2024-03-28 17:10:11
The exchange of fire between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah comes as a UN Security Council resolution on a cease-fire appears to have had no effect on the war in Gaza, and pressure on neighboring Jordan to sever ties with Israel has increased. summarizes the “New York Times”, quoted by BTA.
Yesterday, Hezbollah fighters fired dozens of rockets from Lebanon towards northern Israel, which they said was in retaliation for an Israeli strike on southern Lebanon the night before.
Hezbollah Islamists opened fire as pro-Palestinian protesters stepped up pressure on the government of neighboring Jordan to cut ties with Israel. The US also said a previously canceled meeting with an Israeli delegation in Washington to discuss the planned offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah would be rescheduled.
American television CBS notes on its website the change in the position of American President Joe Biden, who indicated that pro-Palestinian protesters “have a basis” for their demands after they caused a brief interruption of an event of his election campaign in North Carolina.
“Gallup” published a new survey yesterday, according to which the American public’s support for the war led by Israel has fallen significantly – from 50% in November to 36% now, and 55% disapprove of Israel’s actions, the British “Guardian” reported. .
US President Joe Biden and senior members of his team show week after week that their patience with Israel and its practices in Gaza is running out, the BBC found. Washington is therefore using an increasingly harsh tone to express its displeasure with Israel.
The decision not to block a resolution calling for a cease-fire at the UN Security Council shows that President Biden has decided that harsh words are not enough for Israel. The fact that the US stripped Israel of diplomatic cover for its actions in the Gaza Strip is an important step. This shows the depth of the rift between the White House and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the media noted.
Israeli society is divided over the question of which of the two political priorities to choose – the destruction of Hamas or the release of the 130 hostages held by the Islamic movement in Gaza, and many believe that the two goals are incompatible, the Wall Street Journal found.
“The Guardian” reports on the resignation of a State Department official, which exposes the disagreements in the US policy regarding Gaza. The Biden administration’s Gaza strategy has been described as a “mess” amid conflicting goals. Human rights official Anelle Shelain has resigned from the US State Department over the events in Gaza. She explained that the Biden administration is flouting US law by continuing to arm Israel and glossing over evidence the US has seen of Israeli human rights abuses.
The employee said she hoped to influence policy by remaining in her post at the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor’s Middle East Division, participating in discussions, signing statements of dissent and voicing her concerns to her supervisor. But it has lost confidence that it can do anything to affect the supply of American weapons to Israel.
Shelain is only the second State Department official to resign over U.S. policy toward the Gaza war, but she said many of her colleagues told her they would quit if they could afford to lose their jobs, and they did. urged him to speak openly about the reasons for his departure, and not to leave quietly.
Another aspect of the war in Gaza is that it has resulted in more wounded civilians requiring amputations than in any other conflict in recent times, according to medical charities, London’s Telegraph daily reported.
As fighting in the besieged enclave continues despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire, many fear the unprecedented intensity of the bombardment, which has been ongoing for six months, will result in more amputees per capita than there were in Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan.
Although exact figures are not available, a significant proportion of the 75,000 total people the local health ministry says have been injured since the Hamas terror attacks on October 7 last year need prosthetic limbs.
Humanity & Inclusion (HI), also known as Handicap International, reported that 70 to 80 percent of those admitted to the 12 hospitals that are still partially functioning in Gaza have lost limbs or suffered spinal injuries.
In January, UNICEF estimated that around 1,000 children in Gaza had lost one or both of their legs – which equates to 10 children losing a leg every day, the Telegraph notes.