reported this week that dozens of its rockets and drones have hit the occupied Golan Heights, and the Israeli forces failed to intercept them. It has also been reported regularly during the last week on attacks on positions at the border with Lebanon against Israeli military objectives and against illegal settlements. Hezbollah has released footage of how one of the attacks was made, in this case against the illegal settlement of Kiryat Shmona.
In Yemen, Ansar Allah (known as the “Houthies”) has warned that they will hit any ship linked to Israel, wherever they are if they are in their shooting range, either in the Red Sea, Aden Gulf or the Mediterranean Sea. The Yemeni people firmly support Palestine and has taken the streets of the capital, Sanaa to show it and protest against the State of Israel.
Islamic resistance actions were also reported all over the Middle East: on 2nd of May it was reported on an action which was launched from Bahrein, from where the al-Ashtar Brigade launched drones against Israeli territory, towards the city of Eilat. The objective was the Israeli Company of Land Transportation, Trucknet. This was the first time that an armed action of the Islamic Resistance was launched from Bahrein.
The Islamic Resistance of Iraq has attacked several Israeli objectives, attacking the military bases of Sabeer and Yarden in the occupied Golan Heights, the Leviathan gas platform and the Ashkelon oil port of the State of Israel.
In the rest of the world the protests continue. Here we report on some of the actions and protests carried out since last time we reported on that.
Student protests have been unleashed in the very heart of imperialism, in the Yankee imperialist superpower. There thousands of students have taken dozens of campuses, made encampments, seized buildings and clashed with the police. Solidarity with Palestine has meant to pay a price: more than 2,100 people have been arrested in the pro-Palestinian protests on US university campuses. To this it has been added the explicit condemnation by the president of the US government, Joe Biden, who has stated that “the violent protest is not protected”, and has condemned destruction and ‘anti -Semitism’. He did it in reference to the clashes which occurred in the eviction of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). In these protests the students set up barricades and clashed with the repressive forces of Yankee imperialism during the eviction of the pro-Palestinian encampment.
In Kristiansand, Norway, Kampkomiteen participated in the weekly demonstration in support of Palestine on Saturday 4th of May.
Pro-Palestinian encampments has spread to Europe. In Ireland, around hundred students from Trinity College in Dublin have occupied the campus. They have been fined with 214,000 pounds for their reivindicative action, but that has not prevented them to continue the struggle and have received support from outside the university.
Saoirse don Phalaistín has expressed its support to the protest and has been present among the ones which supported the students and Palestine.
In the Amsterdam University, Netherlands, the police attacked the Pro-Palestinian encampment which was set up by the students. More than 125 activists have been detained early on Tuesday.
Additionally it is reported that in other universities such as Naples, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Rome, London, Berlin, several Spanish universities and in many more American cities student encampments and seizures of buildings in support to Palestine.
