[IMPORTANT] Hamas launches foot assault against settlements.

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Israel's parliament voted Monday to ban the operations of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, the main humanitarian aid agency operating in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated accusations that UNRWA employees are involved in terrorist activities in the region in a statement about the legislation. An investigation by the U.N. Office of Internal Oversight Services closed in August, debunking some allegations and noting that others lacked sufficient evidence.

However, the agency said nine employees may have been involved in the Oct. 7 terrorist attack against Israel if evidence was "authenticated and corroborated." UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said their contracts would be terminated.

Netanyahu's office said Monday that UNRWA personnel "must be held accountable."

"In the 90 days before this legislation goes into effect — and after — we stand ready to work with our international partners to ensure that Israel continues to facilitate humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza in a manner that does not threaten Israel’s security," the statement said.

The Biden administration warned Israel in a letter two weeks ago that it may be forced to restrict military aid if humanitarian assistance in Gaza is not increased within a month.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a briefing Monday that before Israel's bill passed, the State Department had made it clear to Israel that it has deep concerns about banning UNRWA.

"There’s nobody that can replace them right now in the middle of the crisis," Miller said.

Lazzarini decried the parliament vote, writing on X that it violated the U.N. charter and "sets a dangerous precedent." He said the legislation amounts to collective punishment and puts an entire generation of children at risk.

"This is the latest in the ongoing campaign to discredit UNRWA and delegitimize its role towards providing human-development assistance and services to #Palestine Refugees," he wrote.

Netanyahu and many of his allies in Israel's government have been in a long-standing feud against UNRWA, and the tensions have accelerated since last year.

UNRWA is a U.N. aid organization established in 1949 to aid and protect Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Some Israeli critics have said the agency perpetuates a false narrative that Palestinians are refugees, which Lazzarini referred to in his statement.

"Putting an end to UNRWA & its services will not strip the Palestinians from their refugee status," Lazzarini said. "That status is protected by another UN General Assembly resolution until a fair and lasting solution is found to the plight of the Palestinians."

Before the legislation was passed, the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Britain, Japan, South Korea, Canada and Australia expressed “grave concern” in a statement.

“It is crucial that UNRWA and other UN organizations and agencies be fully able to deliver humanitarian aid and their assistance to those who need it most, fulfilling their mandates effectively,” the statement said.

Michael Martin, deputy prime minister of Ireland, condemned the ban in a joint statement with the governments of Norway, Slovenia and Spain.

"The work of the Agency is essential and irreplaceable for millions of Palestinian refugees in the region, particularly in the context of Gaza," the letter said.

Israeli parliament members disagreed. One of the bill's authors, Boaz Bismuth, said the agency's work has been "counterproductive" in the region.

And since the Israel Defense Forces began a ground invasion into Lebanon, soldiers have been accused of attacking the U.N. Interim Forces in Lebanon and putting peacekeepers at risk. Netanyahu has denied the charge and publicly said Israel warned the peacekeepers to leave their posts in southern Lebanon as the IDF fights Hezbollah militants.

But the peacekeepers are mandated to stay along the Israel-Lebanon border observing hostilities under U.N. Resolution 1701 and have refused to leave their posts.

Senior hostage negotiator Brig.-Gen. Oren Setter resigned from the negotiating team on Monday, according to KAN News.

Setter, who served as deputy to Maj.-Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon, and was instrumental in shaping the current negotiation framework. He reportedly resigned due to a lack of progress in talks.

Protesters marched Monday evening to a rally at Jerusalem’s Agranat Square, where they criticized the government and Knesset’s handling of the Israel-Hamas War, the hostage situation, and a perceived advancement of antidemocratic laws.

The protest, marking the first day of the Knesset’s winter session, followed a day full of protests and advocacy for the hostages. Hostages’ family members and activists attended committee meetings to advocate for their loved ones and staged multiple protests inside and outside the Knesset.

Hundreds marched Monday evening from Givat Ram as part of an academia protest march, while others joined a march organized by the protest organization Brothers in Arms.

The Guarding the Joint Home organization called on its members to take to the streets.

“The government thinks we have grown tired, that we won’t pay attention, that they can continue to destroy security, the economy, the reservists, Israeli democracy, our togetherness, our spirit,” it said in a statement. “We cannot take our foot off the gas. We cannot take our eyes off the ball.”

Hundreds of protesters gather outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem demanding a hostage deal and the toppling of the government, with a number of activists arrested during clashes with police.

Following a larger protest near the Knesset earlier today, a number of activists — including former defense minister Moshe Ya’alon — continued toward the Prime Minister’s Residence on Azza Street in the capital, which has been blocked off by police all day to traffic. There the protesters shouted slogans and held up signs calling for new elections and blaming Netanyahu for the failure to release the hostages.

In a statement, police say that nine protesters have been arrested during clashes with officers by activists who “began to disturb the peace on Azza Street and did not listen to police instructions,” attempting to break through the barriers in the designated protest zone and get closer to Netanyahu’s home.

Am reading above : And I seriously wonder..? Whats going on with the Israeli settlers in Palestine region of Gaza .?
So if these activist are actually sincere , why not actually help their neighbour country maintain its Sovereignty ?
How ,are they not , attempting to be more effective protest it would appear?., Possibly block border crossings where settlers on Palestinian lands , get turned back from Israel,by the anti war activists,and have to goto the Palestinians for survival and food..Interesting twist, And possibly much more effective at getting their own government to pay attn: to what
they are doing in the Middle East? Dictator Netenyahu,seems set on ,what could easily become a World War.
If thats not frightening enough to any readers here,just wait for the casualty statistics from a world War .
( old saying from where I grew up.: Dont' make a mess in your own yard.These Palestinians ARE their nextdoor neighbour .

More than 90 people, including 20 children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in Gaza early Tuesday, local officials said, the deadliest attack in months as it wages a renewed assault on the north of the Palestinian enclave.

It came hours after the Israeli parliament outlawed a key United Nations aid agency in a move that could throttle the supply of medicine, food and education in the devastated territory.

Meanwhile, in Lebanon, the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah named a new leader — former deputy Sheikh Naim Kassem — after Israel's killing of its powerful chief Hassan Nasrallah and his presumed successor.

No doctors to treat the wounded, officials say
The strike hit a five-story building in the northern city of Beit Lahia housing some 200 people, according to the Gaza government media office. Some 93 people were killed, another 40 people were missing and dozens injured, it added.

The nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of Gaza's last functioning medical facilities, had no doctors to treat the wounded after a dayslong siege there by Israeli forces, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

"Critical cases without intervention will succumb to their destiny and die," the Health Ministry said in a statement.

The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that it was "aware of reports that civilians were harmed today (Tuesday) in the Beit Lahia area. The details of the incident are being looked into."

UNRWA ban raises aid fears
With aid groups and officials raising the alarm about a spiraling crisis in northern Gaza, the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, passed a law Monday that could exacerbate that crisis.

The widely held international view is that the agency is an essential player in trying to mitigate the humanitarian catastrophe playing out in Gaza. But Israel has long criticized UNRWA, alleging it has been infiltrated by Hamas and intensifying that pushback after Oct. 7.

The organization's head, Philippe Lazzarini, called the vote "unprecedented" and "nothing less than collective punishment" for the Palestinians after more than a year of "sheer hell." In a post on X, he said the bill would deprive 650,000 children of their education, accusing it of violating Israel's obligations under international law.

"This is the latest in the ongoing campaign to discredit UNRWA and delegitimize its role," he wrote.

In Washington, the United States is "deeply concerned" by Israel's legislation, which it said would outlaw and agency that "plays a critical, important role in delivering humanitarian assistance to civilians that need it in Gaza," as State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told a news briefing Monday.

The right are making plans to settle Gaza but there are no settlements currently.

The anti Netanyahu/government protests in Israel are not about the Palestinians.

Thank you for Clarifying ....

Israel is escalating its bombardment of Lebanon, leveling numerous buildings, including the offices of Lebanese news station Al Mayadeen. The Israeli military has also attacked the ancient city of Tyre, a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site, and killed three Lebanese soldiers in a strike in southern Lebanon, all while continuing to defy international calls for a ceasefire. "What we're seeing is a complete degeneration into a war that has no rules, that respects no international conventions. There's one side in this war that has complete impunity," says Lebanese sociologist Rima Majed in Beirut. "Israel is targeting civilians in most cases. … This is just terrorism."

"This Is Just Terrorism": Israel Bombs World Heritage Site in Lebanon, Threatens Major Hospital, Democracy Now, Oct 24, 2024:



From the description on YouTube:

Tyre is my hometown.