Guinea’s Main Opposition Parties Call for Withdrawal from Junta-led Legislative Body

Guinea’s President Mamadi Doumbouya addresses the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, on Sept. 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

8:34 AM EST, January 16, 2025

CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — The main opposition coalition in Guinea has called for its members to withdraw from the country’s legislative body after the ruling junta missed a deadline for a return to democratic rule.

The Forces Vives de Guinée coalition group, which includes the country’s main opposition parties, called for its members to withdraw from the National Transitional Council in a statement late Wednesday. The council has served as the parliament since the military took power two years ago.

Guinea is one of several West African countries where the military has taken power and delayed a return to civilian rule. The country’s leader, Col. Mamadi Doumbouya, in power since 2021, agreed in 2022 to launch a democratic transition after a Dec. 31, 2024, deadline.

The ruling junta’s failure to meet the deadline led to opposition protests that paralyzed Guinea’s capital Conakry last week.

But in his New Year’s message, Doumbouya said a decree for a constitutional referendum will be signed to launch the democratic process, without committing to a date. Activists and opposition groups condemned the announcement as a ploy to prolong military rule.

The junta dissolved more than 50 political parties last year in a move it claimed was to “clean up the political chessboard.”

The junta has also tightened the grip on independent media, rights groups say, with social networks and private radio stations often cut off, information sites interrupted or suspended for several months without explanation, while journalists face attacks and arrests.

The National Transitional Council is in part tasked with drafting the country’s new constitution. It is composed of 81 members, including 15 representatives of political parties, but also youth leaders, security forces, unions, business leaders and others. All were appointed by the junta.

The Forces Vives de Guinée is the main opposition force in the legislative body with three representatives. The coalition includes the Rally of the Guinean People, which is the party of former President Alpha Condé, and another major opposition party, the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea. The two parties won more than 90% of the vote in the country’s last presidential election in 2020.

Benin’s Mecca of Spirits and Gods Draws Tourists and Followers with Famed Voodoo Festival

By DAN IKPOYI and CHINEDU ASADU

10:44 PM EST, January 15, 2025

OUIDAH, Benin (AP) — As children dance with great speed and energy in colorful robes, guided by the drumbeats and chants from dance troupes, the gods and spirits that are evident all around the arena are beckoned upon by the old and young for peace and prosperity. And on the sidelines, camera clicks from foreigners and locals follow the festivities.

Welcome to the ancient town of Ouidah, in southern Benin, a mecca of gods and spirits where the celebration of the annual Voodoo festival brings a mix of tourism and religion in a clash of cultures and the ability for ancient traditional beliefs to adapt to modern life.

The small West African nation held the annual festival last weekend, with Voodoo day marking the “return to the source for all Africans and Afro-descendants,” said Christian Houetchenou, the mayor of Ouidah.

“It is to come back and live their culture, art and spirituality for those who practice Voodoo,” said Houetchenou.

The festival gained popularity over the years from within and outside Africa, organizers say, and attracts thousands of locals and foreigners who flock to the Atlantic coast town to experience one of the world’s oldest religions.

Officials are now hoping to explore its full tourism potential and showcase Benin’s rich culture and tradition.

“This is a way to show people the pomp, the beauty, and the value of Voodoo and more importantly the value and spirit of the Beninese people…(and) of all African people,” said Suzanne Celeste Delaunay Belleville, the Voodoo priestess, draped in beads and a white robe.

Featuring traditional ceremonies, dance events, and rituals in the form of incantations, adulations and offerings, Voodoo — which has its own pope whose reign dates back to the 1400s — borrows heavily from the mythology and cultural displays of Yoruba people of Nigeria’s southwest and reflects other sides of traditional religion across Africa, including from the neighboring Togo and Ghana.

Located in different parts of Ouidah are alters and shrines where everything — from trees to wooden carvings and earthen walls — bears portraits of gods and spirits invoked day and night by devotees and their servants.

Many foreigners attend the annual festival to document memories and experience the thrill of it while others, like Jaimie Lyne, from the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, are drawn to it by their curiosity to find out if all they’ve heard is true.

Lyne said her mother’s visit to Benin in 2023 sparked her interest in Voodoo and Benin’s cultural heritage. Before her trip, most of what she heard about Voodoo was that it is “demonized”, and “archaic.”

But she saw a different reality on the ground.

“One thing that I’m going to take home with me to the Caribbean is that Vodun is something to be learned and understood,” said Lyne, a data analyst. “It’s the culture of communion with the land and the elements and it is really more about how everything has an explanation in terms of all of the symptoms, all of the realities of the world and the rain and the sun.”

It is for such reasons — to enable the people to showcase their culture and tell their stories — that the festival has stood the test of time, said Belleville.

“It’s important for us to be able to carry our message ourselves,” she said. “No one can better talk about us than ourselves.”

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Asadu reported from Abuja, Nigeria.

Mozambique Inaugurates a New President

By CHARLES MANGWIRO

9:22 AM EST, January 15, 2025

MAPUTO, Mozambique (AP) — Hundreds of supporters of Mozambique’s opposition protested Wednesday as the country inaugurated a new president following disputed elections and deadly unrest.

Daniel Chapo took his oath as the country’s fifth president before about 2,500 people who endured intense heat in front of a city hall in the capital, Maputo. Opposition supporters peacefully protested a few meters away after security forces wielding guns and batons blocked them from getting to the venue. Security forces sealed several roads and kept a heavy presence in other parts of Maputo.

“We heard your voices before and during the protests and we will continue to listen,” Chapo said in a speech.

The 48-year-old law graduate acknowledged the need to end the instability rocking the southern African nation.

“Social harmony cannot wait, nor can the building of consensus for the matters that worry the Mozambican people, so dialogue has already began and we will not rest until we have a united and cohesive country,” he said.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Guinea-Bissau’s leader Umaro Sissoco Embaló attended the ceremony, while several other countries, including former colonial power Portugal, sent representative.

The country’s Constitutional Council in December declared Chapo the winner of the presidential election, with 65.17% of the vote, dismissing a challenge by opposition leader Venâncio Mondlane, whom it said got 24 percent of the vote.

A series of protests and a violent crackdown by security forces following the elections have left at least 300 people, including scores of children, dead, according to local and international human rights organizations.

Mondlane, a 50-year-old pastor, has been leading the push for protests through messages on platforms such as Facebook to demand “restoration of the electoral truth.” Some western countries, including the United States, have also questioned the credibility of the elections.

He returned from self-imposed exile to a rousing welcome by his supporters on Jan. 9. Mondlane said he left Mozambique fearing for his life after two senior members of his opposition party were killed in their car by unknown gunmen in a late-night shooting in Maputo after the election. One of the men who was killed was Mondlane’s lawyer and advisor.

On Monday, Mondlane called for another round of protests against the inauguration of members of parliament and Chapo’s inauguration.

Chapo’s party, Frelimo, has ruled the country of about 34 million people since its independence from Portugal in 1975. He becomes the country’s first president to be born after independence.

On Wednesday, he described “social and political stability” as “the priority of priorities.”

Apart from the protests triggered by the disputed election, Chapo will have to contend with a seven-year-old jihadist insurgency in the oil- and gas-rich northern province of Cabo Delgado.

In addition, he inherits a country ravaged by corruption and deep economic challenges including high unemployment and frequent job strikes by civil servants such as nurses and doctors. Mozambique is one of the world’s poorest countries according to the World Bank.

“Mozambique cannot continue to be held hostage by corruption, inertia, cronyism, nepotism, sycophancy, incompetence and injustice. That’s why we said let’s get to work,” said Chapo in his acceptance speech Wednesday. He said it was “painful” that “many of our compatriots still sleep without at least one decent meal.”

He pledged a lean government by cutting down some ministries and senior government positions. That could save over $260 million, he said, promising to redirect the money toward improving the lives of people.

Some, such as Maputo-based economic analyst Evaristo Cumbane, remain skeptical.

“We are listening to the same song. The country is divided, we need to reconcile all Mozambicans first and then go for other things,” said Cumbane.

Standoff in South Africa Ends with 87 Miners Dead and Anger over Police’s ‘Smoke Them Out’ Tactics

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME and GERALD IMRAY

2:00 PM EST, January 16, 2025

STILFONTEIN, South Africa (AP) — The death toll in a monthslong standoff between police and miners trapped while working illegally in an abandoned gold mine in South Africa has risen to at least 87, police said Thursday. Authorities faced growing anger and a possible investigation over their initial refusal to help the miners and instead “smoke them out” by cutting off their food supplies.

National police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said that 78 bodies were retrieved in a court-ordered rescue operation, with 246 survivors also pulled out from deep underground since the operation began on Monday. Mathe said nine other bodies had been recovered before the rescue operation, without giving details.

Community groups launched their own rescue attempts when authorities said last year they would not help the hundreds of miners because they were “criminals.”

