Editing Palestine (section)

=====Operation Al-Aqsa Mosque (2023) and the subsequent Palestinian-Israeli war=====
In the middle of September 2023, Israel killed two Palestinians, one of whom was a child. On September 19th 2023, Israel injured seven Palestinians in Gaza, including three children. That same day the IDF raided the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp in Jenin, killing five and wounding thirty. On the 22nd the IDF murdered an 18-year-old boy in a dawn raid in the West Bank. Two days later they raided Bir Zeit University in Ramallah and arrested nine students. On October 4th IDF snipers shot Gazan protesters in the ankles, and October 5th, the IDF killed three West Bank Palestinians and prevented medical aid from reaching them. That same day an Israeli settler murdered two Palestinian farmers and desecrated their bodies. This all lead to the ignition of the major Gazan operation, codenamed "Al-Aqsa Mosque".

On October 7th, 2023, Gazan Palestinian forces broke through Israeli border fences and flew into Israel on paragliders. They attacked border checkpoints, (mostly) military bases, and Israeli civilian areas such as kibbutzim (illegal settlements in the occupied territories). These forces were comprised of mostly young men who have grown up within the confines of the Gaza concentration camp; they were led by Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other brigades of armed forces. Israeli security, which is usually laser-precise and fast-acting, deployed ground troops in response at 7:45 am-- an hour delayed, with jets and helicopters deployed late as well. Shin Bet, Israel's domestic (homeland) security, ordered all available forces to go south at 9 am. Later it was revealed that Egyptian intelligence warned Israel of a possible Gazan operation a year beforehand, leading many to believe that Israel allowed the attack in order to obtain a prerequisite for annihilating the Palestinians once and for all. The evidence given for previous Israeli operations would indicate the nation-state is at least willing and able to use the "provoke-and-slaughter" strategy.

During the attack 1,200 Israelis were killed, about 850 of whom were civilians, 500 being security forces or military. While Western media has claimed the Gazan forces committed war crimes including mass rape, beheadings, taking hostages, and burning civilians alive, in actuality, only the claim that they took 200 hostages was true. They did so in order to open negotiations for freeing the over 1,000 Palestinian hostages detained in Israeli prisons without access to the evidence against them, without trial, and often without being charged. A great number of these prisoners are minors. The number of these Palestinian hostages has risen to 9,500 since October 7th, 2023. Many of the 200 Israeli hostages were later killed by Israeli bombing and gunfire, starved under the same conditions as Palestinians, or were exchanged in the two deals between Hamas and Israel; some of the remaining hostages, including young women, have been identified as IDF soldiers or security for the Nova music festival.

As for the other claims levied against the Gazan fighters, there is, as of June 2024, still no evidence of any beheadings on October 7th, according to the report provided to the ICJ conducted by independent international investigators. Claims of rape and Palestinian resistance burning people alive remain unsubstantiated and even challenged.

The Israeli response was one of "scorched earth". According to Israeli media interviews with IDF footsoldiers, tank operators, and air support, IDF soldiers trapped and fired on Israelis at the Nova music festival using rifles and mounted helicopter guns; Israeli commanders authorized tank shelling on civilian targets, helicopter machine gun fire on civilians, and airstrikes on at least one kibbutz. One Israeli woman taken from her kibbutz said she and many others wouldn't have survived the indiscriminate Israeli bombardment if not for the Palestinians taking them hostage. Israeli tank shells, airstrikes, helicopter missiles-- due to their sheer power and explosive nature, these are all likely culprits for the incineration of Israelis during Operation Al-Aqsa Mosque. 

In the days following these events, there were a few key statements by Israeli leadership. On October 9th, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered a "complete siege" of Gaza. He continued, "There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed... We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly." On October 12th, Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett cited the firebombing of over 30,000 civilians at Dresden during WWII (Britain employing such force as a weapon of demoralization) as a precedent for Israel's military response. In an October 16th interview, the Israeli ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely stated that the Dresden attack was not only justified, but agreed with Bennett that it serves as a good example for Israel in its retaliation. Benjamin Netanyahu likened the Gazans (and, more generally, Palestinians) to the biblical Amalek who were wiped out by King Saul in the first Book of Samuel. The verse reads: "Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass." Ariel Kallner, a member of Israeli parliament from Netenyahu's Likud party, posted, "Right now, one goal: Nakba! A Nakba that will overshadow the Nakba of 48. Nakba in Gaza and Nakba to anyone who dares to join!" US politicians and other Israeli allies have asserted that they will do whatever possible to "turn Gaza into a parking lot."

