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Israel launched airstrikes against 'terrorist' targets in Gaza in retaliation for machine gun fire blamed on Hamas

sunset Gaza Strip
© Amir Cohen / Reuters
The sun sets over the Gaza Strip
The Israeli Air Force has carried out a series of airstrikes against Hamas military facilities in northern Gaza in retaliation for "heavy machine gun fire" that reportedly targeted the city of Sderot.

The strikes targeted four Hamas-affiliated buildings and infrastructure objects in a military compound of the Sunni organization, while three more sorties were launched at a weapons production facility, the IDF said.

Israel said it was a warranted response to numerous shooting incidents throughout Wednesday, including machine gun fire, which targeted the city of Sderot in the Southern District of Israel.

Bad Guys

French interior minister brands Kadyrov "dictator" after Chechen leader points out Paris knife attacker was radicalized in France

Kadyrov
© Said Tsarnayev / Sputnik
France's interior minister has branded the Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, a "dictator" after he said Saturday's Paris attacker was raised and radicalized in France.

Kadyrov spoke up after a flurry of media headlines revealing the Chechen origins of Khamzat Azimov, who killed one and injured four people. He said that while the 21-year-old man was born in Chechnya, he had spent almost his entire life in France.

"He may have been born in Chechnya, but he grew up in French society, where his personality, his opinions and convictions were formed," Kadyrov wrote on Telegram. But French Interior Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian responded by attacking Kadyrov.

X

Despite housing crisis, Irish Red Cross asks public to house refugees from Middle East

dublin protest
© NurPhoto / Getty Images
Hundreds of people gathered in Dublin city center to protest against the Homelessness and Housing Crisis, May, 2016
The Irish Red Cross have asked citizens to "put empty space to better use" and house refugees from the Middle East who the government offered asylum to in the middle of a national housing crisis. But are the Irish prepared?

The national campaign is asking Irish homeowners to "pledge a room or a vacant property for a Syrian refugee today" in an effort to house some of the more than 1,800 refugees who have arrived from predominantly Syria, but also Iraq and Libya.

Despite the country's current housing crisis which has been described as "serious national challenge and threat" to the economy, the charity is asking people with vacant properties or bedrooms to consider offering it to a refugee family for a minimum year-long contract.

RT spoke to people in Dublin who seemed open to the idea, however most were unable to offer such accommodation in a city that is already succumbing to soaring rent prices and struggling to house a growing homeless population.

Target

France backs out of plans to set minimum age of sexual consent at 15, triggering massive public backlash

france protesters
© Georges Gobet / AFP
The government's decision to back out of plans to set the minimum age of sexual consent at 15 has sparked a massive backlash in France, with critics saying the alternative wording is only adding more confusion.

The proposed legislation was introduced, to much fanfare, by Equality Minister Marlene Schiappa in March in the aftermath of a case which saw a rape charge against a man dropped when a court ruled than an 11-year-old girl had consented to have sex with him.

The bill was eventually voted through parliament early Wednesday following a long debate, but instead of directly setting the minimum age of consent at 15, the legislation created a new offence of "sexual violation of a minor by penetration."

War Whore

Syrian "rebel" admits to giving weapons received from Obama admin. to al-Nusra jihadists

Syrian soldier
© Omar Sanadiki / Reuters
А Syrian soldier surveys weapons surrendered by rebels from Eastern Qalamoun, Syria April 22, 2018
Weapons sent by the Obama administration to so-called 'moderate' anti-government forces in Syria instead fell into Al-Nusra jihadists' hands, according to a US-trained rebel and fixer in Aleppo.

Major Anas Ibrahim Obaid, better known by his nom de guerre Abu Zayd, told Fox News that he gave pickup trucks and ammunition supplied by the US to Al-Nusra, an Al-Qaeda affiliate, and sold more on the black market once his American handlers got wind of this and cut his salary.

Zayd defected from the Syrian Army in 2012 to the opposition, and made his way to Turkey for US training. After a few cursory questions about his opinion on Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) and some basic training, he was sent back across the Syrian border to fight in 2015.