The miners are suspected to have died of starvation and dehydration, although no causes of death have been released.

South African authorities have been fiercely criticized for cutting off food and supplies to the miners in the Buffelsfontein Gold Mine last year. That tactic to “smoke them out,” as described by a prominent Cabinet minister, was condemned by one of South Africa’s biggest trade unions.

Police and the mine owners were also accused of taking away ropes and dismantling a pulley system the miners used to enter the mine and send supplies down from the surface.

A court ordered authorities last year to allow food and water to be sent down to the miners, while another court ruling last week forced them to launch a rescue operation.

Many say the unfolding disaster underground was clear weeks ago, when community members sporadically pulled decomposing bodies out of the mine, some with notes attached pleading for food to be sent down.

“If the police had acted earlier, we would not be in this situation, with bodies piling up,” said Johannes Qankase, a local community leader. “It is a disgrace for a constitutional democracy like ours. Somebody needs to account for what has happened here.”

South Africa’s second biggest political party, which is part of a government coalition, called for President Cyril Ramaphosa to establish an independent inquiry to find out “why the situation was allowed to get so badly out of hand.”

“The scale of the disaster underground at Buffelsfontein is rapidly proving to be as bad as feared,” the Democratic Alliance party said.

Authorities now believe that nearly 2,000 miners were working illegally in the mine near the town of Stilfontein, southwest of Johannesburg, since August last year. Most of them resurfaced on their own over the last few months, police said, and all the survivors have been arrested, even as some emerged this week badly emaciated and barely able to walk to waiting ambulances.

A convoy of mortuary vans arrived at the mine to carry away the bodies.

Mathe said at least 13 children had also come out of the mine before the official rescue operation.

Police announced Wednesday that they were ending the operation after three days and believed no one else was underground. To be sure, a camera was sent down Thursday in a cage that was used to pull out survivors and bodies.

Two volunteer rescuers from the community had gone down in the small cage during the rescue operation to help miners as authorities refused to allow any official rescue personnel to go into the shaft because it was too dangerous.

“It has been a tough few days, there were many people who (we) saved but I still feel bad for those whose family members came out in body bags,” said Mandla Charles, one of the volunteer rescuers. “We did all we could.” The two volunteers were being offered trauma counselling, police said.

The mine is one of the deepest in South Africa and is a maze of tunnels and levels and has several shafts leading into it. The miners were working up to 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) underground in different groups.

Police have maintained that the miners were able to come out through several shafts but refused out of fear of being arrested. That’s been disputed by groups representing the miners, who say hundreds were trapped and left starving in dark and damp conditions with decomposing bodies around them.

Police Minister Senzo Mchunu denied in an interview with a national TV station that the police were responsible for any starvation and said they had allowed food to go down.

The initial police operation last year to force the miners to come out and give themselves up for arrest was part of a larger nationwide clampdown on illegal mining called Vala Umgodi, or Close the Hole. Illegal mining is often in the news in South Africa and a major problem for authorities as large groups go into mines that have been shut down to extract leftover deposits.

Gold-rich South Africa has an estimated 6,000 abandoned or closed mines.

The illicit miners, known as “zama zamas” — “hustlers” or “chancers” in the Zulu language — are usually armed and part of criminal syndicates, the government says, and they rob South Africa of more than $1 billion a year in gold deposits. They are often undocumented foreign nationals and authorities said that the vast majority who came out of the Buffelsfontein mine were from Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Lesotho, and were in South Africa illegally.

Police said they seized gold, explosives, firearms and more than $2 million in cash from the miners and have defended their hardline approach.

“By providing food, water and necessities to these illegal miners, it would be the police entertaining and allowing criminality to thrive,” Mathe said Wednesday.

But the South African Federation of Trade Unions questioned the government’s humanity and how it could “allow anyone — be they citizens or undocumented immigrants — to starve to death in the depths of the earth.”

While the police operation has been condemned by civic groups, the disaster hasn’t provoked a strong outpouring of anger across South Africa, where the mostly foreign zama zamas have long been considered unwelcome in a country that already struggles with high rates of violent crime.

___

Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa.

Why Did 87 Miners Die Trapped Underground in South Africa as Police Tried to Force Their Surrender?

By GERALD IMRAY

7:44 PM EST, January 16, 2025

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South Africa’s president is facing calls to order an inquiry into a police operation that was meant to combat illegal mining but ended up leaving 87 miners to die underground as authorities attempted to force them to surrender during a monthslong standoff.

The tragedy at the abandoned gold mine near the town of Stilfontein began to unfold in August, when police cut off food supplies for a period of time to the miners working illegally in the mine’s tunnels.

The tactic was apparently meant to force them out but instead caused dozens to die of starvation or dehydration, according to groups representing the miners.

A court ordered a rescue operation that was launched on Monday and more than 240 survivors were hauled out this week in small groups in a metal cage, some of them badly emaciated after more than five months below the surface. All the survivors were arrested, police said.

Here’s how the events unfolded:

Operation ‘Close the Hole’

South African authorities have for years struggled to stop groups of miners from going into some of the gold-rich country’s 6,000 abandoned or closed mines to search for leftover deposits. According to officials, South Africa lost more than $3 billion in gold to the illicit trade last year.

Police forces launched an operation — dubbed “Close the Hole” — in late 2023 to clamp down on illegal mining by surrounding several mines and cutting off supplies that were being sent down by other members of the groups on the surface, so the miners would come out on their own and be arrested.

The Buffelsfontein Gold Mine, the scene of the disaster, became a police target in August but it was only in November that the miners’ situation drew the attention of rights groups. Activists warned that hundreds of miners were trapped up to 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) underground and desperately needed food, water and other supplies.

A Cabinet minister laughed when she was asked if the authorities would send supplies.

“We are not sending help to criminals,” Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said, adding that “criminals are not to be helped. Criminals are to be persecuted.”

Starvation as a weapon

Trade unions and rights groups say authorities used starvation as a weapon at Buffelsfontein. A group representing the miners said that not only did police cut off food for a time, they and the mine owners also dismantled a rope and pulley system that was used to get into the mine and send down supplies.

Police have denied any responsibility for the deaths and insisted the miners were not trapped but were able to escape through several shafts in the mine.

More than 1,500 did, police said, but others stayed put out of fear they would be arrested.

But rights groups say hundreds of miners were trapped inside the mine too far away from the shafts they could leave through or too weak to make the dangerous climb out.

Activists are saying authorities are also to blame for the long delay in launching a rescue operation, which only started on Monday after a court ordered the government to rescue the miners.

Who are the miners?

The miners, known as “zama zamas” — “hustlers” or “chancers” in the Zulu language — are usually armed and part of criminal syndicates, the government says.

They are often undocumented foreign nationals and authorities said that the vast majority who came out of the Buffelsfontein mine were from Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Lesotho, and were in South Africa illegally.

Police said they seized gold, explosives, firearms and more than $2 million in cash from the miners and have defended their hard-line approach.

Appeals for the president to order an inquiry

South Africa’s second biggest political party, which is part of a government coalition, has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to order an inquiry into what happened at the Buffelsfontein mine.

The investigation should also determine whether police “are prepared to use vengeance and punishment as acceptable ways of fighting illegal mining,” the Democratic Alliance party said.

Others have questioned if the extraordinarily harsh action by authorities was because most of the miners at Buffelsfontein were not South Africans, but undocumented migrants.

Ramaphosa has not commented on the disaster.

Sanaa Stresses Solidarity with Gaza After Ceasefire

By Al Mayadeen English

16 Jan 2025 23:45

The Yemeni government congratulates the people of Gaza and lauds their resistance over the ceasefire deal, condemning the US, the UK, and "Israel" for the aggression.

The Yemeni Government of Change and Reconstruction issued a statement regarding the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, emphasizing its solidarity with the Palestinian people and Resistance movements.

The statement condemned Israeli aggression, asserting that the Israeli occupation was forced into the agreement after what it described as a "resounding failure." It noted that the Israeli occupation's actions further entrenched its image as a criminal entity in the eyes of the global community, with every new attack exposing its "prevailing criminal mindset."

The Yemeni government praised the resilience of the Palestinian people, who it said "waged a historic jihadist epic," demonstrating "extraordinary steadfastness in defending their rights, dignity, and the Palestinian cause against unprecedented Israeli-American-British aggression."

The statement lauded the Palestinian resistance, asserting that it has proven to be "invincible." It extended appreciation to the Islamic resistance across various fronts, with special recognition of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon - Hezbollah for its unwavering support and sacrifices for the Palestinian cause. The government also expressed gratitude to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq and to all nations, peoples, and organizations that stood in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Commitment to Palestinian cause

The Yemeni government also praised God for enabling the Yemeni people to fulfill their jihadist duty during this round of war under the leadership of Abdul-Malik Badreddin al-Houthi. It affirmed Yemen’s steadfast commitment, both at the official and popular levels, to support the Palestinian people in any future confrontations with the Israeli and American enemies.

