© Shadi Jarar'Ah/APA ImagesPalestinian walks past shuttered stores in West Bank city of Nablus as a general strike is observed in solidarity with Gaza and Jerusalem May 18, 2021.
The Latest:
- Gaza death toll hits 213, including 61 children and over 1,400 injuries, according to Gaza's Ministry of Health; 23 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank
- 10 Israeli casualties, including two children; 2 Thai nationals
- Palestinians are staging the first general strike since 1936 across all of historic Palestine to protest Israeli strikes in Gaza and aggression in Jerusalem
- Politico reports Democrats have decided against a push to delay weapon sales to Israel
Eleven children killed in Gaza had been participating in Norwegian program to help them deal with traumaReport from the
Norwegian Refugee Council:
The Norwegian Refugee Council confirmed today that 11 of over 60 children killed by Israeli air strikes in Gaza over the last week were participating in its psycho-social programme aimed at helping them deal with trauma.
All of the children between 5 and 15 years old were killed in their homes in densely populated areas along with countless other relatives who died or received injuries.
"We are devastated to learn that 11 children we were helping with trauma were bombarded while they were at home and thought they were safe," said NRC's Secretary General Jan Egeland. "They are now gone, killed with their families, buried with their dreams and the nightmares that haunted them. We call on Israel to stop this madness: children must be protected. Their homes must not be targets. Schools must not be targets. Spare these children and their families. Stop bombing them now."
Democrats are protesting White House sale of US missiles to IsraelRep. Gregory Meeks, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee,
is reported to have called on the White House to hold up the sale of $735 million in missiles and bombs to Israel that the Biden administration had approved May 5. Meeks, an Israel supporter, did so after Democrats on his committee spoke out against the sale in an emergency meeting last night.
Sen. Chuck Schumer has also surprised the Israel lobby by joining 30 other senators, most of them Democrats, who are calling for a ceasefire by Israel in defiance of its plan to continue to bomb Gaza.
The liberal Zionist group J Street has called for restricting U.S. aid to the Israeli occupation but — out of step with progressive Democrats —
J Street calls for "remaining committed to... the full amount of assistance currently promised to Israel."Update:Democrats have reportedly decided against it. From
Politico:
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) said he decided against requesting that President Joe Biden delay the $735 million arms sale after the White House offered to hold an "informational session" for lawmakers on Wednesday.
Palestinians stage historic general strikeToday, Palestinians across Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory are staging a historic general strike to protest Israeli strikes in Gaza and aggression in Jerusalem.
It is the first general strike uniting all Palestinians since 1936. For more context on that uprising see this article we published last week by David Joseph Deutch, "
The spirit of 1936".
Comment: The battle is still raging and resources, food, medical assistance, water and shelter are almost impossible to find.
UPDATE: 17/5/21 There is
little rest for those who put themselves in danger to save others and they take it where they can:
© TRTGaza rescue team on break after a rough and violent night under Israeli strikes.
speaks out:
© farsnews.ir/Iran Front Page/azertac/KJNMohammad Baqer Qalibaf • Saeed Khatibzadeh • Mohammad Javad Zarif
Palestinians have an inherent and natural right to defend themselves and that the "reclamation" of their rights is "a global responsibility. There is only one possible 'just solution' to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: "a referendum with the participation of all original Palestinians, Muslims, Christians and Jews for the right to self-determination."
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif urged OIC members to recognise Israeli actions as "genocide and crimes against humanity," and asked member states to "extend the jurisdiction of their national tribunals to include the prosecution of criminals perpetrating war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity in the Palestinian occupied territories."
Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, speaker of Iran's parliament, denounced Israel as the "chief evil" in the Middle East and called on regional leaders to "assist the resistance forces as soon as possible to prevent a genocide" against Palestinians.
Iranian officials have indeed said repeatedly that they hope to see Israel be "eliminated" or "vanish from the page of time," but indicated that they expect this process to happen in a manner similar to the collapse of the regime of the Shah in Iran, or via a referendum, and not as a result of military action by Iran or any other Muslim nation.
UPDATE 18/5/21 1:37: Israeli warplanes pummeled the Palestinian enclave overnight on Monday.
© Reuters/Mohanned SalemSmoke and flames during Israeli air strikes in Gaza City, May 17, 2021
Israeli strikes so far claimed 212 lives including 61 children, the Gaza Health Ministry reported 1,400 Palestinians wounded, and forced some 40,000 families to flee their homes, A recent raid that struck a building of the local health ministry has also reportedly affected the enclave's main laboratory, bringing Covid-19 testing and vaccinations to a virtual halt.
The toll in Israel: 10 dead including 2 children and 50 injured.
UPDATE 18/5/21 1:43: Gaza's primary Covid-19 testing and vaccination site was taken offline after it was
struck by rocket fire:
The strikes triggered a "complete halt" to immunizations, virus screenings and telemedicine services at Gaza's al-Rimal clinic.
Israeli forces were targeting "densely populated residential areas," sending some 40,000 families to crowded shelters, which have become "a dangerous environment for the rapid spread of Covid-19." It urged the international community to provide "critically needed personal protection equipment" for the shelters. UN chief Antonio Guterres that the fighting could "unleash an uncontainable security and humanitarian crisis" in Gaza.
A massive Israeli bombardment on Gaza's al-Wehda district on Sunday left multiple doctors dead, including Ayman Abu al-Ouf, the head of internal medicine at al-Shifa hospital - Gaza's largest medical center - and a key figure in the region's coronavirus response effort. Members of al-Ouf's family, as well as neurologist Mooein Ahmad al-Aloul, were killed in the attack, which saw some 150 missiles fired into the neighborhood.
IDF strikes also "severely damaged" a Red Crescent office based in a large commercial building on Monday, a group spokesperson said, while bombing over the weekend struck a Doctors Without Borders clinic, leaving several rooms unusable.
UPDATE 18/5/21 18:55: China slammed both Israel and the USA and chided the global community:
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian expressed China's disappointment and that of the international community in the U.S. block on the joint statement, saying the U.S. is standing on the opposite side of the justice.
Noting that the U.S. has been isolated in the UNSC for its stance on the issue, Zhao urged the U.S. to drop its rhetoric on the rights and dignity of the Muslims and act to protect the rights and dignity of the Palestinians.
Instead of solely caring about its own interests on the issue, the U.S. should work with the international community, contribute to the cooling down of the tension and support the UNSC's role in settling disputes and rebuilding trusts, Zhao stressed.
China supports the two sides resuming peace talks based on a "two-state solution"
Comment: The battle is still raging and resources, food, medical assistance, water and shelter are almost impossible to find.
UPDATE: 17/5/21 There is little rest for those who put themselves in danger to save others and they take it where they can: