Israel is still
attacking homes and schools across the Gaza Strip, killing and injuring several
people just one day after dozens were massacred in a strike on Nuseirat camp.
A Palestinian child on the rubble left by an Israeli strike on Nuseirat
refugee camp, on December 13, 2024 [Ramadan Abed /Reuters]
Dawn raids on
Saturday killed four members of the Saadallah family in their home in Jabalia,
two people in a school northeast of Gaza City and one person sheltering in a
tent south of Khan Younis, Palestinian news agency Wafa said.
Later that day,
the military killed seven people in a strike on Al-Majida Wasila School in the
northern Al-Rimal neighborhood west of Gaza City, according to Wafa.
The news agency
also reported a drone attack on a group of civilians at the Jalaa Junction
northwest of Gaza City, which killed one woman and injured several others.
Another civilian was killed in an airstrike west of Al-Nuseirat camp.
A further five
citizens were injured in a drone attack on the Al-Mawasi area west of Rafah
city.
‘Constant
attack’
The attacks took
place just one day after Israel killed at least 36 people, most from the
al-Sheikh Ali family in the Nuseirat refugee camp, leading to widespread
condemnation.
In northern
Gaza, which has been under an even tighter siege over the past two months,
Israeli forces blew up buildings and burned dozens of homes in and around Beit
Lahiya while firing at Kamal Adwan Hospital, according to Wafa.
Reporting from
Deir el-Balah, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum mentioned stepped-up overnight
attacks on Kamal Adwan Hospital, near Beit Lahiya, the previous day, which saw
medical staff injured and an ambulance set ablaze.
The Israeli
military, he said, was trying to take ambulances out of service.
“At the same
time, they are trying to exert more pressure on medical teams who are still
trapped in Kamal Adwan Hospital,” he said.
The director of
the hospital’s intensive care unit was killed in a drone strike last month.
Ethnic
cleansing?
Abu Azzoum also
said Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoon in the north of the Strip were “under
constant attack by the Israeli ground forces, which [have continued] operations
for more than 17 days so far”.
Israel has
imposed a total siege on several neighbourhoods in northern Gaza, prompting
accusations that it is pushing to permanently displace Palestinians and
ethnically cleanse the area.
Muhannad Hadi,
United Nations humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory,
decried in a statement on Friday the “rapidly deteriorating security and
humanitarian situation” in Gaza.
“In recent days,
multiple strikes across the Gaza Strip have resulted in scores of reported
fatalities and numerous injuries,” he said.
“Women and
children continue to be among the casualties. Such incidents are further
reminders of the unbearable human cost of the conflict.”
Steve Minkin
If “x” =
Israelis and “y” = Palestinians, calculate the value of “y” for a given “x”
based on widely available data.
It is easy to
lose sight of humanity in numbers, particularly large numbers, but we can also
gain moral clarity using the exactness of numbers and mathematical
calculations.
Here is a
self-test:
Question #1: The Israel
Defense Forces (IDF) have bombed apartment buildings, hospitals, and schools in
Gaza almost daily for more than a year. Hypothetically, if sounds could travel
worldwide, how long would it take for victims’ cries to reach Washington. The
speed of sound is 770 miles per hour. The distance between Gaza and Washington
D.C is 5,878 miles.
Question #2: Would your
answer be the same if Joe Biden, Donald Trump or Kamala Harris were president?
Question #3: In the year
following October 7, 2023, the U.S. has sent more than $20 billion worth of
military aid to Israel. In this period the IDF killed more than 44,000 Gazans.
In other words, it roughly costs U.S. taxpayers $454,545 for each Gazan killed
by the IDF in a year. How was this number calculated?
Question #4: A terrorist
group is defined as onethat “may be motivated by political, religious, racial,
or other ideological goals and threatens or commits violent acts against
civilian targets.”
4a: In addition to killing more than
44,000 people, mostly civilians, the IDF has injured more than 100,000, largely
women and children. Many are amputees or with other lifelong challenges. Based
on the definition above, is the IDF a terrorist organization?
4b: If so, would it be correct to
say that U.S. companies manufacturing weapons sent to the IDF profit from
terrorism? Are our governmental leaders by supplying planes, bombs, weapons,
and munitions guilty of supporting terrorism? If so, is this a violation of
U.S. and international law?
Question #5: How many
defenseless people must be injured or killed before a force becomes a terrorist
organization? Does your answer depend on who is carrying out the violence or
the identity of the victims? Does your answer differ based on the numbers of
children killed or losing limbs?
Question # 6: On October 7,
2023, Hamas and related groups committed terrible acts of terrorism including
the murder and kidnapping of civilians: 1,200 were killed and more than 250
taken hostage. They included children, women, and the elderly. After prisoner
exchanges, deaths, and a handful of rescues, it is estimated 60 survivors
remain in captivity languishing under cruel and abusive conditions. Many
Israelis believe their release should be the paramount goal of negotiations.
Since October 7 Israel has locked up more than 9,400 “security detainees”
including men, women, and children without access to lawyers or respect for
legal rights. They are held in appallingly crowded cells. According to a United
Nations report, in addition to beatings, many have been subjected to
“waterboarding, sleep deprivation, electric shocks, dogs set on them, and other
forms of torture.”
If “x” =
Israelis and “y” = Palestinians, calculate the value of “y” for a given “x”
based on widely available data. Convert your answer into plain English—that is,
how many times greater is the value of Israelis and the hostages compared to
Palestinians and security detainees?
Question #7: There were 10
commandments. The sixth commandment was abolished. How many commandments
remain?
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