The statement included a warning to the United States, the United Kingdom, the Israeli occupation, and all adversaries of Yemen against any retaliatory actions or conspiracies targeting the Yemeni people. It vowed to confront any such aggression "with strength and determination."

Finally, the government called on the Arab and Islamic nations to recognize the gravity of the current phase and to fulfill their responsibilities by taking practical steps to counter threats and defend the Palestinian cause. It urged the international community to uphold its moral and humanitarian obligations by pressuring the Israeli regime to end its occupation of Palestine and respect the rights of the Palestinian people.

A steadfast support front

Ansar Allah leader Sayyed Abdul-Malik Badreddine al-Houthi highlighted Yemen's pivotal role in supporting Gaza, stating, “The Yemeni response surprised the world with its effectiveness and influence, from maritime operations to missile and drone strikes reaching deep into occupied Palestine.”

He detailed Yemen's military contributions, noting that eh YAF carried out 1,255 operations involving ballistic, cruise, and hypersonic missiles, as well as drones and naval vessels. The operations also included escalated attacks, including rocket fire and naval operations, and achieved decisive results, the leader stressed.

Sayyed al-Houthi praised the Yemeni people's widespread and enthusiastic support for Gaza despite the country's dire economic conditions and limited resources, calling it a testament to their unwavering solidarity.

Sayyed al-Houthi reaffirmed Yemen's readiness to escalate military support should the Israeli occupation continue its aggression, reiterating Yemen's steadfast commitment to the Palestinian cause.

Sayyed Al-Houthi Hails Lebanon Sacrifices, Welcomes Gaza Ceasefire

By Al Mayadeen English

16 Jan 2025 21:21

The leader of the Yemeni Ansar Allah movement underlines that the Yemeni Armed Forces will remain alert in light of the ceasefire in Gaza, monitoring any Israeli violations.

The leader of Yemen's Ansar Allah movement, Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, affirmed on Thursday that the Yemeni armed forces' stance aligns with Palestinian factions and will continue to support them as the ceasefire agreement in Gaza moves toward implementation on Sunday.

In a televised address, Sayyed al-Houthi emphasized that Yemeni military operations would persist in support of the Palestinian people if Israeli aggression, including massacres and escalation, continues. “We will monitor the stages of the agreement's implementation, and any Israeli violations, massacres, or tightening of the siege will prompt immediate military support.”

Sayyed al-Houthi described the ceasefire agreement as a significant development, saying its realization came following months of relentless crimes by the Israeli military. He noted that the Israeli occupation, backed by the US, was forced into the agreement after its objectives in Gaza failed.

“The Israeli-American alliance pursued genocidal goals in Gaza, committing over 4,050 massacres,” he said, adding that the atrocities were exacerbated by Arab and Islamic complicity and the indifference of some Arab regimes.

Yemeni support effective

Sayyed al-Houthi highlighted Yemen's pivotal role in supporting Gaza, stating, “The Yemeni response surprised the world with its effectiveness and influence, from maritime operations to missile and drone strikes reaching deep into occupied Palestine.”

He detailed Yemen's military contributions, noting that eh YAF carried out 1,255 operations involving ballistic, cruise, and hypersonic missiles, as well as drones and naval vessels. The operations also included escalated attacks, including rocket fire and naval operations, and achieved decisive results, the leader stressed.

Sayyed al-Houthi praised the Yemeni people's widespread and enthusiastic support for Gaza despite the country's dire economic conditions and limited resources, calling it a testament to their unwavering solidarity.

Sayyed al-Houthi underscored the Israeli occupation's failure to achieve its objectives in Gaza despite its advanced capabilities and extensive intelligence efforts. He noted that the Palestinian resistance had persevered under severe blockade conditions, proving resilient against attempts to eliminate them.

Sayyed al-Houthi concluded by reaffirming Yemen's readiness to escalate military support should the Israeli occupation continue its aggression, reiterating Yemen's steadfast commitment to the Palestinian cause.

Israeli failure 'evident'

Sayyed al-Houthi underlined that the Israeli occupation failure was evident despite its vast capabilities and US support. He went on to criticize its reliance on indiscriminate violence, noting that "the mass killing of children, women, and the elderly is a war crime, not a military success." He further stated that the occupation's inability to suppress Gaza's resistance underscores its strategic shortcomings.

"The US was forced to support a ceasefire after facing monumental failures. Every resurgence of Palestinian operations deepens the sense of Israeli failure," he said.

Sayyed Al-Houthi highlighted the ongoing 15-month war as one of the most significant battles in Palestinian history, describing it as an assault on the entire Arab and Islamic world. He also pointed out that Palestinian resilience signals hope for the Ummah's future.

Lebanon, Hezbollah sacrifices

Sayyed al-Houthi lauded Hezbollah's pivotal role in supporting Gaza, calling its contributions unmatched. "Hezbollah has offered unparalleled sacrifices in the fight against Israel, with many leaders, cadres, and fighters becoming martyrs, along with strong support from its popular base," he stated.

He emphasized that Hezbollah's efforts had been crucial in creating a "comprehensive war front" against the Israeli occupation, stressing that martyred leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is a symbol of steadfastness and sacrifice.

Moreover, Sayyed al-Houthi acknowledged Iraq's contributions to supporting the Palestinian cause and praised the widespread popular movements in various countries that have stood in solidarity with Gaza. He underscored the humanitarian and moral significance of these global actions.

Sayyed Al-Houthi then criticized the US and the Israeli occupation for attempting to isolate Gaza, launching propaganda campaigns to discredit Operation al-Aqsa Flood, and spreading falsehoods against Hamas and Palestinian factions. He also condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for mocking international laws and institutions, particularly the United Nations.

"The resilience of the Palestinian people has been a fundamental factor in the failure of both Israel and its American backers," Sayyed al-Houthi concluded, reiterating Yemen's unwavering commitment to supporting Gaza and the Palestinian struggle.

In Numbers: Impact of Israeli Genocide on Gaza Since October 2023

By Al Mayadeen English

16 Jan 2025 14:01

A report by the Guardian outlines the devastation in Gaza since October 7, 2023, caused by "Israel's" genocidal campaign.

On October 7, 2023, "Israel" launched a genocidal campaign in Gaza, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians each day. A week later, ground incursions into the territory commenced, setting the stage for a prolonged 15-month occupation. This marks the longest Israeli military offense since the 1948 occupation.

A global movement for Gaza mobilized since the early days of the genocide, prompting unprecedented criticism and counter-actions to "Israel's" onslaught, from protests, intense boycotting movements, ruptured diplomatic and economic relations with the Israeli occupation, and prominent court rulings against Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Consequently, following 15 months of efforts and negotiations, a ceasefire agreement was announced on January 15. 

In light of the events, The Guardian provided an outline of the war's impact on Gaza and its people.

Astronomical death toll 

Since October 7, 2023, "Israel" killed nearly 47,000 Palestinians, most of whom are civilians, overwhelmingly women and children, while more than 110,000 others have been injured. According to The Guardian's figures, the death toll makes up around 2% of Gaza's pre-war population.

The victims of Israeli brutality included women, children, and the elderly alike, with the youngest victims being infants only a few hours old, and the oldest being a 101-year-old great-great-grandfather. 

The Guardian, much like in other publications, speculates a severe underestimation of the actual death toll in Gaza. A study released by the Lancet suggests that the official Palestinian count of deaths in the Israeli war on Gaza may have missed as many as 41% of casualties through mid-2024 due to the collapse of Gaza's healthcare system.

The researchers employed a statistical technique known as capture-recapture analysis to estimate the death toll from the Israeli air and ground assault against Gaza during the first nine months of the war, spanning from October 2023 to the end of June 2024.

The researchers estimated that 64,260 people died from traumatic injuries during this period, which is approximately 41% higher than the official count from the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza.

Domicide in Gaza

"Israel's" war also drew accusations of domicide, which is by definition “the planned, deliberate destruction of someone's home, causing suffering to the dweller."

According to UN statistics, every nine in ten houses were destroyed or damaged in Gaza, while civilian infrastructure, including schools, mosques, churches, and hospitals has been repeatedly struck and bombarded by the Israeli occupation forces. 

So-called evacuation orders have affected 80% of Gaza's territory, displacing 1.9 million people—90% of the population—with many forced to relocate multiple times. Hundreds of thousands now reside in overcrowded shelters and tent cities, suffering from poor sanitation and limited access to clean water, with some shelters also coming under attack.

Destruction of schools

Nearly all school buildings in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, leaving 660,000 school-age children without formal education for over a year. A study by Cambridge academics and the UN warns the war could set education back by up to five years and risks creating a lost generation of traumatized youth.

As of October 7, 2023, of Gaza's 564 school buildings, 534 have been damaged or destroyed, and 12 are reported as "possibly damaged." The condition of the remaining 18 schools is currently unknown, according to UNICEF.

Schools operated by UNRWA have been converted into emergency shelters for displaced people. Despite being clearly marked on maps, many of these shelters have been bombed, some repeatedly, under claims of Hamas operatives being present on their premises, an allegation that has been debunked multiple times. 

Attacks on hospitals 

Throughout the war, Israeli occupation forces repeatedly bombed and attacked hospitals in Gaza, resulting in the deaths of over 1,050 healthcare workers, including medics and doctors, many of whom were killed while on duty. Medics were also subjected to detention and torture, with at least three reported deaths while in Israeli custody.

By the end of 2024, only 17 of Gaza's 36 hospitals were partially operational, with 11 field hospitals struggling due to restricted aid and medical supplies. 

The World Health Organization documented 654 attacks on health facilities, and a UN commission deemed "Israel's" actions as deliberate war crimes aimed at destroying Gaza's healthcare system. This destruction worsened the suffering of those injured, displaced, or affected by diseases like respiratory infections (1.2 million cases) and acute diarrhea (570,000 cases), exacerbated by poor shelter, food, and water access.

In December, almost all hospitals in northern Gaza have been forced out of service, particularly Kamal Adwan Hospital. Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the closure of the hospital is part of an Israeli strategy "aimed at completely evacuating the northern Gaza Strip of civilians."

Malnutrition and starvation 

Despite the dire need for humanitarian aid, "Israel" significantly prevented relief efforts and deliveries into the Gaza Strip, manifesting astronomical rates of starvation and malnutrition. 

In January 2024, UN human rights experts warned that out of 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza, every single one of them is grappling with hunger and food insecurity. 

Later in September, UNICEF’s Director of Child Nutrition and Development, Victor Aguayo, stated “We estimate that well over 50,000 children suffer from acute malnutrition and need lifesaving treatment, now.”

His comments follow warnings from the UN’s food agencies, FAO and WFP, which have described the situation in Gaza as “one of the most severe food and nutrition crises in history.”

Malnutrition during pregnancy and childhood impairs mental and physical development, leaving many children who survived the war with lifelong consequences from food shortages, The Guardian said. 

Ecocide rates in Gaza

Gaza has lost at least half its tree cover, with extensive contamination of soil and water and significant damage to agricultural land.

This destruction, largely attributed to Israeli attacks on farms and infrastructure, will have lasting effects on ecosystems, biodiversity, food security, and public health, according to ecologists and academics.

By March 2024, an investigation by Forensic Architecture found that around 40% of Gaza's food-producing land had been destroyed. Satellite imagery reviewed by The Guardian shows widespread devastation to farms and nearly half of the area's trees eliminated.

Before October 7, farms and orchards encompassed approximately 170 square kilometers (65 square miles), representing 47% of Gaza's total land area. By the end of February, FA estimates based on satellite data indicated that Israeli military operations had destroyed over 65 square kilometers, equivalent to 38% of that land.

In addition to cultivated areas, Gaza's agricultural infrastructure included more than 7,500 greenhouses, which played a crucial role in the region's economy. That mentioned, FA's analysis suggested that nearly a third of these greenhouses have been destroyed, with destruction ranging from up to 90% in northern Gaza to approximately 40% around Khan Younis.

Abu Obeida: Israel Targeted Captive After Agreement Announcement

January 16, 2025

Abu Obeid accused Israel of deliberately killing the captives. (Design: Palestine Chronicle)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

Abu Obeida warns that Israeli strikes endanger the Gaza ceasefire deal and its prisoner exchange agreement.

The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, have warned that Israeli airstrikes targeting Gaza could jeopardize the safety of Israeli detainees ahead of the implementation of the prisoner exchange deal set to begin on Sunday.  

Abu Obeida, the spokesman for the Qassam Brigades, stated on Thursday via Telegram that the Israeli army targeted a location where one of the female prisoners included in the deal’s first phase was being held. 

“Any aggression and bombing at this stage by the enemy could turn the freedom of a prisoner into a tragedy,” he cautioned.  

The fate of the prisoner following the reported attack remains unclear.  

The ceasefire agreement, reached on Wednesday, includes the exchange of 33 Israeli prisoners for hundreds of Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons. The agreement is expected to take effect on Sunday.  

However, hours after the announcement, Israeli aircraft carried out intensive raids across Gaza, resulting in numerous casualties, including fatalities and injuries. 

In response, Palestinian Resistance forces shelled Israeli positions along the Netzarim axis, south of Gaza City.  

The developments have raised concerns about the durability of the ceasefire agreement amid ongoing violence.

Israeli Massacres

Israeli warplanes launched a series of intense airstrikes on Gaza City overnight, resulting in dozens of deaths, just hours after a ceasefire agreement was announced for the Gaza Strip.

According to the Civil Defense in Gaza, since the announcement of the ceasefire agreement, Israeli occupation forces have killed 71 people, including more than 19 children, and 24 women in Gaza City alone while over 200 Palestinians have been wounded.

Palestinian media outlets reported that two massacres occurred in under an hour, one in Al-Jalaa Street and the other in Sheikh Radwan neighborhood.

According to Al-Jazeera’s correspondent, 18 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed and others injured when an airstrike targeted a home near the Engineers’ Syndicate on Al-Jalaa Street in central Gaza.

In a simultaneous strike, 12 people were killed and others injured when a residential area in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, in northwestern Gaza City, was bombed.

Despite the announcement of a ceasefire agreement, which is set to take effect next Sunday, Israeli airstrikes on Gaza have escalated.

(PC, AJA)

The Price of Impunity in Gaza: Is This Israel’s Day of Reckoning?

January 16, 2025

Israeli soldiers documented their war crimes in Gaza. (Photo: via Israel Genocide Tracker X Page)

By Ramzy Baroud  

Israel faces growing global legal challenges as human rights groups and international courts pursue accountability for war crimes in Gaza.

A dramatic escape was cited by Israeli media as the reason that Yuval Vagdani, a soldier in the Israeli army, managed to escape justice in Brazil.

Vagdani was accused by a Palestinian advocacy legal group, the Hind Rajab Foundation, of carrying out well-documented crimes in Gaza. He is not the only Israeli soldier being pursued for similar crimes.

According to the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation (KAN), more than 50 Israeli soldiers are being pursued in countries ranging from South Africa to Sri Lanka to Sweden.

In one case, the Hind Rajab Foundation filed a complaint in a Swedish court against Boaz Ben David, an Israeli sniper from the 932 Battalion of the Israeli Nahal Brigade. He is also accused of committing war crimes in Gaza.

The Nahal Brigade has been at the heart of numerous war crimes in Gaza. Established in 1982, the brigade is notorious for its unhinged violence against occupied Palestinians. Their role in the latest genocidal atrocities in the Strip has far exceeded their own dark legacy.

Even if these 50 individuals are apprehended and sentenced, the price exacted from the Israeli army pales in comparison to the crimes carried out.

Numbers, though helpful, are rarely enough to convey collective pain. The medical journal Lancet’s latest report is still worthy of reflection. Using a new data-collecting method called ‘capture–recapture analysis’, the report indicates that by the first nine months of the war, between October 2023 and June 2024, 64,260 Palestinians have been killed.

Still, capturing and trying Israeli war criminals is not just about the fate of these individuals. It is about accountability—an absent term in the history of Israeli human rights violations, war crimes, and recurring genocides against Palestinians.

The Israeli government understands that the issue now goes beyond individuals. It is about the loss of Israel’s historic status as a country that stands above the law.

As a result, the Israeli army announced that it decided not to publicly reveal the names of soldiers involved in the Gaza war and genocide, fearing prosecution in international courts.

However, this step is unlikely to make much difference for two reasons. First, numerous pieces of evidence against individual soldiers, whose identities are publicly known, have already been gathered or are available for future investigation. Second, much of the documentation of war crimes has been unwittingly produced by Israeli soldiers themselves.

Reassured about the lack of accountability, Israeli soldiers have taken countless pieces of footage showing the abuse and torture of Palestinians in Gaza. This self-indictment will likely serve as a major body of evidence in future trials.

All of this cannot be viewed separately from the ongoing investigation into the Israeli genocide in Gaza by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Additionally, arrest warrants have been issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against top Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Though these cases have moved slowly, they have set a precedent that even Israel is not immune to some measure of international accountability and justice.

Moreover, these cases have granted countries that are signatories to the ICC and ICJ the authority to investigate individual war crimes cases filed by human rights and legal advocacy groups.