Arrow Up

Cynthia McKinney: 'To my new friends in the UK'

Cynthia McKinney, renowned American politician, activist and academic, is currently visiting the UK. She has today shared some reflections on politics and media in UK via a public post on Facebook. Her words speak eloquently and powerfully, so I wanted to share them here too.

Cynthia McKinney
© Unknown

Comment: Over the years, here is a small sample from Cynthia McKinney:


Jet3

Press For Truth interview with Eva Bartlett: This is what they don't want you to know about Syria

Dan Dicks & Eva Bartlett
We are being lied to about the real agenda for Syria and the middle east.

The truth is this is a decades old plan being carried out with the sole purpose of regime change and control of the entire region. As more bombs continue to drop we are fed more lies from the mainstream media and unless we expose what's really going on it's only going to get worse.

In this video

Dan Dicks of Press For Truth interviews Eva Bartlett, an award winning journalist who is currently in Syria documenting what's been taking place on the grounds in an effort to show the world not only what's really going on there but also what exactly is at stake! The world could use more brave and courageous people like Eva Bartlett who are willing to put their lives on the line for the causes of freedom, liberty and truth. If you would like to support her efforts check the links to find out how you can contribute.


Dan Dicks writes on Steemit:

Comment: See also the February interview by PressTV with Eva Bartlett:

PressTV interview with Eva Bartlett: 'Everything you've been told about Syria is a lie'


Star of David

'Palestine is still the issue' - Timeless Truth: The John Pilger film that defied a campaign to ban it

Palestine Is Still The Issue
© Unknown
John Pilger's 2002 film Palestine Is Still The Issue bore the same title as his film 24 years earlier. Shown on ITV in Britain and around the world, the film and Pilger were attacked by a virulent trolls' campaign in the US, including death threats, and finally vindicated by the Independent Television Commission as a work of "thoroughness and historical integrity". With the present-day massacre of Palestinians by Israeli snipers on the border with Gaza the film tells a timeless truth. You can watch it here.

Watch also The War You Don't See (2013) for how the Palestinians and their Israeli occupiers are reported in the media.

Comment: Here are some of the latest articles: See also from 2017: John Pilger: Why Palestine Is Still the Issue


Health

"Bone literally turned to dust": MSF on injuries in half of Gaza casualties

Gaza father child
© Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters
Thierry Saucier is an orthopedic surgeon for MSF in Gaza. He explains the complexity of caring for the hundreds of people injured during protests in recent weeks. Very serious injuries pose significant challenges for the surgeons, and will require months or even years of care.

What kind of injuries do you currently see among the wounded in Gaza?

We are mostly seeing bullet wounds. In more than 95% of cases, bullet wounds are in the lower limbs, including knees. We also find some gunshot wounds to the abdomen and upper limbs.

What is the most impressive, in the patients we saw in the last three weeks, are the exit wounds of the bullets. When a bullet passes through a body, it always has an exit wound slightly wider than that the entry one. But in the patients we treat in our post-operative care clinics, the exit wound gives an indication of the unusual destruction of soft tissues and bones inside the wound. The exit wound is disproportionately wider. It can be the size of a fist, or even of an open hand. These impressive lesions are obviously difficult to repair and often require subsequent grafts. In half of the injured we've received, the bullet has reached the bone, causing multi-fragment fractures, which means the bone has literally been turned into dust.

The bullets also cause multiple and irregular tears in the soft tissues (skin, tendons, muscles, nerves, arteries). This leads to devascularization, which is to say that the blood flow doesn't reach these tissues anymore, which in turn creates high risks of infections. If the bullet touches the sciatic nerve, it causes paralysis, which can be irreversible, as the repair of the lesions cannot be done in an emergency setting. When it is an arterial lesion, we face an immediate life-threatening risk, as well as a devitalization of the limbs, and therefore often an amputation.

Comment: The Israeli massacre of Palestinians is the logical end of Israeli identity politics. See:


Star of David

Israel's 'murderous assault on nonviolent protesters' in Gaza - an interview with Norman Finkelstein

norman finkelstein
The Real News's Aaron Maté. discusses the March of Return protests with Norman Finkelstein, author of many books, including his latest, Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom.