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Monday, May 24, 2021

05/24 Links Pt1: The Palestinian Voices Blinken Won't Hear; Hamas co-founder to UK TV: Israel has no right to exist; The IDF’s Spectacular Precision

From Ian:

Khaled Abu Toameh: The Palestinian Voices Blinken Won't Hear
The renewed talk about a "two-state solution" comes amid a significant increase in the popularity of Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group whose charter openly calls for replacing Israel with an Islamic state. It also comes at a time when Abbas's popularity is at its lowest ebb.

The Palestinians are telling Blinken that he is wasting his time if he thinks that they would accept "so-called peaceful solutions" or "renounce any part of Palestine." They are also sending a warning to Abbas that recognition of Israel's right to exist and acceptance of the "two-state solution" is tantamount to treason, a crime punishable by death.

Abbas is afraid that Hamas will try to stage a coup against the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.... Abbas, however, does not feel comfortable talking about the Palestinians' two rival entities, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and prefers to continue pretending that the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel is still a realistic option.

As long as Israel maintains overall security control over the West Bank, Abbas can feel safe sitting in his office or at home in Ramallah. It is only Israel's presence in the West Bank that is keeping him in power and preventing Hamas from extending its control beyond the Gaza Strip.

A recent public opinion poll showed that 57% of the Palestinians are opposed to the two-state solution. Another 57% said they support the "armed struggle" and "popular resistance" against Israel. According to the poll, 68% of the Palestinians want Abbas to resign.

Blinken needs to go out and talk to ordinary Palestinians. There, he will get a good grasp of the Palestinians' profound anti-Israel sentiments and their deep support for Iran's proxies and others who wish to wipe Israel off the map.
Blinken trip to Israel aimed at preventing aid to Gaza from reaching Hamas
The official was also asked what can be done to ensure that aid money won’t be diverted to Hamas.

“We are going to work in partnership with the UN and the PA to channel aid in a manner that does its best to go to the people of Gaza,” the official said.

“We are going to do anything we can so that this assistance will reach the people who need it the most,” the official added. “We are focused primarily on making sure that the ceasefire sticks,” the official said.

“We, and other donors, are trying to structure things in a way that diminishes Hamas’s abilities, strengthens the people of Gaza, begins a process of hopefully reintroducing and reintegrating the Palestinian Authority into Gaza and is in partnership with the United Nations,” the official said.

“The United States remains committed to the two-state solution, that remains the vision of the United States,” the official noted.

“We are not wavering from that in any way.” They went on to say that “it’s probably premature at this time to invite the parties to Washington or anywhere else. This will be the secretary’s first trip to the region. He’ll be engaging with the parties and listening to them,” the official said.
Where Does Hamas’ Money Go?

Sec. Blinken Won't Say Whether He Believes Iran Is Funding Hamas Even After The Terror Group Admitted It
After a mere hours following the Friday announcement of ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, a senior leader in Hamas thanked “the Islamic Republic of Iran; who did not hold back with money, weapons and technical support,” according to Jerusalem Post.

“The president reiterated strong support for Israel on Friday, but he’s coming under increased pressure from progressives,” George Stephanopoulos, the show’s anchor, said, referring to pro-Palestinian statements and resolutions by Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Mark Pocan and Sen. Bernie Sanders.

“What’s your response to that?” Stephanopoulos asked Blinken.

The secretary of state said that he prefers focusing on the policies and leaves the politics to others. He then proceeded to tout President Joe Biden’s “relentless focus on diplomacy” which he said has produced the ceasefire between Israel and Gaza.

Blinken also spoke in favor of the arms sale, arguing that Israel has the right to defend itself from “indiscriminate rocket attacks against civilians.”

“We’re committed to Israel’s defense,” he added.




Ceasefire Agreements and the Question of Israel’s Sovereignty
The current conflict between Israel and Hamas raises not just the question of whether Israel has the right to defend itself — and more specifically, whether the State of Israel has the duty to defend its citizens from terrorist attacks — but also raises the question of Israel’s sovereignty as it pertains to developing state policy.

The only party in the current conflict between Israel and Hamas that genuinely has Israel’s best interests in mind is Israel and its citizens. Even the United States is conflicted, as the Biden administration attempts to juggle America’s historic support for Israel with a Democratic Party succumbing more and more to anti-Zionism and antisemitism.

Israel must stand firm in the face of global anti-Israel sentiment, and not allow this hatred to influence its domestic decision-making mechanisms.

The last few weeks have seen protests around the world supporting Hamas and condemning Israel.

A pro-Hamas protest in front of the Consulate General of Israel in midtown Manhattan resulted in the closure of Second Avenue, and other protests led to violent attacks on Jews. Hamas supporters in London cried profanities and curses repugnantly aimed at Jews (and, even more repugnantly, their daughters), while their compatriots in Los Angeles attacked diners at a restaurant after asking them whether they were Jewish (they were).

Similar occurrences and mass protests were seen across the United States, Great Britain, and Europe. For all the talk of anti-Israel sentiment and antisemitism being entirely separate categories, such events indicate that there is an alarming level of cross-pollination occurring between these two supposedly separate categories. Nevertheless, these non-Israeli protesters undoubtedly have sway over their own non-Israeli political leaders, and these non-Israeli political leaders in turn are trying to influence Israel’s political leaders.
The Phony War between Israel and Hamas
Earlier this week, an Israeli soldier was wounded by a Hamas mortar bomb while guarding a convoy of heavy trucks loaded with medical supplies, food and fuel at the Erez crossing between Israel and Gaza. Yes, it was in Israel’s interest to reduce the suffering of Gaza’s inhabitants while it pursued its campaign to protect its own population by finding and destroying Hamas and Islamic Jihad rockets stored in basements and underground tunnels: the less suffering and death, the less diplomatic pressure on Israel (particularly from the US) to call off its campaign unilaterally.

For the same reason, it was in Israel’s interest to accept extraordinary limitations on its bombing. Before attacking any occupied building, whether to destroy command posts or stored rockets or mortar bombs, the residents are warned with phone calls and often also by a “knock on the roof” — a guided weapon with no explosive that delivers a shock at impact but hardly ever hurts anyone. If civilians are spotted in or near the targeted building, attacks are delayed or called off.

All this sacrifices military gains for Israel; Hamas, naturally, takes full advantage of the bombing warnings to move out its personnel and portable equipment. But lost military gains are better than added political costs, and by now even Israeli corporals know that in warfare only political victories count.

And so it’s worth noting that in spite of all the imagery of death and destruction, in spite of the incessant media talk of genocide, the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry reported a total of 232 killed just after the ceasefire. Yesterday, by comparison, Israel’s estimate was that it had killed at least roughly 215 combatants, including 25 “senior commanders’ — but in the Hamas count they mysteriously become innocent civilians, with some becoming children. (Note Hamas does have some teenage recruits).

There were, of course, actual civilians among the dead and wounded. For one thing, according to a senior military source, of the 4,200 or so rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, approximately 650 fell inside the Gaza Strip. And unlike Israel’s guided weapons, they fell at random, and they definitely caused civilian casualties, including a family of six in one case. (Of the remaining rockets, roughly 1,950 were not intercepted because they were projected to fall in empty ground — and did. Another 1,440 were successfully engaged by Israel’s Iron Dome batteries, while 160 fell inside Israeli residential areas, causing minimal casualties thanks to Israel’s system of bomb shelters).
Hamas co-founder to UK TV: Israel has no right to exist
In a rare interview, Hamas co-founder Mahmoud al-Zahar told Britain’s Sky News that Israel has no right to exist, and said the terror group’s strategy was to target Israeli population centers.

The interview, which came in the wake of the ceasefire that began on Friday, was conducted by Sky’s Middle East correspondent, Mark Stone, who visited al-Zahar in his Gaza home.

In stilted English, al-Zahar explained that Hamas’s “victory” was a function of the group’s ability to fire rockets on densely populated Israeli civilian areas.

“The new element” in the latest round of fighting, al-Zahar said, “is the degree of the resistance movement, particularly in Gaza, to attack the Israeli targets at very important points, including most of the overcrowded area in the civilian society. So for how long the Israeli will accept that, I think this is the main issue.”