Though the Hind Rajab Foundation is not the only group pursuing Israeli war criminals globally, the group’s name derives from a five-year-old Palestinian girl from Gaza who was murdered by the Israeli army in January 2024, along with her family. This tragedy is a reminder that the innocent blood of Palestinians will not go in vain.

Though justice may be delayed, as long as there are pursuers, it will someday be attained.

Pursuing alleged Israeli war criminals in international and national courts is just the start of a process of accountability that will last many years. With every case, Israel will learn that the decades-long US vetoes and blind Western protection and support will no longer suffice.

It was the West’s shameless shielding of Israel throughout the years that allowed Israeli leaders to behave as they saw fit for Israel’s so-called national security—even if it meant the very extermination of the Palestinian people, as is the case today in Gaza.

Still, Western governments, including the US and Britain, continue to treat wanted Israelis as sanctified heroes—not war criminals. This goes beyond accusations of double standards. It is the highest immorality and disregard for international law.

Things need to change; in fact, they are already changing.

Since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, Tel Aviv has already learned many difficult lessons. For example, its army is no longer “invincible”, its economy is relatively small and highly dependent, and its political system is fragile. In times of crisis, it is barely operable.

It is time for Israel to learn yet another lesson: that the age of accountability has begun. Dancing around the corpses of dead Palestinians in Gaza is no longer an amusing social media post, as Israeli soldiers once thought.

– Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of six books. His latest book, co-edited with Ilan Pappé, is “Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders and Intellectuals Speak out”. Dr. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA). His website is www.ramzybaroud.net

Biden and Blinken’s Contradictory Statements Expose US Policy Failures in Gaza

January 16, 2025

Pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s testimony before a House of Representatives panel. (Photo: Mostafa Bassim, via Medea Benjamin X page)

By Robert Inlakesh

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and President Joe Biden, face mounting contradictions as their narrative of Israeli success in Gaza clashes with the continued strength of Hamas.

“Bloody Blinken,” shouted a protester, who interrupted a speech addressed by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at an Atlantic Council event in Washington DC. The very next day, President Joe Biden announced a Gaza ceasefire deal. Both speeches were ripe with contradictions, in an unsuccessful bid to save face.

For 15 months, Israel’s war against Gaza raged on. The publicly stated goals of the military assault, pledged by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, were to “destroy” Hamas and to return the captives held in Gaza by force. While claiming to pursue these goals, the Israeli military strategy actually manifested itself in a poorly planned mass slaughter of the Palestinian population and the destruction of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure.

The deal that has now been agreed upon by Hamas and received Israeli commitment, is a near copy and past of the agreement set forth on May 27, with some small amendments. Yet, for 8 months the Israeli leadership vowed to pursue the total defeat of Hamas and attached new conditions to a series of proposals; including demands that the Israeli military remain in the Netzarim and Philadelphi Corridors. 

On May 6, when Hamas officially accepted a similar ceasefire proposal to the one agreed upon today, the Israeli response was to launch their planned assault on the southernmost city of Gaza. Israel’s military immediately captured the Rafah crossing and worked to displace over a million refugees into new so-called “safe zones”; a term that is not accepted by the United Nations. 

That same month, Antony Blinken presented a report to US Congress, whitewashing Israeli crimes and their well-documented history of blocking humanitarian aid, in a bid to continue supplying military aid to Israel.

Some 8 months following the May negotiations, Israel pursued what its Premier dubbed “total victory” across the region and not only in the Gaza Strip. The United States government unquestioningly provided diplomatic, financial and military backing to Israel in its war against Lebanon and repeated military incursions throughout Gaza. 

Biden and Blinken’s Dilemma

While Antony Blinken claimed that Tel Aviv had succeeded at achieving historic successes, in Lebanon, Syria and against Iran, he also claims that the fighting capabilities of Hamas had been significantly degraded. After providing a positive picture of the alleged Israeli successes, he then proceeds to contradict himself.

“Hamas cannot be defeated with military actions alone,” Blinken remarked, citing Israel’s failed military campaign in northern Gaza as “evidence of that.” He then states that “according to our estimates, Hamas has recruited as many new elements as it has lost”, a stunning admission that the armed wing of Hamas, the Qassam Brigades, has not been defeated or sufficiently degraded as to where it no longer possesses the ability to fight.

The US Secretary of State spoke of a trend of normalization that Washington had been pursuing prior to October 7, 2023, insinuating that the likes of Saudi Arabia are still on track to do so. Yet, he later warns that relations between Tel Aviv and its neighboring governments in Amman and Cairo are experiencing major issues that could lead to the collapse of their existing normalization agreements. 

Reading between the lines, it could be observed that Blinken’s statements inject Israel’s desired outcomes, before offering a sober analysis that Hamas has managed to survive and that Tel Aviv could be in real danger regionally. He first began by claiming that Hamas launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, 2023, to obstruct Arab normalisation with Israel, so by his own standards the Israelis may have failed.

In Joe Biden’s final foreign policy address, he listed the exact same points that his Secretary of State had laid out the day before, providing an argument that the Israelis and US had prevailed across the West Asia region. However, he admits that the deal agreed upon this Wednesday was a near carbon copy of the deal he helped lay out in May, but that it took collaboration with the incoming administration of Donald Trump to see it come to fruition.

While the language employed by two American leaders seeks to convince the public that Israel and the US have emerged victorious, by all their own metrics they have failed. Hamas remains a military force in Gaza, it has emerged more popular from its conduct during the war and it ultimately required the effort of Donald Trump’s negotiating team to bring about an agreement on a ceasefire proposal that had been on the table for around 8 months.

(The Palestine Chronicle)

– Robert Inlakesh is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. He focuses on the Middle East, specializing in Palestine. He contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle.

Hamas Rejects Netanyahu’s Allegations, Commits to Ceasefire Agreement

January 16, 2025

Senior Hamas leader Izzat al-Rishq. (Photo: Press TV)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

Hamas has reaffirmed its commitment to the ceasefire agreement while Israeli approval of the deal remains delayed.

The Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas has reaffirmed its commitment to the ceasefire agreement announced on Wednesday, despite Israeli claims of last-minute changes by the Palestinian group.

Izzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas leader, stated on Thursday that the movement is fully committed to the terms of the ceasefire agreement. 

This comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s earlier statements, which suggested that Hamas had backed away from certain parts of the agreement, delaying Israel’s approval.

Netanyahu claimed that Hamas was attempting to extract additional concessions and insisted that the Israeli government would not set a date for a security cabinet meeting until the mediators confirmed that Hamas had agreed to all aspects of the deal.

Following this, Israeli Army Radio reported that a scheduled cabinet meeting was postponed indefinitely, with no new date set for the session.

An unnamed Israeli official later added that the ceasefire would not be officially implemented until both the Israeli government and the Security Cabinet gave their approval. 

The ceasefire agreement, which marks a significant step toward ending the 15-month Israeli military campaign in Gaza, was announced by Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, during a press conference in Doha on Wednesday evening. 

The agreement is set to take effect on Sunday, pending the approval of both parties involved. Qatar, Egypt, and the United States have pledged to work closely to ensure the successful implementation of the deal.

The announcement follows months of intensive negotiations and a prolonged conflict that has resulted in devastating casualties, with over 46,000 Palestinians killed and more than 110,000 injured since the beginning of the Israeli offensive.

Following the announcement, Israeli forces continued to carry out massacres throughout Gaza, killing at least 71 Palestinians and wounding over 200 more, according to the Civil Defense.

Ongoing Genocide

The ongoing Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, which began on October 7, 2023, has led to a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented scale. As the death toll among besieged and starved Palestinian civilians continues to rise daily, Israel is currently facing charges of genocide against Palestinians before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, at least 46,707 Palestinians have been killed, and 110,265 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7, 2023.

The toll is expected to rise further, with at least 11,000 people still unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes across Gaza.

The war, which Palestinians call “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood,” began after a military operation carried out by Hamas on Israeli territory. Israel reports that 1,139 of its soldiers and civilians were killed during the initial attack on October 7. However, Israeli media have raised concerns that a significant number of Israeli casualties were caused by ‘friendly fire’ during the assault.

Human rights organizations, both Palestinian and international, have reported that the overwhelming majority of the casualties in Gaza are women and children. The ongoing violence has also exacerbated an acute famine, with thousands of children among the dead, highlighting the severity of the humanitarian disaster.

The war has displaced nearly two million people from their homes across Gaza, with the majority of the displaced forced into the already overcrowded southern region of the Strip. The population in Gaza remains trapped in the ongoing conflict, with little access to basic necessities such as food, water, and medical care.

Israel is Destroying Gaza’s Social Fabric

Asem Alnabih 

The Electronic Intifada 

13 January 2025

A kneeling woman cries while reaching towards a shrouded body on the ground

Every single death in Gaza has torn apart the fabric of a family unit. A woman mourns after an Israeli attack on a UN school in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, that killed at least 20 people on 16 December 2024. Doaa AlbazActiveStills

In times of war, stories emerge that blur the line between truth and exaggeration. Some accounts seem hard to believe, yet they turn out to be painfully real. Others become more distorted with each telling. Then there are those that are outright fabrications, filling the void left by uncertainty and fear.

