#Kerem Shalom

[sayruq]

I knew cruelty is the point but this is sickening

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by David Isaac

After demanding for months that Jerusalem let more supplies enter the Gaza Strip, with Israel insisting that the bottlenecks are on the Gaza side, the U.S. appeared to come around to Israel’s position on Wednesday.

“Though Kerem Shalom is open and trucks are queued up outside, not a lot of them are getting in, and it’s not because of the Israelis,” White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said at a press briefing.

Subscribe to The JNS Daily Syndicate by email and never miss our top storiesFREE SIGN UP

By signing up, you agree to receive emails from JNS and allied pro-Israel organizations.

Kirby blamed the problem on looting by Gazan “criminal gangs and thugs.” He insisted the criminals were not connected to Hamas, although the U.S. has blamed Hamas in the past for stealing supplies, with the administration notably condemning the terrorist group for hijacking a large aid convoy from Jordan in May.

In pointing to gangs as the culprits, the White House also ignored Israeli reports of widespread theft by Hamas, which it says has been stealing up to 60% of the aid entering the Gaza Strip.

A Channel 12 report in May revealed that Hamas had made at least $500 million in profit off such aid since the start of the war, turning around and selling it to the civilian population.

Admitted Kirby, “I’m not trying to pull—take Hamas off the hook here, because Hamas has, in fact, allowed some of this activity to go on and don’t have the best interests of the people of Gaza forefront in their minds.”

If the administration is no longer holding Israel responsible for the aid jam up, it would represent a shift in thinking. Less than two weeks ago, the State Department sanctioned an Israeli protest group for “harassing and damaging convoys” (something the group denies).

Israel has largely blamed the aid failure on the United Nations. On Wednesday, COGAT, the Israeli body responsible for coordinating aid into Gaza, tweeted a picture of tons of aid waiting for pickup at the U.S.-built JLOTS (Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore) pier.

[girlactionfigure]

HAMAS CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR ROCKET ATTACK ON KEREM SHALOM FROM RAFAH

Hamas said they were behind a rocket attack on Israeli troops near the Kerem Shalom area. The attack injured several people, according to authorities. The rockets hit an open area close to a military spot, causing injuries, said the Eshkol Regional Council. About 10 rockets were fired from Rafah during the attack. Hamas stated they aimed at a group of troops.

[taviamoth]

Today, Saturday, a total of 8 trucks (2 aid, 2 cooking gas, 4 diesel fuel) entered the #Gaza Strip via the Rafah crossing, while the "Kerem Shalom" crossing remains closed due to disruptive zionist protests.

Meanwhile, hundreds of trucks remain stuck at the Egyptian-Palestinian border.

[via RNN]

[workersolidarity]

🇵🇸⚔️🇮🇱 🚀🚀🚀 🚨

AL-QASSAM BRIGADES PUBLISH VIDEO OF THE "RAJOUM" ROCKET SYSTEM USED TO KILL 4 ISEAELI SOLDIERS

📹 Scenes from the Mujahideen of the Al-Qassam Brigades, belonging to the Hamas resistance movement, showing off the domestically-produced "Rajoum" multiple-launch, 114mm rocket system (MLRS), used on Sunday to bombard the Kerem Shalom crossing, killing four Israeli occupation soldiers and wounding several others.

#source

#photosource

#videosource

@WorkerSolidarityNews

[psychologeek]

Donations needed (Tsdaka)

This is Amichai and Avital Sheindler.

On October 7th, terrorists broke into their home in Kerem Shalom.

Amichai held the door to the safety room, protecting his wife and 6 little kids with his body. As the terrorists failed to open the door, they attached explosives to it.

Amichai's arms were cut by the explosion, and he was in the ICU for a long time, in critical condition. Thank G-d, he's now in recovery.

During that time, Avital and the kids (who've been evacuated from the destroyed home) also face many struggles.

They all face a long, complicated and expensive journey.

This family needs your help.

Donations:

https://www.jgive.com/new/he/ils/donation-targets/110053/about?fbclid=IwAR3zTdCQX_v1uNaO6EWnNLTsRqwn1zbmjyIbQBouWfsnuxO5Nq1FCAfKJSo

The NGO is recognised for tax-things in Israel (section 46) and USA (section 501(c)(3))

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Ellen Ioanes at Vox:

Israel has begun an aerial and ground offensive in Rafah, the largest city in Gaza that has remained outside of Israel’s direct operational control. While Israel and the US are claiming it is a limited operation, it’s nevertheless raising fears that the long-threatened, full-scale offensive into the city that houses over 1.4 million displaced Palestinians could be imminent. Here’s what we know: The Israeli military took control of the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt Tuesday after conducting airstrikes Monday on the southern Palestinian city. It did so one day after ordering at least 100,000 Palestinians to evacuate from the eastern part of the city, prompting scenes of families fleeing north to areas heavily damaged by nearly eight months of fighting. Israel’s war cabinet voted Monday to push forward with the operation, even as ceasefire talks continue in Cairo and Israel.