Key reports, one by David Ben Zion claiming 40 babies were beheaded and another by the New York Times claiming mass rape on October 7th were debunked, leaving no evidence for either claim. The only photo of these burnt/beheaded infants was created by artificial intelligence, which was then circulated online. Additionally, the Mossad curated and edited footage captured by Palestinian GoPros during the attack. The Israeli government held 75 private screenings of the footage worldwide -- to which only a few hundred journalists were privately invited. Israel said the footage would not be made public. 

In the wake of the operation, Israel unleashed their arsenal upon the Gaza Strip. For weeks straight Israeli air forces, which have complete control over the airspace over the Strip, bombarded Gaza. Carpet bombing, airstrikes, artillery shells, and white phosphorus levelled half of Gaza's buildings, killing ~24,000 in the first 100 days of war. In five months time at least 30,000 were killed. According to Oxfam, Israel killed an average of 250 Palestinians per day for the first 100 days, without factoring in disease, malnourishment, and dehydration. How are we to know this killing is indiscriminate? The population demographics of Gaza are (roughly) as follows: 50% children, 25% men, 25% women. If we compare these figures to the data regarding Gazan deaths, the spread is about equivalent to the overall demographics of the general population of Gaza. Thus, we can conclude that the killing of Gazans was indiscriminate. 

While in the span of two years of war in Ukraine only 500 children were killed, within six months 13,000 Gazan children were killed.

Over the 6 months following October 7th, 2023, all 36 hospitals in Gaza were destroyed or made inoperable. Multiple hospitals were raided by Israeli soldiers in the north, with some footsoldiers disguising themselves as doctors to gain access in those still functioning and murder patients (yet another war crime under international law). As early as New Years 2024, only 9 of the 36 hospitals were still standing. 

Al-Shifa hospital was bombed under the media cover of Thanksgiving, the IDF having claimed the hospital housed a base full of weapons and tunnels used by Hamas. Such claims were debunked by Israeli propaganda video itself. On Christmas Day of 2023, Israeli forces massacred the Maghazi refugee camp under a similar media blackout. New Years Day of 2024 saw another opportunity exploited by Israel with the massacre of 156 Palestinians in 24 hours. Israel, having learned a lesson long ago when Egypt crossed the Suez in 1973 on Yom Kippur, choosing that date for its media blackout, Israel has consistently used worldwide holidays and events to commit heinous acts and escape immediate consequences. That was exactly what they did when Obama was inaugurated during Operation Cast Lead in January 2009. 

Israel has destroyed multiple UN schools (in which thousands of civilians were taking shelter), churches (including some of the oldest in the region like the Church of Saint Porphyrius-- while housing civilians of all faiths), and other civilian infrastructure. Over half of Gaza's buildings are destroyed or damaged.

All crossings were denied to Palestinians, including the Rafah crossing into Egypt. While death reigned in the north, Israel warned the Gazans to move south toward Rafah. The goal was to either kill the Palestinians to take the land, or corral them like animals through the Rafah crossing and into the Sinai Desert, where they would live in tents and be Egypt's problem. The Rafah crossing reopened on October 21st, 2023, allowing in humanitarian aid trucks from Egypt and the United Nations. This aid was hindered by Israeli protesters who blocked the crossing at the other Egyptian-Gazan border, Kerem Shalom. Notably, over the past ten years, the Rafah crossing has been closed for more days than its been open. Since February 2024 the amount of aid decreased dramatically. This is around the same time that IDF forces withdrew from the north and started applying more pressure in the south, striking targets in such a manner as to move Gazans in the south towards Rafah.  

Meanwhile, the United States provided 20,000 munitions to Israel during the siege of northern Gaza, then dropping aid shipments into the Strip. Many of these airdrops killed Palestinians when their chutes failed to deploy. In the midst of humanitarian mobilization, the Flour massacre took place on February 29th, 2024. Israeli soldiers opened fire on civilians seeking food from aid trucks in Gaza City. 118 were slaughtered and 760 injured. The construction of a port has been controlled and prevented by the Israelis, though the project was sponsored by the Biden administration.

In the Arab world, Hamas has found allies in Yemen, Lebanon, and Iran.

The Houthis, a group which have taken up arms since the 1990s to defend Yemenis from U.S.-sponsored genocide at the hands of Saudi Arabia, see their struggle against US proxy states (and the US-led global unipolar order in general) as unified with the struggle of the Palestinians against Israel and the Western "rules-based order". From October 2023 to February 2024, the Houthis struck commercial ships headed through the Red Sea to Israel, as well as flying helicopters full of fighters onto the vessels in order to capture them. Not a single person during this five month period died from these attacks. It wasn't until a ship was attacked in March 2024 that a single person was killed. The Houthis continue to blockade and strike ships to hinder trade and bring immediate attention to the Palestinian struggle today with minimal casualties.

On February 15th 2024, after trading strikes over five months, Israel bombed southern Lebanon killing ten civilians. The Syrian branch of Hezbollah was hit by Israeli munitions as well. 200 Syrian Hezbollah fighters were killed; weapons caches and training facilities were hit. Hezbollah continues to fire on Israeli military bases from Lebanon, providing support to Hamas fighters.

Iran, which has openly supplied Hezbollah with training, arms, and money to fight Israel since 1982, was strong-worded but did not act on behalf of the Palestinians immediately. However, after an Israeli strike destroyed the Iranian embassy in Damascus on April 1st-- killing 7 IRGC officers, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, and 2 civilians-- Iran warned of retaliation; for this was the first ever direct attack on Iran by Israel. On April 13th Iran launched more than 300 slow-moving drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles at Israel as a show of force, 84% of which were intercepted with the help of the U.S. and Jordanian militaries and the British Royal Air Force. These barrages of missiles were targeted exclusively at Israeli military bases and stations, striking the most secure military bases in the world and only causing a single fatality. Meant as a show of strength as well as a warning, this attack was also bait to expose the allies of the State of Israel, which was only able to deflect the attack with assistance from the US military, the Kingdom of Jordan (which has its own Iron Dome defense system), France, Germany, and the UK, in addition to their own Iron Domes.

Outside the Arab world, there are multiple pillars of diplomatic support for Palestinians:

a) The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement on November 30th, 2023 calling for a "comprehensive and lasting ceasefire", the protection of civilians, the assurance of humanitarian assistance, and diplomatic/political resolution wherever possible. 

b) Russia held talks in Moscow on February 29th, 2024 between Hamas and Fatah. Sergei Lavrov urged the two factions to unify on behalf of the Palestinian people. "One of the pretexts for postponing and rescheduling these negotiations is the lack of unity within Palestinian ranks. Sceptics have argued that it is impossible to negotiate when one does not know who speaks for the Palestinians," said Lavrov. "Jesus Christ was born in Palestine. One of his sayings is: 'A house divided against itself will not stand.' Christ is honoured by both Muslims and Christians. I think that quote reflects the challenge of restoring Palestinian unity. It does not depend on anyone but the Palestinians themselves." Lavrov said the Russian foreign ministry and Russian Middle East specialists were on hand to help and consult the delegates. He said he hoped the talks would foster "mutual understanding between all factions" and support for a unified government which represents the Palestinian people. 

c) North Korean F-7 RPGs are currently in use by Palestinian fighters.

The diplomatic response was intense. While Israel violated a heap of UN resolutions, Hamas consistently supported investigation of the events of October 7th, 2023 by independent experts from the UN. South Africa brought a genocide case against Israel to the International Court of Justice (IJC), in which Israel was found guilty. The court ordered Israel to prevent its troops from committing genocide, but did not order a ceasefire as South Africa had hoped. Israel rejected the ruling and chided the court, calling it biased and saying the court isn't understanding Israel's right to security and duty to defend its people. South Africa then argued that Israel was carrying out apartheid on the Palestinians and occupying their land. Israel again rejected such claims, asserting that the ICJ had no jurisdiction over Israel.

Protests and other demonstrations took place all over the world, including all across America. American universities, including Ivy Legue schools, saw all peaceful tent encampments on school grounds, Zionists yelling racist chants to discredit the protests, and eventually violent Zionists attacking protesters and starting brawls. Eventually these protest encampments were washed away and dismantled by police, with some universities threatening students with expulsion and police arrests for trespassing on university property. President Biden floundered, supporting the students' right to protest but condemning violence and anti-Semitic rhetoric employed by people Infrared recognizes as wreckers, idiots, and Zionists. 

In May 2024, the BDS movement condemned armed resistance against Israel. BDS was then critiqued by the PFLP as having given up on the Palestinian people through their condemnation of armed struggle, as ''outmoded'' by armed resistance necessary under such conditions as the Gazans were facing. 