It’s hard to know which stories to trust unless you hear them firsthand, like the harrowing tale from my cousin about her 6-year-old daughter, Aisha, who has lived through the brutal displacements in Gaza many times over. Her story, despite sounding almost unbelievable, is tragically true.

Three months into the war, in late December 2023, Aisha was forced to flee the Shujaiya neighborhood near Gaza City with her grandparents as the situation went from bad to worse. In the chaos of displacement, as bombs fell, the family was abruptly separated, splitting Aisha’s mother, father and younger siblings from Aisha and her grandparents. Nobody could be certain when they would see each other again.

Fleeing as bombs rained down across Gaza, Aisha and her grandparents found temporary refuge in a school in the southwestern part of Gaza City, only to be displaced again and again by Israel, pushing them further and further south, as days turned into weeks and weeks into months.

As Israel’s bombing campaign shifted from north to south, thousands were killed and hundreds of thousands more were displaced from their homes.

As Aisha and her grandparents sought shelter in the south weeks after the separation, an airstrike in the vicinity caused serious injury to Aisha’s grandfather. Given his age and frailty, the grandfather had to be evacuated to Egypt for urgent medical treatment with his wife and Aisha was not allowed to leave Gaza with them.

It was a hard decision for the family to make. But Aisha was then left in the care of relatives in the area, who volunteered to care for her and insisted that the grandparents evacuate from Gaza for immediate treatment.

Trauma

No matter how loving one’s grandparents may be, it is terrifying for a 6-year-old girl to lose contact with her parents. To experience the hardships of war firsthand and face the prospect of losing your grandparents while being starved and displaced compounds the trauma. In effect, Aisha endured Gaza’s own Via Dolorosa – a sorrowful path echoing the one believed to trace the steps of Jesus on his way to crucifixion – as she braved untold hardships entirely on her own.

Following months of desperate pleas, repeated follow-ups with and updates from international organizations, the Red Cross finally reunited Aisha with her mother. It was a joyful reunion. But something had irreparably changed.

The 6-year-old girl the parents lost months before came back a different person – older, quieter and unusually calm for her young age.

“Aisha is not the same since she came back to us,” her mother told me. “I can’t explain it but it feels like something is broken somewhere.”

Aisha’s story, once unimaginable, has now become heartbreakingly common across Gaza. The war has fractured Gaza’s social structure in profound ways.

I am one of those forcibly separated from their families by the war. And I personally know countless stories of others whose cherished family bonds were torn apart and destroyed by its devastation.

One woman and her elderly parents were allowed to evacuate to Egypt while her husband and children remained in the north. A young man stayed behind in Jabaliya in northern Gaza while his wife and kids sought refuge in the south.

Another family was separated during their expulsion from al-Shifa hospital. Israeli soldiers forced their two teenage sons to walk the long way to southern Gaza, while the parents and sisters remained in the north.

Fractured lives

These are not tall tales but real stories of real people with fractured lives.

Pregnant women have been displaced to the south while their husbands are imprisoned in Israel; mothers have been killed, leaving children behind who are now cared for by men, only for these men to be disappeared or buried in mass graves. There are thousands of such lopsided stories of elderly grandparents outliving their children and grandchildren, surviving under cruel and unbearable conditions.

Lost in Gaza’s massive casualty figures, in the large, wholesale number of traumatic deaths reported, is the reality that each individual fatality tears apart the very fabric of the lost person’s family. Every single death, when closely examined, reveals a profound impact on immediate and extended families, with ripples felt throughout society.

The American-made bombs not only annihilate buildings and other civilian infrastructure, they leave imprints like cluster submunitions in the hearts and minds of every Palestinian – young and old – across Gaza.

More than 2 million people are now internally displaced within Gaza, living in dire conditions that have strained even the strongest of social ties.

Gaza is now a place with a population of widows and orphans.

As of February last year, the UN children’s fund UNICEF estimated that more than 17,000 children in the Gaza Strip are either unaccompanied or have been separated from their parents.

Orphaned children face an uncertain future, growing up with tragic memories of the war that stole their families and left them with no one to care for them. Widows and widowers face unimaginable challenges, bearing the responsibility of raising entire families while every semblance of normal life has been stripped away.

A friend of mine told me how his wife, who fled to the south while pregnant, gave birth to their son in February 2024 last year. At the time of our conversation, the baby was 10 months old and my friend had yet to hold him even once, despite being only a few miles away. He had missed every moment of his son’s life so far.

The worst part of all is that none of us know when this pain will end – let alone if my friend will be able to meet his own child, assuming nothing happens to either of them.

Tragically, this encapsulates every familial bond in Gaza today.

Asem Alnabih is an engineer and PhD researcher currently based in Gaza City, north Gaza Strip. He serves as the spokesperson for Gaza Municipality and has written for many platforms in both Arabic and English.

This Will Not End with the Last Airstrike

Malak Hijazi 

The Electronic Intifada 

15 January 2025

The sun sets over Gaza on the last day of 2024. The future is a question mark.  Omar Ashtawy APA images

For 15 long months, the people of Gaza have endured a brutal genocidal war.

We’ve lost loved ones, homes and any sense of normalcy.

But as talks of a potential ceasefire grow, hope flickers that it might take effect before US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration next week.

Our eyes remain glued to our phones, scrolling through news – both real and fake – waiting for the announcement. We long to hear the word “ceasefire” spoken aloud, a fragile sense of relief after all the death we have witnessed.

Reports of progress in negotiations spark fleeting celebrations, with cheers rising from makeshift tents, schoolyards and partially destroyed houses where 1.9 million people – 90 percent of Gaza’s population – have been forced to find shelter.

Yet, as we reflect more deeply on the situation, our faint happiness fades into disillusionment.

While a ceasefire may silence the bombs, it raises a far heavier question: What comes next?

A ceasefire might halt the immediate destruction, but it won’t make Gaza liveable again. Bombed neighborhoods won’t rebuild themselves.

People need homes, schools, clinics, clean water and electricity to begin piecing their lives back together. Beyond that, we need a government that prioritizes its people – one capable of uniting Gaza under a shared vision of progress and dignity.

Without this, even the most well-intentioned reconstruction efforts will falter.

A life liveable?

For those of us who remain barely alive, the future feels like a question mark.

I live in constant fear, haunted by the uncertainty of whether Gaza will ever heal. And honestly, I don’t ask for much – I long for Gaza as it was before the genocide, with all its daily flaws and struggles.

But even that feels like too much to ask. How do you rebuild a home when the very force accused of destroying it holds the keys to its recovery? Will Israel ever allow us to rebuild what it has destroyed – or let us claim our liberty?

I can’t stop thinking about a report the United Nations released back in 2012, titled: “Gaza in 2020: A Liveable Place?”

It outlined a bleak future for Gaza, forecasting immense challenges as the population grew from 1.6 million to an anticipated 2.1 million by 2020. The report warned of critical issues: electricity supply would need to double, the coastal aquifer – our primary source of fresh water – was at risk of irreversible collapse, and tens of thousands of housing units were urgently required.

Looking back on that report now, it feels hauntingly prescient. Yet even its stark warnings could not have imagined the horrors we now face. The report was written long before the 2023 genocidal war that has devastated Gaza beyond recognition. It assumed a Gaza that, while strained, would still exist, still function. It did not anticipate a reality where survival itself would be in question.

Before this war, Gaza endured decades of hardship. For 58 years, we have lived under military occupation, and even after Israel’s withdrawal in 2005, we lived under military occupation by remote, with no power to decide who or what came through our crossings and no control over our own air and sea space.

The 18-year siege that followed turned Gaza into an open-air prison, with basic necessities like food, water and medicine constantly in short supply. Recurring Israeli military assaults further eroded what little stability we had.

And yet, life found a way. Schools opened their doors, markets buzzed with activity and families held onto a life that was ordinary in fragments.

Systematic dismantling

Now, all of that is gone. More than 65 percent of Gaza’s farmland has been destroyed or damaged, leaving families without food or livelihoods. The water crisis has spiraled out of control, with bombed infrastructure cutting off access to clean drinking water for most of the population.

The healthcare system has collapsed. Hospitals and clinics lie in ruins, unable to provide even the most basic care.

Education, once a source of hope, is in tatters. Over 625,000 children have lost an entire year of schooling, and 96 percent of schools are damaged or destroyed.

The economy is obliterated. As far back as January 2024, the World Bank estimated the cost of infrastructure damage at over $18.5 billion. It will be worse now.

Factories, businesses and markets have been wiped out, and over 225,000 homes have been leveled. What remains are overcrowded shelters that are both unsafe and offer no refuge from future destruction.

Sometimes, I wonder: Will we ever stop counting the dead, the destroyed, the displaced? Will I ever stop measuring life in loss? Will those living in fabric-made tent structures ever find themselves beneath real ceilings, surrounded by real walls?

A single minute’s gaze from above or walking the ground in Gaza makes it almost impossible to grasp for hope.

This is not just physical devastation; it is the systematic dismantling of Gaza’s ability to function as a society. The people of Gaza are being stripped of their right to rebuild and dream of a better future.

The challenges in Gaza go far beyond rebuilding what has been destroyed. For those of us living here, the question remains: Who will lead if – or when – a ceasefire happens?

Who will lead?

In May 2024, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that neither “Hamastan” nor “Fatahstan” would govern Gaza. This leaves one frightening possibility: full Israeli occupation.

Since 2007, Hamas has ruled Gaza, but its control is weakening under massive internal and external pressure. The 17-year blockade that started in 2007, repeated wars – especially the ongoing genocide – and constant military attacks have destroyed its governing infrastructure.

The killing of leaders like Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Yahya Sinwar in Gaza have created a leadership gap that seems impossible to fill. Even before this war, many doubted Hamas’ ability to meet our needs. The economic collapse, high unemployment and failing services already caused frustration.

Now, with the ongoing siege and destruction, and should Hamas remain in charge with no international recognition, survival feels almost impossible. Israel continues to block the entry of basic necessities under the same pretexts, while the world refuses to provide aid, labeling Hamas a “terrorist organization.”

The Palestinian Authority is not a better option. Despite international recognition, it has lost the trust of Palestinians due to years of political division, corruption, poor management and dependence on foreign aid.

Many here see the PA as weak and incapable of representing our aspirations for liberty. The PA’s “security operations” in Jenin serve as proof. We will never accept a government that works under Israeli orders, preventing us from food and water while placing its guns in front of our faces – as if the Israeli occupation alone isn’t enough.

Israel’s plans raise profound fears for our future. A permanent military presence and control over Gaza’s security could result in apartheid-like conditions, where we live under direct Israeli rule with severely limited rights, like the West Bank, but worse.

Even more alarming is talk of “voluntary” transfer which seems to suggest the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza under unbearable living conditions.

But where would we go? Gaza is our home; leaving would be surrendering a part of ourselves, our identity and our future.

What will become of our history, our culture, our stories if we are forced to leave? Will my grandchildren one day ask me why I let go of the only place that ever truly felt like home?

Petty politics

This war seems to be part of a larger, more systematic plan to make Gaza unmanageable for any Palestinian authority. The isolation of Gaza is deepening as settlement expansion consumes the West Bank, making reunification under one leadership seem increasingly impossible.

Meanwhile, the Abraham Accords have reshaped regional alliances, with Arab countries increasingly turning their backs on the Palestinian cause. These agreements, which normalized relations between Israel and several Arab nations, have further empowered Israel and marginalized Palestinian voices.

It is difficult to accept that these nations, which once stood in solidarity with us, now seem willing to overlook Israel’s continued occupation and violence in exchange for economic and political gain. How can they normalize relations with Israel after all the bloodshed we have endured?

Moreover, attempts to establish a post-war administration in Gaza are paralyzed by internal Palestinian conflict. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ refusal to accept any shared governance may delay reconstruction efforts and deepen the rifts between Palestinian factions.

At times, it feels as though no one truly cares about the future of Gaza – not even the so-called president.

Abbas’ rejection of any role for Hamas seems rooted in a desire to maintain political control, even at the expense of unity and progress. This power struggle comes at a devastating cost to the people of Gaza, who remain trapped in a cycle of despair. Instead of prioritizing the well-being of the people, political agendas and rivalries dominate the conversation, leaving millions to suffer. The lack of cohesive leadership makes it impossible to rebuild, address the humanitarian crisis or envision a future where Gaza can thrive again.

This war will not end with the last airstrike. Its effects will linger in the rubble, in the struggle to rebuild and in the constant fear that the ceasefire will not last. The people of Gaza need more than words of solidarity. We need meaningful global action to support reconstruction and ensure accountability.

Malak Hijazi is a Gaza-based writer.

Why is Trump Pressuring Israel to End its War on Gaza?

Ali Abunimah 

Power Suits 15 January 2025

As of Wednesday morning in Palestine, hopes remained high that a deal to end the Israeli genocide in Gaza and free Palestinian and Israeli captives was imminent.

Negotiators in Doha were reportedly ironing out the final details on an agreement that would bring a reprieve to a population that has endured more than 15 months of relentless Israeli bombing and starvation amid unspeakable atrocities, killing at least tens of thousands and upending the lives of millions.

If agreed and implemented, the deal will also represent a major strategic defeat for Israel.

The outlines of the deal – as reported in the media – are for a three-phase process based on the framework laid out by US President Joe Biden in May and accepted by Hamas.

It would see an immediate ceasefire, a massive inflow of humanitarian aid and a staged Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, accompanied by prisoner exchanges over the course of multiple weeks.

A key question I discussed with journalist Rania Khalek on her BreakThrough News program Dispatches on Tuesday is why the same deal that went nowhere last year is now apparently on the brink of being sealed.

In a wide-ranging discussion we also talked about the downfall of Syria’s government, the future of the Axis of Resistance and much more. You can watch the whole discussion in the video above.

The resistance is still strong

As I told Khalek, the two key factors are the strength of the resistance and Donald Trump, who returns to the White House as US president in less than a week.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, Trump has been putting extraordinary pressure on Israel of a kind that is shocking Tel Aviv and that the Biden administration has absolutely refused to apply.

After 15 months, Palestinian resistance fighters are still attacking Israeli occupation forces in every part of Gaza where they are present, including in the far northern areas that Israel entered and supposedly gained control of in the earliest weeks of its invasion.

The heavy losses and constant attrition have for months been sapping the ability and morale of the Israeli army to carry on a futile effort to defeat a resistance that moves through an extensive tunnel system that remains largely intact.

In light of this, a clear majority of Israelis now support a comprehensive deal to end the war, not merely a temporary pause until whatever captives have survived Israel’s indiscriminate bombing come home. That’s a sea-change in an Israeli public whose lust for revenge against Palestinians in Gaza for the 7 October 2023 resistance operation had seemed insatiable.

Where the power really lies

The other key factor is Trump’s intervention. Last week, the president-elect sent his Middle East envoy to read Israel the riot act.

In a symbolic playing out of the real power relations between Israel and the United States, Steve Witkoff informed the office of Benjamin Netanyahu last Friday that he’d be arriving in Israel the next day and wanted to meet him.

Netanyahu’s aides “politely explained that was in the middle of the Sabbath but that the prime minister would gladly meet him Saturday night,” according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

“Witkoff’s blunt reaction took them by surprise,” Haaretz added. “He explained to them in salty English that Shabbat was of no interest to him. His message was loud and clear.”

Netanyahu obeyed orders from Trump’s envoy and showed up at his office as commanded “for an official meeting with Witkoff, who then returned to Qatar to seal the deal.”

The result of that meeting, according to Haaretz, is that “Witkoff has forced Israel to accept a plan that Netanyahu had repeatedly rejected over the past half year,” making serious concessions to a Hamas that has not budged from its position that the release of Israeli captives must be conditioned on the release of Palestinian prisoners, an end to the war and a complete – albeit phased – Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

This one act could shatter the myth that the Israel lobby holds decisive sway over the US government.

A strategic defeat

How would this represent a strategic defeat for Israel and in effect a victory for the Palestinian resistance in the face of the horrific and still not fully known toll of Israel’s ongoing genocide?

Simply put, Israel will have utterly failed to achieve the “total victory” Netanyahu repeatedly vowed.

“The war in Gaza could end tomorrow if Hamas surrenders, disarms and returns all the hostages,” Netanyahu told the US Congress in June. “But if they don’t, Israel will fight until we destroy Hamas’ military capabilities and its rule in Gaza and bring all our hostages home.”

“That’s what total victory means, and we will settle for nothing less,” the prime minister added.

If this deal goes ahead, Israel will have achieved none of those goals: Hamas will not have been destroyed or disarmed. It will still remain in de facto control inside Gaza – whatever post-war arrangements are put in place – and Israel will have failed to impose its will on a tiny besieged territory after almost 500 days of genocidal extermination and unprecedented mass destruction.

Israel’s barely hidden desires to ethnically cleanse the population of Gaza and resettle it with Jewish colonists will have been defeated.

Israel, moreover, will not return to the place it once held in the world. More than ever it will be a despised pariah whose leaders and soldiers are fugitive war criminals unable to freely travel the globe.

Unexpected pressure

“The pressure Trump is exerting right now is not the kind that Israel expected from him. The pressure is the essence of the matter,” one Netanyahu surrogate said recently.