Israel maintains that four Hamas battalions are operating from the southern city. Rafah is also one of the only places in Gaza that Israeli forces have not destroyed and is the site of two border crossings — critical routes for the humanitarian aid people in Gaza so desperately need. This all came as representatives from Hamas, Egypt, Qatar, and the US gathered in Cairo to discuss the terms of a potential ceasefire. Hamas reportedly agreed to a proposal by Qatari and Egyptian officials on Monday. Israel has rejected that plan, saying that the agreement is not aligned with the proposal drafted by Israeli and US negotiators, but it has agreed to send working-level representatives to continue negotiations Tuesday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly warned that Israel will attack Rafah, despite US admonitions not to do so without a clear and credible plan for protecting civilians — which State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said during a press briefing Monday the US had not yet seen.

Given the destruction of Gaza and the staggering number of deaths — at least 34,500, some 14,000 of whom were children — aid groups and international organizations like the UN are warning that an invasion could be catastrophic due to the immense crowding there and the obstruction of critical aid routes. However, as of Tuesday, Netanyahu’s government appears committed to its maximalist military objective of destroying Hamas. After Israel consolidated operational control of wide swaths of Gaza, including offensives that razed and captured major cities like Khan Younis and Gaza City, Rafah has in recent months become the focus of the war. Given Israel’s belief that it houses many of Hamas’s remaining fighters, the country’s right wing has been clamoring for an invasion there as the necessary step toward “total victory,” and Netanyahu has framed it as an existential battle. But considering Israel’s moves to entrench its control of the north for months or years to come, the possibility of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) seizing Rafah raises dire questions about the future of Gaza after the war.

[...]

What’s happening in Rafah?

On Monday, the prime minister’s office posted on X, “The War Cabinet unanimously decided that Israel continues the operation in Rafah to exert military pressure on Hamas in order to promote the release of our hostages and the other goals of the war” while continuing to negotiate a potential ceasefire.

That announcement was followed by IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari posting on X, “IDF forces are now attacking and operating against the targets of the terrorist organization Hamas in a targeted manner” in eastern Rafah Monday night local time. According to the Jerusalem Post, Hagari said an aerial operation started Monday in preparation for a ground offensive. Israeli forces air-dropped leaflets to people in east Rafah Sunday night warning them to go to a safe zone; however, the operation in east Rafah began just hours later, according to Hagari. The tactics echo ones used in the beginning of the war, when the military urged people to leave northern Gaza, giving them 24 hours to leave the area before a proposed operation (Israel ultimately delayed the strike). As of now, there are few details about what exactly that operation entails — and how many of the 100,000 people urged to evacuate the area made it out to areas near Khan Younis, a city roughly 5 miles north of Rafah, before the operation began.

Rafah was supposed to be a safe zone for the roughly 1.7 million people now sheltering there. Israeli operations in northern and central Gaza leveled about 70 percent of the housing in the region, as Abdallah al-Dardari, director of the regional bureau for Arab states at the UN Development Program, said in a press briefing last week. Israel has repeatedly engaged in strikes against Rafah despite the risk to civilians, including one on Sunday in retaliation for a Hamas rocket attack on the Kerem Shalom border crossing, which killed four Israeli soldiers. It reportedly may have helped accelerate Israel’s timeline for the Rafah operation by stoking fears of Hamas’s capabilities.

As of Tuesday, border crossings in Rafah between Gaza and Egypt have stopped “completely,” border crossing official Wael Abu Omar told the Washington Post. Israel also closed the Kerem Shalom border crossing, gravely endangering the humanitarian situation in Gaza, including in the north where there is a “full-blown famine,” according to World Food Program head Cindy McCain. White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Tuesday that President Biden has urged Netanyahu to open Kerem Shalom crossing “as soon as possible” but did not give a timeline. Military engagement poses a great risk to the people in Rafah, and the UN warned Friday that hundreds of thousands of people would be “at imminent risk of death” should an invasion go forward. Humanitarian supplies including food, fuel, clean water, and medical aid are already in short supply, and some medical aid groups, like MedGlobal, have opted to suspend their operations in light of the operation.

[...]

What about the ceasefire process?

Israel and Hamas have not agreed to a ceasefire since November, when a week-long pause in hostilities saw the return of some 105 hostages and 240 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

The latest round of peace talks has stalled over the past two months because the bargaining positions are fundamentally at odds. “Unfortunately, we’re in a situation where both sides — their demands are mutually exclusive,” Mustafa said. “You’ve got Hamas that’s insisting on a complete and total cessation of hostilities, a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, that is about one-fifth of its size pre-October 7. It’s demanding the return of people from the south back to the north.” According to Reuters, Hamas negotiators agreed to a three-phase plan consisting of two six-week ceasefire phases during which Hamas would release Israeli hostages in return for a phased military retreat and the release of Palestinian prisoners. The third phase would include implementing a reconstruction plan in Gaza and ending the years-long blockade on the territory. Now, Israeli leadership has said it is using the Rafah offensive as a pressure tactic — a phased operation to pressure Hamas into accepting its demands for a ceasefire.