Hamas and other Gaza terror groups launched over 4,300 rockets at Israel during the 11 days of fighting, at times forcing people living near Gaza into bomb shelters around the clock.

Stone challenged al-Zahar: “You are firing rockets and missiles from civilian areas here in Gaza at civilians in Israel,” he said. “That’s not acceptable, that’s a war crime.”

Al-Zahar rejected the accusation that Hamas endangers Palestinians. “No single rocket was sent from a civilian area. We [fired] most of the rockets from the border,” he told Stone.


IDF, Hamas Both Claim Victory After Latest Round of Hostilities

Sderot Mayor on Southern Israel Economy Hit by Gaza Conflict



Yehuda Glick on Temple Mount Reopening for Jews for 1st Time Since Jerusalem Clashes



MEMRI: Saudi Writer Fahad Shoqiran On 'Arab Tragedy And The Curse Of Resistance': 'When The Suicide Bombing Culture Evolves... To Involving Entire Capitals And Societies, It Becomes A Crime Against Humanity'
In an article titled "Arab Tragedy And The Curse Of Resistance," Fahad Suleiman Shoqiran, a Saudi writer and researcher who also founded the Riyadh philosophers group, stressed that in light of the destruction caused by "the resistance" in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Yemen, and in order to "achieve development," the people "must establish legitimate courts where resistance leaders are tried." He concluded: "When the suicide bombing culture evolves from booby-trapping individuals' bodies to involving entire capitals and societies, it becomes a crime against humanity." The article was published May 20 on the Alarabiya News website. The following is the article, in the original English.[1]

"It is agonizing that the resistance and its militias test the Israelis and their anger every few years.

"After the July 2006 war that killed more than 2,000 Lebanese people and caused economic losses amounting to over two billion dollars, Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah made his famous statement, 'I would not have ordered the capture of the two Israeli soldiers if I had known that it would lead to such a war.' In 2009, Hamas tested the Israelis again and caused massive massacres. The same thing happened in 2012 and 2014.

"However, Operation Guardian of the Walls currently led by Israel is exhibiting an unprecedented level of violence. The oppressed Palestinian people are paying for the rash behavior of the resistance. Hamas knows better than anyone else that it does not have enough forces to deter Israel. All Hamas can do is fire rockets chaotically, with no military planning or strategic targeting. Denouncing Hamas is paramount to defending the oppressed Palestinians.

"The problem today is the concept of 'resistance,' whose meaning has become broader since the early founding of Hizbullah, the Palestinian Brigades, [and] Hamas, [and] all the way to the Iran-backed Houthi militia [in Yemen]. The concept of resistance is loaded with fundamentalist ideology. In this context, resistance does not mean self-defense or confrontation with the aggressor; instead, it has its own political, ideological, and partisan agenda.
French FM warns Israel on its way to apartheid
The current situation in Israel could lead it to become an apartheid state, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Sunday. The chance of a two-state solution “was starting to disappear,” he said on the French TV program Grand Jury. “The risk of apartheid is strong if we continue to adopt a logic of one state or the status quo.”

We must “initiate a policy of small steps,” Le Drian said, adding: “We must ensure that there is a logic of trust that can be established” between Israel and the Palestinians.

French lawmaker Meyer Habib, who represents French expats in Israel and other countries, criticized Le Drian, saying his remarks were “unfortunate.”

“Israel will never be an apartheid state,” he said. “[France] should not be preaching to the only democracy in the Middle East and the only Jewish state in the world.”

Le Drian’s “irresponsible statement adds fuel to the fire, perhaps with a goal to get votes from the pro-Arab Left,” Habib said.
Morocco’s PM Sends Congratulatory Letter to Hamas Over ‘Victory’ Against ‘Zionist Entity’
Morocco’s prime minister — whose country normalized ties with Israel in 2020 as part of the flowering of peace engendered through the Abraham Accords — reportedly sent a congratulatory letter to Hamas’ political bureau chief.

Saad-Eddine El Othmani, who has been Moroccan premier since 2017, reportedly wrote to Ismail Haniyeh congratulating the Gaza-based terrorist group on “victory” over the “Zionist entity” in the recent fighting between Israel and the Gaza Strip, reported the Times of Israel.