The Gazans were systematically made refugees again, herded from the northern end of the Strip down to the south, where they gathered in Rafah. Soon after, a peace proposal was brokered with the help of Cairo; though Hamas agreed to the terms, Israel intended to invade the Rafah refugee camp and therefore declined. On the same day as the Met Gala, when again US media was distracted, Israel launched a ground offensive on Rafah. At the massive refugee camp, on Memorial Day (May 27th), Israel bombed Palestinians indiscriminately, massacring 45 Palestinians and injuring two hundred. Biden initially claimed that the Rafah massacre was a red line, but backtracked. Following these events, Ireland, Spain, and Norway announced in a joint statement that they will formally recognize Palestine and support an immediate ceasefire. 

On June 8th, 2024, the US assisted the IDF in a massacre launched from the "aid pier" constructed with US funding. The reason given was a rescue operation for four Israeli hostages. During the joint Israel-American operation, some troops drove into the refugee camp disguised in humanitarian aid trucks, which were supposed the be carrying clothes, food, and water. They opened fire on arrival. Other special forces arrived earlier at the camp disguised as refugees and Gazan security forces. 210 Palestinians in the Nuseirat refugee camp were murdered during the "mission" under heavy bombardment by Israeli warplanes, and the hostages were flown out of Gaza via the floating pier. This abuse of humanitarian equipment is no surprise as similar war crimes have been committed since October 7th 2023-- such as Israeli special forces dressing as doctors to gain access to Ibn Sina hospital in the West Bank city of Jenin, whereafter they executed Palestinians they claimed to have been Hamas operatives (who were hospitalized and unarmed). Routinely Israel targets entire blocks full of residential family homes solely based on flimsy claims that a single person might have been working for Hamas in one way or another, or that Hamas was hiding weapons among the soon-to-be-rubble.

Between October 2023 and June 2024, 30-36,000 Gazans were killed (including 15,000 children) and more than 80,000 injured. In the West Bank, 532 additional Palestinians were killed (including 133 children), with over five thousand injured by IDF forces. Israel's death toll remained the same as it was on October 7th, 2023, barring Israeli revisions, which dropped the figure from 1,405 to 1,132, and IDF leadership targeted by Palestinian resistance. 8,700 Israelis have been injured since October as well. 

In terms of Palestinian infrastructure, (as of June 2024) more than half of Gazan buildings were damaged or destroyed, including 267 places of worship. 86% of Gazan schools, 60% of residential buildings, 80% of commercial buildings were either damaged or destroyed. 83% of Gaza's ground wells were left inoperable. Only 14 of Gaza's 35 hospitals were functioning in June of 2024, overwhelmed with injuries and casualties. 

The UN took on Hamas' invitation and conducted the first of multiple independent investigations into the events from October 7th to December 31st, 2023. The report was leaked on June 12th, 2024 on X (formerly Twitter), and found the following to be true: first, there is no evidence that Hamas committed or ordered sexual violence to be committed on October 7th; second, that Israel lied about sexual violence given the lack of evidence; thirdly, the investigation found that systemic and gender-based violence is part of the IDF's standard "operating procedures"; fourth, that sexual violence is inexorably tied to Israeli occupation; and finally, it found that Israel systematically targeted and subjected Palestinians to sexual abuse and torture, including forced public stripping, sexual humiliation, and rape. In addition to this report, it is clear from years of other independent reports that the torture and abuse of Palestinians, including sexual abuse, has been commonplace in Israeli prisons for "decades" prior to 1999-- even according to such mainstream and controlled sources as Wikipedia. However, its also true that IDF soldiers abuse Israeli prisoners as well. What's more, the UN's investigation found that Israel also committed the crimes against humanity of extermination, forced transfer, murder in response to Hamas' attack. 

The IDF employed the Hannibal Directive on October 7th 2023, a military doctrine first used in 1986, in which commanders authorize Israeli forces to prevent capture of soldiers "at all costs"-- including friendly fire. The directive was explicitly banned from Israeli media mention or discussion by the Mossad, until a partial hangout in 2003. The full text was never released, remaining only within the highest ranks of the IDF, while lower levels received differing oratory versions. The UN all but confirmed the use of the Hannibal Directive on October 7th 2023 despite its supposed discontinuation in 2016.

