"We must obliterate Rafah, Deir al-Balah, and Nuseirat. The memory of the Amalekites must be erased. No partial destruction will suffice; only absolute and complete devastation." ~ Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich
Axios reports that members of the US #Congress in both parties warned the ICC that arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials will be met with US retaliation, and legislation to that effect is already in the works.
House Speaker Mike Johnson had issued a statement on Monday calling the reported warrants "disgraceful" and "lawless."
Israeli occupation drones have opened fire on Palestinian civilians inside their homes, killing one and injuring two in the al-Mashahreh area in al-Tuffah neighborhood, #Gaza City.
Gaza’s unexploded ordnance could take 14 years to clear (UN News, 2024-04-26)
"Pehr Lodhammar, a senior officer from the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), said that the war has left an estimated 37 million tonnes of debris.
"He said it was impossible to determine the exact amount of unexploded ordnance in the enclave..., after nearly seven months of intense Israeli bombardment.
"Every square metre in Gaza impacted by the conflict contains some 200 kilogrammes of rubble, the veteran UN demining expert told journalists in Geneva.
“'All I can say is that at least 10 per cent of the ammunition that is being fired potentially fails to function…with 100 trucks we’re talking about 14 years of work with 100 trucks, so that’s 14 years to remove with about 750,000 workdays - person workdays - to remove the debris.'”
Under Sions kalla stjärna - Under Zion's cold stars song by Swedish activist and singer Björn Afzelius from 1988
As the world is getting excited about the Erdogan's latest PR trick to hide his 6 months of criminal complicity in the ongoing genocide in Gaza by supporting the "Flotilla 2" from Turkey to Gaza, sitting and listening to the song of my favorite Swedish singer late Björn Afzelius who wrote the song about a similar even in mid 80s to take a boat with many famous artists and activists from all around the world to Gaza from Greece.
It hurts, really hurts that the world has to witness once again the same thing we have seen so many times before, but hoping that the kids of today are stronger and more successful than we were, maybe they can finally help ending this ongoing criminal actions by the "chosen people" against the "human animals".
And I listened to it one more time, with tears in my eyes after watching the videos of families trying to identify remains of their loved one recovered from a mass grave at Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis. I listen to it as I did live in 1990, and so many times after that in the past 36 years and sadly, the news on the TV is the same, so is the reaction from the Israeli politicians and our beloved neutral high morality leaders.
We were flying over Saloniki
when the clouds drew apart
and we saw the Aegean Sea
clearly and distinctly.
It was a beauty without equal,
almost like a fairyland,
when we flew over
the Northern Sporades.
We rounded Piraeus
and landed in Athens.
The city lay there, white
and attractive, in the sun.
But I stopped next to a TV screen
which was in the arrival hall.
I wanted to see the latest news
from Jerusalem.
And under Zions cold stars
I saw small girls who fell,
with blood roses on their blouses
where the bullets penetrated in.
Under Zion's cold stars
I saw the same clear terror
which I remember
from Warsaw and Berlin.
I wanted to sail over the ocean,
down to Haifa from Athens,
with several hundred
deported Palestinians.
But it was hard to find a ship
which was for sale for something like that
because of the pressure by
the Greek government.
But I tried to cultivate myself,
waiting for information,
so I drove around a bit
in the neighborhood around Omonia.
I saw Bousouki dance in Plaka
I saw the worn out Parthenon
And every evening I saw the news
from Jerusalem.
And under Zion's cold stars
I saw small girls who fell
with blood roses on their blouses
where the bullets penetrated in.
Under Zion's cold stars
I saw the same clear terror
which I remember
from Warsaw and Berlin.
So they found a ship
in Larnaca on Cypress
And we spoke about our trip
half the night.
And we laughed hysterically
when the Israeli minister
stood and exhalted us
to the murderers on TV.
But we didn't laugh any longer
when we saw in the morning paper
that those who chartered the boat
were murdered the same night.
They had blown them into atoms
next to a row of their cars
So now we sat in front of the news
from Jerusalem.
And under Zion's cold stars
I saw small girls who fell,
with blood roses on their blouses
where the bullets penetrated in.
Under Zion's cold stars
I saw the same clear terror
which I remember
from Warsaw and Berlin.
We drank ourselves drunk at the hotel
among the quiet Palestineans
and among agents from Mossad
who bought postcards.
But everyone wanted to travel
There was, after all, one boat
and no one had the strength to count
those who had fallen.
So in the dawn came the information
we all knew would come
that the ship had exploded
in Larnaca.
So I traveled from Athens
with the tiredness of death in my heart.
And in the evening I saw the news
from Jerusalem..
Under Zion's cold stars
I saw small girls who fell,
with blood roses on the blouses
where bullets penetrated in.
Under Zion's cold stars
I saw the same clear terror
which I remember
from Warsaw and Berlin.
And under Zion's cold stars
I saw small girls who fell,
with blood roses on their blouses
where the bullets penetrated in.
Under Zion's cold stars
I saw the same clear terror
which I remember
from Warsaw and Berlin.
According to Al Jazeera, citing a member of the Palestinian Civil Defense, his team stands ready to compile an evidential report for an independent investigation into the mass graves discovered at #Gaza’s #Nasser#Hospital.
Mohammed al-Moghier emphasized, "We are ready to assist their work in order to compel the Israelis to refrain from committing crimes against people in Gaza."
Al-Moghier also reflected on the toll of working in Gaza for the past months, acknowledging that some aid workers are traumatized after being unable to save people they attempted to rescue. "Some of our members are suffering from traumas, which is affecting the way we can carry out our work,".
He added that others were infected with diseases when they unearthed dead bodies from under the rubble without necessary precautions due to the lack of equipment.
PS. Don't expect EU or US to send any investigators there.