El Othmani extended his “warmest congratulations” on “the victory achieved by the Palestinian people and the supreme resistance after the ceasefire agreement between the factions of the resistance and the Zionist entity,” according to Israeli outlet Ynet.

In 2020, Morocco became the third Muslim Arab state to normalize ties with Israel — following the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. The Jewish state has a sizeable Moroccan diaspora, composed of refugees and their descendants, forced to flee Morocco in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

In return for Morocco’s willingness to establish full diplomatic ties with the Jewish state — with each country still to officially open embassies — then-President Donald Trump acquiesced to Rabat’s demand to acknowledge its sovereignty over Western Sahara.
Foreign Ministry: Israelis Killed in Italy Cable-Car Disaster Confirmed as Family of Five
Five Israelis among the 14 people who were killed in northern Italy when a cable car slammed into the side of a mountain were members of one family, Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed on Monday.

One of the Israeli victims included a two-year-old child, while another five-year-old Israeli was critically wounded.

The sole survivor of the crash, Eitan Biran, is currently receiving treatment at Turin’s Regina Margherita hospital.

Amit Biran, 30, his wife, Tal Peleg-Biran, 26, and their 2-year-old son Tom Biran, were identified as victims of the incident, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Peleg-Biran’s grandparents Barbara and Yitzhak Cohen of Tel Aviv, 71 and 81, also perished in the crash.

The accident occurred in the resort town of Stresa, which lies on the shores of Lake Maggiore in the Piedmont region. Italy’s Ministry of Infrastructure said it happened at around 12:30 pm on a popular cable connecting Stresa to the summit of Mottarone mountain nearby.

The likely cause, according to the ministry, was a cable snapping at the top of the mountain.
The IDF’s Spectacular Precision
“Operation Guardian of the Walls” may have been the most targeted and accurate precision-bombing campaign ever facilitated by any military, anywhere, in the history of conflict and war.

In the 11 days before the ceasefire, more than 4,100 rockets and mortars were launched at Israel from the Gaza Strip by Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other groups.

In response, the Israel Defense Forces targeted more than 1,000 sites across the Strip with complex surgical strikes that stunned militaries and defense establishments around the world.

Many of these strikes were on buildings used as terrorist command centers or that housed Hamas and Islamic Jihad commandos. They were also aimed at aerial-defense compounds, multi-barrel rocket launchers, underground steel bunkers and tunnels in the heart of Gaza’s civilian districts.

Most of the above, as well as massive arsenals of weaponry, were embedded in residential areas, across the street from schools and down the road from hospitals. And right under the noses of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

In retaliation for the bombardment of its cities and towns, Israel could have killed thousands of Gazans while going after terrorists and their infrastructure. But because the IDF does so much to prevent the death of innocents, despite the risk to its own population, the number of civilian Palestinian casualties remained relatively low.
Four Iranian Kamikaze Drones from Gaza Downed by "Classified Means"
During the recent conflict, Israel's Iron Dome defense system was tested by a battery of drones designed and supplied by Iran, experts told The National.

Israeli forces shot down at least six kamikaze drones launched from Gaza. At least one was shot down by an air-to-air missile from an F16, another intercepted by Iron Dome, while four were downed by "classified means." Israel also shot down an Iranian drone near the border with Jordan on Tuesday.

It is understood that Iran will assess the attack methods to improve them for future conflict.

Operatives from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps smuggled in components of their Ababil-2 unmanned aerial vehicle and taught Hamas to equip it with a 30 kg. warhead.

It is programmed with GPS coordinates and satellite imagery to find its target. Alternatively, it can be guided visually to the target with a ground operator and camera.
Two Israelis, including soldier, stabbed in Jerusalem, terrorist killed
Two Israelis were stabbed on Monday near Ammunition Hill in Jerusalem.

Two young men in their 20s, one an IDF soldier, were stabbed on Shlomo Zalman Shraga Street, in front of the national headquarters of the Border Police, and received medical attention on the scene before being evacuated to a nearby hospital in moderate and serious condition. The suspected terrorist, 17, was killed by a Border Police officer who was nearby, police said. Additional police and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) forces were dispatched to the scene.