Everyone, especially Israeli leaders, appear surprised that Trump – who was as staunchly pro-Israel as could be in his first term – would be putting any pressure at all on Netanyahu.

During the US election campaign, Trump had talked of letting Israel “finish the job” in Gaza – red meat for his base and for Israel’s government.

As this writer noted, an intriguing indication that something else was afoot was Trump’s posting on social media earlier this month of a video highly critical of Netanyahu.

In the video, Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs accuses Netanyahu of dragging the United States into the war in Iraq, trying to instigate a US war with Iran and calling the Israeli leader a “deep, dark son of a bitch.”

It was a sign that – unlike Biden’s – Trump’s unconditional support could not be taken for granted.

But there were earlier signs: In July, even before the US election, Trump told Netanyahu that he wanted the war in Gaza to end before Trump would return to office.

Witkoff, Trump’s envoy, has reportedly been firm and consistent about that deadline.

And in the closing stages of the campaign, Trump courted traditionally predominantly Democratic voters disgusted by the Biden-Harris administration’s implacable support for the genocide.

“The Muslim and Arab voters in Michigan and across the country want a stop to the endless wars and a return to peace in the Middle East. That’s all they want,” Trump told a rally in Michigan, which he ended up winning along with every other swing state.

What are Trump’s motivations?

As Khalek and this writer discussed, it is not necessary to view Trump as having any sort of sympathy with the Palestinian struggle to understand what might be behind his surprising willingness to pressure Israel now.

While Trump is often unpredictable and mercurial, a consistent aspect of his worldview is that he does not view America’s traditional “allies” as anything more than client states who are taking advantage of American largesse.

He appears to have no sentimental attachment to them, nor does he see them as vital to his “America First” agenda.

This was his view of NATO in his first term, when he accused Germany, supposedly the bedrock of the transatlantic security alliance, of “making a fortune” off US troops stationed in the country.

Demanding billions from ostensible allies and partners, he thundered, “Why should we defend countries and not be reimbursed?”

He has now doubled down on that position.

He’s even turned on Canada, the largest US trading partner, saying the US is being exploited and does not need Canada’s goods.

He’s even called for the US to absorb Canada as its 51st state.

Given Trump’s disdain for countries that have long been revered as – albeit subordinate – partners by the transatlantic ruling classes, the question is why would he treat Israel any differently?

This is especially the case when Israel has long been the biggest recipient of American largesse.

At the very least, Trump seems likely to take the approach that with America paying Israel’s bills, America will give the orders.

While the Gaza deal is not yet done, the progress made in a few days with Trump’s intervention underscores that Washington giving the orders is and has always been the true nature of the US-Israel relationship.

These developments expose without a shadow of a doubt that the Biden administration’s failure to achieve a ceasefire was always wilful, and that the Democratic Party government positively chose to arm and support the genocide.

There will have to be accountability for that.

What Trump’s bigger plans are for the region remain to be seen.

As has been widely noted, one of his most generous campaign donors is fanatically pro-Israel billionaire Miriam Adelson.

She has denied reports that she conditioned her $100 million gift on Trump’s support for Israeli annexation of the occupied West Bank.

But there’s no doubt that she and other elements of Trump’s base will be pushing for and using their positions near and within the administration to implement extreme anti-Palestinian measures, including even more domestic repression of the Palestine solidarity movement, something Trump himself has promised.

And no one should be surprised if and when Trump delivers.

But Trump is returning as president of a United States that is significantly weaker in relative terms than when he first took office, given the continued rise of China, Russia and new multipolar formations such as BRICS.

The United States may no longer be able to unilaterally impose its will on the whole world, but it can impose its will on Israel, its tiny genocidal dependency in Southwest Asia.

For the sake of the Palestinian people in Gaza, let’s hope the pressure from Trump brings an end to the horrific bloodshed as quickly as possible.

Qatar Announces Gaza Ceasefire Deal

Maureen Clare Murphy 

Rights and Accountability 

15 January 2025

Palestinians react to news of a ceasefire agreement with Israel in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, on 15 January. Omar AshtawyAPA images

The prime minister of Qatar announced late Wednesday that a phased deal had been reached between Israel and Hamas to end more than 460 days of brutal and devastating war in Gaza.

The first phase of a three-stage agreement will begin on Sunday, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said during a brief press conference in Doha:

Even before Al Thani announced that a deal was reached, Palestinians in Gaza who have endured more than a year of constant Israeli attacks and displacement welcomed the news of an imminent agreement with celebrations in the streets.

The text of the agreement, mediated in part by Qatar, has not been published officially. The prime minister of the Gulf state said that the exact terms of the second and third phase have yet to be hammered out by the two parties.

Al Thani said that the first phase of the deal would take place over 42 days and see the release of 33 Israelis held captive in Gaza – both living and dead, and both soldiers and civilians – in exchange for an unspecified number of Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons and detention centers.

That phase also includes the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza’s populated areas, Al Thani added, as well as evacuation of the wounded for medical treatment outside of Gaza.

Palestinians displaced within Gaza will be able to return to their homes during the first phase, Al Thani said, and there will be a surge in desperately needed humanitarian aid across the territory.

The Qatari prime minister said that Doha would work closely with Cairo and Washington to guarantee the implementation of the agreement but that it was up to the parties to fully commit to all three phases, honor their obligations and reach a lasting casefire.

Pressure

US President Joe Biden stated that the agreement bringing an end to 15 months of war that threatened to destabilize the entire region was the result of “extreme pressure” on Hamas and the weakening of Iran.

The deal is also the result of “dogged and painstaking American diplomacy,” Biden added.

The lame duck president undermined his claim by acknowledging that the plan agreed to by Israel and Hamas on Wednesday was the same one that he presented in May.

“My diplomacy never ceased in their efforts to get this done,” Biden said.

But two Arab officials told The Times of Israel that Steve Witkoff, the Middle East envoy of Donald Trump – who begins his second term as US president on Monday – did more to sway Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in one meeting than Biden did in a whole year.

The prevailing analysis in the Israeli media is that it was the incoming Trump administration’s pressure on Netanyahu, rather than Israeli pressure on Hamas, that got the agreement over the finish line.

After the Qatari announcement, senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya said that Israel had not achieved any of its objectives in Gaza – both those it declared and those it did not declare, alluding to Israeli plans to depopulate, annex and recolonize of the north of the territory.

“And here we are today, proving that the [Israeli] occupation did not and will not defeat our people and their resistance,” al-Hayya said.

The Hamas official thanked regional resistance groups including Hizballah in Lebanon and Ansarallah in Yemen for opening support fronts and protesters around the globe for standing in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Reporters at the Doha press conference on Wednesday asked what mechanisms were in place to guarantee that this truce would hold. A temporary pause that saw an exchange of captives collapsed after a week in November 2023.

The official death toll in Gaza stood at around 14,850 Palestinians before the November 2023 truce came into effect. That figure stood at around 46,700 and counting on Wednesday as Israel continued to wage deadly attacks on Gaza following the announcement of the deal.

An unknown number of Palestinians have lost their lives as a result of the siege or due to Israel’s destruction of health, sanitation and housing infrastructure in the territory.

At least 110,265 Palestinians – one in every 20 people in Gaza – have been injured, many of them with life-altering injuries.

What comes next

The International Court of Justice warned in January last year that there was a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza. Another tribunal in The Hague, the International Criminal Court, issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, the former defense minister who was dismissed by Netanyahu in November 2024.

Netanyahu is now seeking guarantees from state parties to the International Criminal Court that he will not be arrested if he travels to their countries.

The Israeli military is meanwhile no longer publishing the name of its forces in the media, fearing they will be arrested abroad. Both Ghassan Alian – the head of COGAT, the Israeli military body that enforces the siege on Gaza – and a vacationing Israeli reservist recently evaded arrest in Italy and Brazil, respectively.

Al Mezan, a human rights group based in Gaza, said that the announcement of a ceasefire is “a crucial step toward reducing the killing of Palestinians through deadly force.”

But it warned that a ceasefire alone “will not end the ongoing genocide that Israel is perpetrating against the Palestinian people in Gaza.”

“What is required is for Israel to end all ongoing genocidal acts, open Gaza, and for the international community to ensure accountability for those responsible,” the group said.

Once the truce is implemented the big question for Palestinian survivors is what comes next, according to The Electronic Intifada contributor Malak Hijazi, writing from Gaza.

The administration of Gaza following the ceasefire remains an open question.

“This war will not end with the last airstrike,” Hijazi said. “Its effects will linger in the rubble, in the struggle to rebuild and in the constant fear that the ceasefire will not last.”

“The people of Gaza need more than words of solidarity,” Hijazi added. “We need meaningful global action to support reconstruction and ensure accountability.”