US confirms plan for private firms to deliver Gaza aid despite UN alarm

[Twiglets1]

The US has confirmed that a new system for providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza through private companies is being prepared, as Israel's blockade continues for a third month.

US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said "distribution centres" protected by security contractors would provide food and other supplies to over a million people initially, as part of an effort to prevent Hamas stealing aid.

He denied Israel would take part in aid delivery or distribution, but said its forces would secure the centres' perimeters.

It comes as details emerged about the controversial plan, which UN agencies have reiterated they will not co-operate with because it appears to "weaponize" aid.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp92rlm300mo

They were foreign journalists not Hamas-linked sources so more neutral than the ones that have been reporting from inside Gaza up until now.

A journalist from the Telegraph was there which is a reputable UK source.

What exactly are you trying to deny - that the tunnel underneath the hospital exists or that the bodies of 2 Hamas leaders were found there and identified by their DNA?

Colonel Richard Kemp is a paid up progandist member of the pro-Israel pro-IDF camp. The only difference between him and Douglas Murray is he didn't go to Eton. He is like Hamish De-Bretton Gordon another ex-army who majors on Ukraine - good to see how "Sir Bufton-Tufton" speaks but little else. There are no great journalists who are allowed to report from Gaza and I miss the titans of yesteryear like Robert Fisk - but he is long gone but his words live on. Israel will never let any in - not for their own safety but to prevent the world seeing truly what is happening in those few square miles of blasted rubble and thwarted lives.

www.independent.co.uk/voices/amira-hass-robert-fisk-west-bank-palestine-israel-wall-show-me-something-shocking-a8547216.html

What don't you like about the difficult questions that are asking about "the stories that have not been told, or have been largely overlooked, by these reporters almost throughout the war"

Hamas’s tyranny over the people of Gaza, its torture and murder of opponents, and of the courageous Palestinians who defy its rule.

Why there is there such scant coverage of Hamas using the civilian population as a human shield by placing tunnels under civilian buildings and military bases in hospital?

Where are the stories of Israeli hostages being moved across Gaza?

Why is there no footage of Hamas firing rockets or their gunmen on the move?

With previous 'visits', they've been taken on a specific route, closely escorted. All footage is checked by the IDF, who delete at will.

It's abhorrent of people to deny local journalist reports from inside Gaza at the same time as their oppressors have banned independent journalists (and systematically killed hundreds of journalists).

It's almost as though the Israeli government don't want the world to see what's going on... I wonder why?

I'll ask you the same question: What exactly are you trying to deny - that the tunnel underneath the hospital exists or that the bodies of 2 Hamas leaders were found there and identified by their DNA?

@Babyboomtastic “I don't care if the entirety of hamas is in there, you don't fire on a civilian hospital.”

Hamas shouldn’t be using human shields.
Israel did not fire on the hospital. If they had, it would not be standing and operating today as normal. They destroyed the terrorist leaders responsible for the death of thousands of Gazans.

Hamas could end this war today and free ‘their’ people.

Indeed, we miss the likes of Fisk. Patrick Cockburn isn't too bad either.

'look what you made me do' are the words of an abuser, and that's what you are using as a defence.

Nothing justifies genocide
Nothing justifies using starvation as a weapon, especially against civilians and children.

No 'but Hamas'. Nothing.

Palestinians have been treated horrifically, bombed, shot, detained without charge (essentially kidnapped) and tortured for decades. That justifies their anger, but did not justify Hamas actions of October 7th. Nothing justifies that.

In the same way, Hamas actions of that date also justify anger but do NOT justify the obliteration of an already impoverished community, starvation, bombing, ethnic cleansing and genocide. Nothing justifies that.

A hard-hitting piece by the excellent Thomas L. Friedman in the New York Times explains why this war needed to stop yesterday and where it might be heading for Israel.

https://archive.ph/eV9ff

Do not confuse my warning to Israel for a shred of understanding for what Hamas did on Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas invited the Israeli response with its own mass killings of Israeli parents in front of their children, children in front of their parents, by kidnapping grandmothers and murdering kidnapped children. What society in the world would not see its heart grow cold by such brutality? Hamas deserves to be eliminated; Hamas is and always has been a cancer on the Palestinian people, let alone Israelis.

But as a Jew who believes in the right of the Jewish people to live in a secure state in their biblical homeland — alongside a secure Palestinian state — I am focused right now on my own tribe. And if my own tribe does not resist this Israeli government’s utter indifference to the number of civilians being killed in Gaza today — as well its attempt to tilt Israel into authoritarianism at home by moving to sack its independent attorney general — Jews everywhere will pay dearly.

We do not seek to downplay the monstrous nature of the massacre committed by Hamas terrorists on that cursed Saturday. We believe the war was fully justified. …

However, as the war in Gaza dragged on, it became clear that it was losing its strategic and security purposes and instead served primarily the political and personal interests of the government. It thus became an unmistakably immoral war, and increasingly appeared to be a war of revenge. …

The Air Force has become a tool for those, in government and even in the military, who claim that there are no innocent people in Gaza. … Recently, a member of the Knesset even boasted that one of the government’s achievements is the ability to kill 100 people a day in Gaza without anyone being shocked.

In response to such statements, we say: As horrific as the Oct. 7 massacre was, it does not justify complete disregard for moral considerations or the disproportionate use of deadly force. We do not want to become like the worst of our enemies.

The climax came on the night of March 18, with the resumption of war after the Israeli government knowingly chose to violate the agreement for the return of hostages. In a deadly airstrike intended to kill several Hamas commanders (reports vary on whether there were dozens or fewer), a new record was set. The munitions dropped by Air Force pilots on the target killed approximately 300 people, including many children. No satisfactory explanation has been given so far for the horrifying outcome of the attack.

Since then, the Air Force has continued its relentless strikes on Gaza. … Entire buildings with children, women, and civilians are bombed — ostensibly to eliminate terrorists or destroy terror infrastructure. Even if some targets are legitimate, the disproportionate harm to uninvolved civilians cannot be denied. …

This is a moment of reckoning. It is not too late. We call on our fellow active duty pilots: Do not continue to avoid asking questions. … Because you are the ones who will have to bear the moral consequences of your actions for the rest of your lives. You will have to face your children and grandchildren and explain how such unimaginable destruction occurred in Gaza, how so many innocent children perished by the deadly killing machine you piloted.

Amen indeed.

I have three reactions to these open letters:
First, Amen.
Second, this is what being pro-Israel really sounds like.
Third, it is time for a similar movement calling out Hamas’s vile excesses, led by those who support Palestinian statehood and a peaceful resolution in Gaza. No one should accept Hamas prolonging this war to keep itself in power. Nothing would do more to pressure Hamas to accept a cease-fire than to be denounced across the world, on college campuses and in high-profile demonstrations from those who have been giving this hate-driven organization a free pass. This is what being pro-Palestinian really sounds like.

@ssd There is no evidence that these journalists are so strongly biased in favour of Israel that they would bend the truth. Which you very much implied with your comment that, I cant imagine they would let anyone in who doesn't toe the party line.

And regardless of bias, the evidence is factual.

They did find a Hamas control centre under the European hospital. And 2 of the most senior Hamas leaders, now identified by their DNA.

@sualipa , thanks for those articles, they are excellent.

There's different ways of bending the truth though. Im sure the journalists put a slant on it in favour of Israel. Which would be why Israel choose them. I cant see Israel inviting a Guardian reporter, and you would say the guardian are pro Palestinine and id say they weren't. Maybe we'd both be right. But we both have a different slant on it.

I dont know why my message was deleted??

They can bend the truth with the way they word things yes but the evidence is there for all to see.

You don't know the journalists who went in put a slant on it in favour of Israel, you are just assuming it.

Like I assume Hamas approved journalists reporting out of Gaza are putting a slant in favour of Hamas.

Basically, people have been arguing that foreign journalists should be allowed into Gaza by Israel then when they are, they question their neutrality.

i was accused of something by @Twiglets1 which i flatly denied and i was reported for that?

For breaking the Talk Guidelines.

You can email MN if you want an explanation for why your post was deleted.

It wouldn't have just been for denying something that was said; people do that all the time.

Basically, people have been arguing that foreign journalists should be allowed into Gaza by Israel then when they are, they question their neutrality.

Do you really think being taken on a guided tour of specific places chosen by the IDF, with no deviation, no speaking to Gazans, all footage vetted, counts as 'being allowed into Gaza by Israel'?

This method of propaganda is as old as journalism itself. Here are some examples from the last 100 years collated by chatgtp.

Odd - I don't remember you complaining about the risk of propaganda when the news coming out of Gaza was from Hamas approved news agencies.

Even if you completely discount the words spoken by these foreign journalists, can you deny that they found evidence of a Hamas command centre under the European hospital and the DNA of top Hamas leaders plus remains of other Hamas militants.

This is real reporting that's why they stopped it.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tv5dtIYm_Vs

Imagine… I feel a song coming on. We’re entering an age of global authoritarianism — some countries showed up early to the party, but the rest won’t be far behind.