Video posted on social media showed him, wearing an Israeli Air Force uniform, with a knife lodged in his back as he knelt on the ground and received treatment from medics.


Seth Frantzman: Iran's Quds Force chief tells Islamic Jihad it defeated 'Zionist pride'
The recent war against Israel “destroyed the pride of the Zionist army,” Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force Commander Esmail Ghaani told his Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) counterpart, Akram al-Ajouri, in a letter, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported.

His comments came after Hamas reportedly thanked Iran for its support in the war. Iran backs Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which has offices in Damascus.

Ajouri was reportedly targeted in an airstrike in Damascus in November 2019 during Israel-PIJ tensions.

Ghaani’s macabre letter praised death and martyrdom, adding that while the killing of pro-Iran operatives is a threat, they look forward to death with longing and passion, according to Al-Mayadeen, a Beirut-based pan-Arabist satellite television channel. Ghaani’s predecessor, Qasem Soleimani, was killed by the US in 2020 and is revered as a great martyr.

The letter to Ajouri, one of several letters and memos of support that have been sent from Iran to Hamas and PIJ recently, said: “We believe that every drop of blood that falls on the way to Jerusalem brings us closer to liberating it from the filth of the occupier.”
CBC Reporter Ignores How Hamas Uses Cement to Build Terror-Attack Tunnels
In a live hit today for CBC TV in Gaza, Margaret Evans, the CBC’s former Middle East bureau chief, described Gaza as “the world’s largest outdoor prison” because of the Israeli-Egyptian blockade, claiming that Israeli restrictions impede the delivery of cement to Gaza.

For some reason, it didn’t dawn on Ms. Evans to report how Hamas uses cement to build terror attack tunnels, a vast amount which Israel recently destroyed and which are also used to store thousands of rockets.

This statement was delivered in the context of background footage CBC used in Gaza showing destroyed buildings and rubble, and a discussion of international aid and support for rebuilding.

Amazingly, as the live hit proceeded, Evans referred to the tunnels, but in the context of the bodies of nine dead Palestinian “militants” who were pulled from the tunnels that had been struck by Israel.

There was no connecting the dots between transferring cement to Gaza and tunnel construction by Hamas.
Water pipes were turned into rockets by Gaza terrorists
Terrorists’ ability to turn seemingly innocent household commodities into the tools of terror has always created a challenge for peaceful states fighting terror. Fertilizer has been used to build lethal bombs and instead of using tons of cement that Israel permitted into the Gaza Strip for the building of homes, schools and factories, Hamas built 100 kilometers of terror tunnels that Israel destroyed in the recent war.

Now there is another seemingly innocuous construction material that has joined the arsenal of terror: water pipes. There were some reports that Israel was surprised by the high number of rockets - 4,300 - that Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists had in their arsenals to launch against civilians in Israeli cities in the recent 11-day Gaza war. Now the Secretary-General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad has explained this: He bragged that the “resistance engineers” have turned “water pipes… into the rockets that you see.”

The ability to easily turn construction materials into lethal rockets in simple underground factories, creates new challenges for Israel. It means that Israel must be even more cautious about what dual-purpose materials are allowed into the Gaza Strip and who controls their distribution.

The following is a longer excerpt of the statement by Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ziyad Al-Nakhaleh:
“Let the world, which is silent, know that our weapons – with which we are confronting the most modern products of the American military industry – are water pipes that the resistance engineers have turned into the rockets that you see. Here the occupation state (i.e., Israel), with all its capabilities, is unable to confront Gaza and its modest capabilities.”

[Twitter account of Al-Mayadeen TV (Lebanon), May 19, 2021]




Fight breaks out between Hamas, Fatah supporters on Temple Mount
A physical confrontation broke out Sunday evening between Hamas supporters and their Fatah adversaries on the Temple Mount outside of the al-Aqsa mosque.

The incident was the latest in a series of clashes between supporters of the two political factions, as support for Hamas continues to grow in the traditionally Fatah dominant area of east Jerusalem.

In a video shared on Twitter by KAN reporter Suleiman Maswadeh, Fatah supporters can be seen standing on the steps to al-Aqsa waving flags with the face of Yasser Arafat, the former PLO leader. They also chanted "we are the people of Abu Amar (Arafat)," showing their loyalty to their former leader who passed away in 2004.

This led to physical fights between the Fatah demonstrators and their Hamas rivals, who have been inciting violence on the Temple Mount for the last few weeks.

Many believe that Hamas intentionally incited riots and violence at al-Aqsa mosque and across East Jerusalem over Ramadan, which eventually led to the 12-day IDF operation in the Gaza Strip, known as Operation Guardian of the Walls. Hamas' operation, in which they and allied terror groups shot over 4,000 rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory, was known as the "The Sword of Jerusalem."


Hamas fighter with American citizenship killed in recent Gaza conflict
An American citizen known as Osama al-Zebda was fighting with the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the so-called “armed wing” of Hamas, during the recent battle in Gaza. An official confirmed this with FDD’s Long War Journal, adding that al-Zebda was on a U.S. terrorist watch list.

Al-Zebda was killed by an Israeli air strike on May 12. His father – an al-Qassam commander named Jamal al-Zebda – was also killed in the strike.

This fits a pattern of Americans who joined Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), which is illegal pursuant to U.S. law. Other Americans to join terror groups include Adam Gadahn (killed in a U.S. drone strike while serving as a senior Al Qaeda leader), Anwar al Awlaki (killed in a U.S. drone strike while serving as a senior leader in Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula), John Georgelas (a senior Islamic State propagandist killed in Syria), and John Walker Lindh (captured while fighting alongside the Taliban).

Osama al-Zebda appears to have been the target of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) military campaign against leaders and commanders of militant factions in Gaza. Multiple commanders and mid-level Hamas militants were reportedly killed during the 10-day operation.

It is unclear if Osama was born in the U.S. or was a naturalized citizen. However, Jamal, was described by the IDF’s Hebrew-language site as a ‘senior member of Hamas’ research and development division,’ adding that he earned a ‘PhD in Mechanical Engineering, specializing in aerodynamics.’

A paper written by Jamal al-Zebda on aerodynamics at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1989 appears on the Aerospace Research Center’s website, suggesting Osama’s father was possibly in the United States either studying or working there. However, FDD’s Long War Journal could not independently verify if it was written by the same person.


PreOccupiedTerritory: Gaza Mourns 6' Tall, Bearded Kindergartener Killed By Israel (satire)
The population of this coastal territory continued to tally its dead from a flurry of violence between militant factions and Israel last week and the week before, with one particularly devastating casualty of IDF airstrikes a physically mature male of fighting age whom the Hamas-run Ministry of Health and human rights organizations counted as a preschooler.

Muhammad Issa, 23, met his end in a tunnel that Israel Air Force jets pounded with bombs the Thursday night before last, along with six other Palestinian toddlers in their twenties, according to Shifa Hospital and Ministry of Health records. Kindergarten teacher Aisha Jibril recalled him as a precocious, curious presence in the preschool.

“He was always asking questions, always demanding answers,” she reminisced, suppressing tears. “I remember just a few weeks ago, he wouldn’t let me go until I told him where he could keep two dozen rockets. I still can’t believe he’s gone. Those monsters.”

Human rights groups condemned the indiscriminate fire that killed Muhammad. “It just gets added to the litany of war crimes,” stated Human Rights Watch researcher Omar Bashir, his expression grim. “Unfortunately, the international community has shown little readiness to curb Israeli atrocities of this ilk. I fear we have not seen the last of Palestinian children ending up like poor Muhammad Issa.”

Child-welfare organizations sounded a similar somber note. “This is hardly the first time, nor, do we believe, the last, that Israel will likely get away with such acts,” acknowledged UNICEF regional director Ben Button. “The numbers are not all in because so many victims are still buried beneath the rubble, but the next week or two will surely see a dramatic increase in Gaza preschoolers with facial hair and adult physiques identified among the dead. It’s just shocking that anyone tolerates this happening again and again.”







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