On Monday, there was a brief hope that a ceasefire was going to be reached, but instead the Israel Occupation Forces begun an offensive both on the ground and in their air in Rafah with the intent to ethnically cleanse the remaining Palestinians living in Gaza.

[catdotjpeg]

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society accused Israeli forces of killing the four men as they were being released at the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing from Israel into Gaza. The rights group described the incident as “a field execution”, adding the four Palestinians had helped guard humanitarian aid entering the besieged coastal enclave. “The body of one of the men was recovered yesterday and the rest this morning, and pictures taken show that their hands were bound, and there was evidence of torture on their bodies,” the organisation said. Israeli forces have detained more than 9,700 Palestinians since October 7, the prisoners’ group said, with 3,800 of them being held without charge or trial in “administrative detention“.

-- "Rights group alleges four prisoners killed during release by Israeli troops" by Mersiha Gadzo, Tamila Varshalomidze and Umut Uras for Al Jazeera, 7 Jul 2024 14:15 GMT

[vyorei]

OK it seems the original number of 7 for foreign-nationals was a misreport, it's 4 Thai nationals and 13 Israelis, they're all popping through Egypt first

[arrahmahcom]

“Israel” Tetapkan Penyeberangan Kerem Shalom sebagai Zona Militer Tertutup

TEL AVIV (Arrahmah.id) – Pada Ahad (28/1/2024) tentara pendudukan “Israel” mendeklarasikan penyeberangan Kerem Shalom sebagai zona militer tertutup, dengan puluhan warga “Israel” terus berdemonstrasi di dekat penyeberangan selama empat hari berturut-turut, dan mencegah truk bermuatan bantuan kemanusiaan memasuki Jalur Gaza. Koresponden Al Jazeera menyebutkan, pada hari keempat, puluhan demonstran…

[eretzyisrael]

Source

[proudzionist]

[realtybizblog]

Israel Weighs Response To Iran Attack Amid Gaza Devastation

Relief efforts are underway in Gaza despite the ongoing fighting; the first shipment arrived through the Kerem Shalom Crossing.

[sayruq]

Rafah Crossing and Kerem Shalom Crossing have been closed since the Rafah invasion began. The little aid that trickled in kept its starving population alive and hospitals open. Israeli settlers have increasingly attacked aid trucks preventing them from entering the Strip by destroying bags of flour and blocking the streets with stones, all while the Israeli army bombed water pipes and warehouses storing aid.

And now they're doing this

This was an attempt to lynch to a Palestinian because they thought he was bringing food and fuel to a population that's being bombed hundreds of times a day

[zynp-krdg]

UN sent aid trucks coming to the Kerem Shalom Border Gate to enter Gaza were stopped by Israeli citizens and the passage was prevented.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Emma Graham-Harrison at The Guardian:

The US state department has imposed sanctions on Tsav 9, “a violent, extremist Israeli group”, for blocking convoys taking humanitarian aid to Gaza, and attacking trucks. The US said Tsav 9 activists began blockading a key crossing, Kerem Shalom, at the start of the year, and later set trucks on fire and injured drivers and Israel Defense Forces soldiers, as hunger spread inside Gaza.

“For months, individuals from Tzav 9 have repeatedly sought to thwart the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, including by blockading roads, sometimes violently,” a spokesperson, Matthew Miller, said in a statement. “They also have damaged aid trucks and dumped life-saving humanitarian aid on to the road.” Miller detailed an attack in mid-May when Tsav 9 members “looted and then set fire to two trucks near Hebron, in the West Bank, carrying humanitarian aid destined for men, women and children in Gaza”. Tsav 9 said the sanctions were “shocking”, and “go against any American and liberal values”. The group’s statement repeated unsourced claims that Hamas diverted “much” of the aid transferred to Gaza, and claimed the group represents families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. The group’s actions sparked outrage internationally, but inside Israel there is widespread support for their opposition to aid shipments into Gaza. Earlier this year, several polls found a majority of Israelis believed humanitarian shipments into the strip should be halted or limited.

At the start of the year, two war cabinet members, who have since stepped down, suggested putting temporary limits on aid to weaken Hamas, Israeli media reported. It was not immediately clear how imposing sanctions would affect individuals linked to Tsav 9, which is an informal campaign organisation, and how many of those who joined its actions might be affected.

The US has imposed sanctions on extremist Israel activist group Tsav 9, who were responsible for blockades of supplies being sent to Gaza for aid.