There was a degree of protest against Israel stemming from the state's actions both before and after Operation Al-Aqsa Mosque, which was unprecedented since its founding. This was especially true in America, its long-time ally. However, among such protesters were genuine anti-Semites. Unabashed neo-Nazis who attempt to capitalize on anti-Zionist sentiment among American youth such as Lucas Gage and Nick Fuentes criticize Israel and its founding on the basis of "Jewish sovereignty" and the "[[Jewish Question]]" (the assertion that Jews run the world and own everything).

Israel tried to provoke Hezbollah and Iran in multiple ways over the summer of 2024: It bombed southern Lebanon, killed Lebanese civilians, and even constructed and employed trebuchets, launching firebombs over the border wall. But in addition to these indefensible acts, it assassinated Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh while in Tehran as well as Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut in July 2024. Iran in August said they did not plan to retaliate after tensions ran high for weeks-- so high that Israeli and American media claimed a retaliatory attack was immanent within 24 hours for the entire week following the strike on Shukr.

Additionally, in July 2024 the Houthis launched two drone attacks on Israel, which outmaneuvered Israel's Iron Dome systems and did not trigger warning systems. On July 14th in the port city of Eilat, the Houthis carried out a drone attack in response to Israel's missile strike on about 400 Palestinians, 90 of whom were killed and 300 injured. Later, without Israel's allies helping to deflect these drones as they did in the earlier Iranian attack, one man was killed and 10 injured in Tel Aviv on July 19th. 

The US government continued to send massive bombs to Israel, even as some American politicians pandered and pretended to care about Palestinian civilians. The Zionist entity has used said bombs to strike schools between June and August 2024, which are some of the only presupposedly safe structures left in the strip, housing families, women, and children. In central and southern Gaza, in Khan Younis and Deir el-Balah ground forces intensified their ground occupation and bombing campaigns; residents of Khan Younis who fled the Israeli bombing campaign over the final week of July returned to find extensive and severe destruction left by the Israel withdrawl; 30 or more killed in Shufat refugee camp outside East Jerusalem, including small children; at least 40 killed in Deir el-Balah markets and schools, including a family of fifteen.

In early August, 10 Israeli prison guards were arrested for sexual abuse and torture of a Palestinian prisoner. This being a longstanding practice in Israeli detention centers documented by the UN, the arrest was a break with the Israeli judicial system regarding the topic only due to the video's dissemination online. When the news broke, Israeli citizens, ministers, and politicians took to the streets (and internet) to protest not the sexual abuse of prisoners (including Israeli prisoners), but calling for the freeing of the perpetrators and denying the accusations.

On August 13th, Haaretz reported that the Israeli military is using captured Palestinian civilians as human shields to test for booby traps and mines in the tunnels of Gaza, with permittance by senior officials. This, coupled with videos of human shields and hostages blindfolded and handcuffed– one even strapped to a car in July of 2024– reveal the extent to which the IDF hypocritically chides Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation.

In late August 2024, the IDF preemptively struck Lebanon after announcing it was their intention in a press briefing.

On the night of the second US presidential debate, September 10th, 2024, Israel struck Lebanon 16 times by air. On September 17th and 18th, Israel, having announced that one of their goals in the war was to eradicate Hezbollah (a far larger, better armed, and better trained force than Hamas comprised of many tens of thousands) in Lebanon, detonated a shipment of hundreds of pagers which were intercepted by the IDF and fitted with explosives before reaching Lebanon. Though 37 Hezbollah members were killed, civilian men, women, and children were also killed as the devices were detonated remotely in densely populated civilian areas, and nearly three thousand were injured over the three-day span. In Syria, a few Hezbollah members were injured by more pager attacks. This heinous tactic, including manufacture of the pagers, was prepared for fifteen years by Israel-- it was rejected for use by the CIA due to the high civilian casualty risk.

By September 19th, Israel air-struck southern Lebanon and Beirut over a hundred more times, damaging civilian infrastructure, killing about 360, and injuring over 1,200 people including civilian men, women, and children. This Israeli bombings marked the most intense campaign against Lebanon since October 2023. Hezbollah leader Nasrallah called this campaign against Lebanon a "declaration of war", and the next day the organization carried out bombings of northern Israel, targeting air defense bases. Further Israeli strikes came in the following days as Israel prepared for a ground invasion of Lebanon.

Meanwhile, on September 24th, 2024, Israeli forces began launching missiles into Syria which were intercepted by Syrian anti-air defenses.