cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/5091655

Is the U.S. genuinely aiming to save Gaza’s population from starvation? Or is the true purpose of Israeli-U.S. aid in Gaza to empower Israel to prolong its war while pacifying Palestinians with minimal food supplies amid mounting international pressure? After Rafah was completely destroyed — homes flattened and entire families erased from the civil registry — Israel took full control of the city. On May 27, it distributed what it called “aid,” with U.S. assistance. During the so-called aid distribution, Palestinians who had walked long distances searching for basic food supplies were killed by the Israeli military. Has bread now become something we must pay for with blood?

For Gaza’s people, reaching the Israeli-U.S. aid point in Rafah was no easy task. The journey was long, dangerous and shadowed by constant airstrike threats. There is no safety in Gaza. But hunger — a weapon Israel has deliberately used against civilians — has forced many families to take the risk, especially after several children in the Strip have starved to death.

The suffering was not just hunger or distance — it was the complete collapse of life in Gaza. No transportation, no services, no infrastructure. All this hardship for a small bag of basic food! But what happened next was even more devastating. On May 27, after these families finally arrived, the Israeli army opened fire on civilians scrambling for food. Three were killed, 46 wounded. The military’s excuse? “There was chaos.”

But how can anyone expect order from a starving population, terrified of returning home empty-handed to hungry children?

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cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/4946432

On a sweltering January day in 2018, Pope Francis addressed 100,000 of the faithful in Puerto Maldonado, Peru, not far from where gold mining had ravaged an expanse of Amazon rainforest about the size of Colorado. “The native Amazonian peoples have probably never been so threatened on their own lands as they are at present,” he told the crowd. He simultaneously condemned extractive industries and conservation efforts that “under the guise of preserving the forest, hoard great expanses of woodland and negotiate with them, leading to situations of oppression for the Native peoples.”

Francis denounced the insatiable consumerism that drives the destruction of the Amazon, supported those who say Indigenous peoples’ guardianship of their own territories should be respected, and urged everyone to defend isolated tribes. “Their cosmic vision and their wisdom have much to teach those of us who are not part of their culture,” he said.

During his 12 years as pontiff, Francis radically reshaped how the world’s most powerful religious institution approached the moral and ethical call to protect the planet. Beyond his invocations for Indigenous rights, Francis acknowledged the Church’s role in colonization, and considered climate change a moral issue born of rampant consumption and materialism. As the Trump administration dismantles climate action and cuts funding to Indigenous peoples around the world — and far-right politics continues to rise globally — experts see the conclave’s selection of Robert Francis Prevost, or Pope Leo XIV, as he is now known, as a clear beacon that the faith-based climate justice movement his predecessor led isn’t going anywhere.

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cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/4525978

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has published mobile phone footage taken by a slain Palestinian paramedic refuting Israel’s account of why its soldiers opened fire on a convoy of ambulances and a fire truck on 23 March, killing 15 rescue workers.

. The video shows the vehicles moving in the dark with their headlights and emergency flashing lights switched on. Israeli forces then opened fire on the vehicles for several minutes.

The Israeli military initially denied the vehicles had their headlights or emergency signals on when its forces opened fire on them.

At least two emergency workers can be seen stepping out of the vehicles wearing reflective clothing. The rescuer filming the video with his phone is heard reciting Islamic prayers before being killed.

One rescuer can be heard in the video saying, “Forgive me, mother. I just wanted to help people. I wanted to save lives.”

During the attack, Israeli forces killed eight PRCS paramedics, six Gaza Civil Defense workers, and one UN employee. Israeli troops buried their bodies, and the destroyed vehicles in a shallow mass grave dug in the sand.

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cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/4525306

The first known Palestinian child to be killed in an Israeli prison, Walid Khalid Abdullah Ahmad, was starved, had untreated diseases, and was repeatedly beaten by guards before he died last month, his autopsy report shows.

The autopsy shows that Ahmad suffered from “extreme body muscle and fat wasting, evidenced by a sunken abdomen,” caused by “extreme, likely prolonged malnutrition,” reported Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCIP) on Thursday. His body also showed evidence that he had been beaten on his chest and abdomen while imprisoned, as shown by air collection, the group said.

At the time of his death, Ahmad also suffered from diseases like scabies and colitis, which likely caused diarrhea and dehydration. He had a number of abrasions and cuts, present on his nose, chest, hip and neck.

His autopsy was conducted in a facility in Tel Aviv. Israeli authorities are withholding his body from his family.

“Walid’s autopsy indicates that Israeli prison guards systematically starved and abused him for months until he finally collapsed, struck his head, and died,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, head of DCIP’s accountability program.

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cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/4507353

During the Eid el-Fitr, the holiday at the end of Ramadan, Muin Abu Al-Mehza, 58, would usually celebrate together with his family and go visit relatives, as per tradition.

Muin has two sons and two daughters. One daughter moved to Kuwait with her husband. But his other children live close by, and his oldest son, Sami, 31, built an apartment for his family above Muin’s home.

The holidays were always a time for celebration for the family, as it generally is for everyone in Gaza.

But the past two festive seasons have been anything but joyous in the besieged and devastated coastal territory, home to 2.3 million people now facing starvation and Israel’s genocidal military violence again.

Last Ramadan, Muin’s family was struggling with an acute shortage of food. They had been displaced from their home and were struggling for shelter, warmth and water.

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cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/4484610

A French court found Marine Le Pen guilty Monday in an embezzlement case and followed up the verdict with a sentence barring her immediately from running for office for five years. Le Pen abruptly left the Paris courtroom before hearing how long she will be banned from running for public office.

Le Pen and 24 other officials from her National Rally were accused of having used money intended for European Union parliamentary aides to pay staff who worked for the party between 2004 and 2016, in violation of the 27-nation bloc’s regulations. Le Pen and her co-defendants deny wrongdoing.

The biggest concern for Le Pen was that the court may declare her ineligible to run for office preventing her from running for president in 2027 – a scenario she had described as a “political death.”

The Constitutional Council ruled Friday, in a separate case, that imposing the punishment immediately was constitutional.

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