October 20: Israel/Palestine update

Latest evidence of war crimes in Gaza; assessments of the hospital bombing which contradict Israeli claims; Palestinians driven out of the West Bank; great-power military build-up in the region.

Amidst the fog of war and propaganda, and the 24/7 non-stop information flow, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s actually happening. This is why I’ve decided to start providing these updates — every one or two days — on the Israel-Palestine war (or, more precisely, Israel’s war on Palestine), highlighting the most important stories relating to the conflict.

This content is for paying subscribers only. Putting out high-quality journalism requires constant research, most of which goes unpaid. So if you like my writing, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription: you will get access to tons of exclusive stuff such as this, on top of staying updated about my writings elsewhere. Thanks for the support.

In today’s post, I will be covering: the latest evidence of war crimes in Gaza; independent assessments of the al-Ahli Arab Hospital bombing which contradict Israeli claims; Palestinians driven out of the West Bank; great-power military build-up in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, and more.

Let’s start, as always, with the death toll, which continues to rise inexorably as Israel continues its brutal, round-the-clock air assault of Gaza — which has now entered its 14th day.

According to the Health Ministry in Gaza, at least 3,478 Palestinians have been killed so far, including 1,524 were children.

The Ministry’s spokesperson, Ashraf Al-Qudra, added that 44 health workers had been killed in Gaza, while four hospitals were out of service and 14 basic health care services had stopped functioning. “There are no medicine stocks in any of the hospitals in Gaza”, Al-Qudra said, calling on the international community to expedite the delivery of aid to Gaza.

These numbers are not surprising, considering that Israel’s approach continues to be that of indiscriminately bombing civilians, razing entire buildings — and indeed blocks — to the ground.

Yesterday, eight children were killed in a single strike which reduced to rubble an entire block.

Quite simply, no place is safe in Gaza. Israel made this point dramatically clear once again yesterday, when it bombed the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius, the oldest church in Gaza, dating back to the 12th century. Eight Palestinians were killed and dozens more were injured, the majority of whom were women and children.

Both Christians and Muslims had sought shelter there, hoping the Israelis would spare such a sacred site. They didn’t. But again, this is not surprising either — since the start of the bombing campaign, Israel has hit several mosques and schools sheltering people hoping to escape the death from above, or whose homes have been blown up.

It’s clear that there is no military strategy here aside from causing as much destruction to Gaza as possible, which has long been Israel’s unofficial policy vis-à-vis the Strip. Indeed, this is not the first time Israel has bombed the Gaza Strip in this way. Tank shelling, bombing from the air and the sea and brutal incursions have been frequent occurrences throughout the years, leading to the death of more than 5,000 Gazans since 2008.

This time, however, Israel has taken its policy to new extremes, announcing in advance it was out for revenge on Hamas. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised that sites where Hamas makes preparations or hides will be turned to rubble and told Gaza residents: “Get out now. We will be everywhere and with all our might”, while the IDF spokesperson stressed: “The emphasis is on damage, not accuracy”. Meanwhile, several Israeli officials have made openly genocidal statements. One Likud member, for example, called for “crushing” and “flattening” Gaza.