Israeli Officers Abuse Power to Seize Palestinian Lands

A Palestinian farmer collects olives in an olive grove on the outskirts of the West Bank village of Raba, near the city of Jenin, on Oct. 19, 2019. Alaa Badarneh (EPA)
A Palestinian farmer collects olives in an olive grove on the outskirts of the West Bank village of Raba, near the city of Jenin, on Oct. 19, 2019. Alaa Badarneh (EPA)
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Israeli Officers Abuse Power to Seize Palestinian Lands

A Palestinian farmer collects olives in an olive grove on the outskirts of the West Bank village of Raba, near the city of Jenin, on Oct. 19, 2019. Alaa Badarneh (EPA)
A Palestinian farmer collects olives in an olive grove on the outskirts of the West Bank village of Raba, near the city of Jenin, on Oct. 19, 2019. Alaa Badarneh (EPA)

Former Israeli officers have abused their powers and intelligence to forcibly seize Palestinian lands and use them for their interests, Israel’s Kerem Navot organization has revealed.

It said David Kishik-Cohen, who held the senior position of head of the Supervision Unit in the Civil Administration from 1984 to 2007, planted an olive grove on Palestinian land during his tenure and maintained the illegal trees to this day.

He was fired for being involved in authorizing the establishment of a quarry owned by his wife outside the Kochav Hashahar settlement without reporting the conflict of interest.

During his time in office, Kishik-Cohen also planted an olive grove outside the central West Bank town.

In 1980, the Israeli army seized roughly 200 acres’ worth of land from the nearby West Bank villages of Kafr Malik and Deir Jarir, under the pretext of the need to protect a settlement outpost set up there at the time by a group of former soldiers in the “Nahal” Brigade.

Kochav Hashahar settlement was established on the seized lands shortly thereafter, in which dozens of acres of olive groves were planted and made available for settlers, the Times of Israel reported.

It said Kishik-Cohen registered his three land parcels on which he planted the olive trees with the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, and they were included in the rabbinical authority’s updated list of fruit trees approved for consumption from this past January.

“Kishik-Cohen is only one rotten person who worked in a rotten body that is responsible for maintaining a rotten reality,” said Dror Etkes from the Kerem Navot settlement watchdog group.

“Whoever knows the reality in the West Bank understands that this is just the tip of the tip of a much greater reality that is fully reliant on the dispossession of millions of Palestinians who live in the West Bank.”

Meanwhile, the central court in Tel Aviv imposed a prison sentence on a soldier who had, together with another soldier, set up a temporary military checkpoint in Ramallah and stole from him 2,500 shekels.

It later turned out that he had done the same thing with Palestinians. He once stole 3,000 shekels, and 700 shekels in two other times. The soldier was sentenced to two years in prison.

The court sentenced another soldier who was accompanying him to nine months in prison.



Attack on ICRC Convoy in Sudan’s South Darfur Kills Two Drivers, Injures Three

A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. (Reuters)
A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. (Reuters)
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Attack on ICRC Convoy in Sudan’s South Darfur Kills Two Drivers, Injures Three

A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. (Reuters)
A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. (Reuters)

An attack by gunmen on a humanitarian convoy of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Sudan's South Darfur killed two drivers and injured three other staff on Thursday, the ICRC said in a statement.

The team was on its way back from Layba to assess the humanitarian situation of communities affected by armed violence in the region when the incident occurred, the ICRC said.

More than a year of war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has driven at least 8.5 million people from their homes. Fighting tore through the capital and has unleashed waves of ethnically-driven violence in the western region of Darfur.

The ICRC did not say who was to blame for the deaths and called for the immediate protection of all civilians, including humanitarian workers and medical personnel.

"Reports today of the deaths of two ICRC staff members and the injury of three staff members in South Darfur is further evidence of this war's horrific cost. These dedicated employees became victims of the violence and suffering they were working to mitigate," US Special Envoy for Sudan, Tom Perriello, said on X on Friday.


Lebanon: TikTok Gang Bust Exposes Criminal Exploitation of Social Media

An Internal Security Forces patrol in Beirut (ISF Media).
An Internal Security Forces patrol in Beirut (ISF Media).
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Lebanon: TikTok Gang Bust Exposes Criminal Exploitation of Social Media

An Internal Security Forces patrol in Beirut (ISF Media).
An Internal Security Forces patrol in Beirut (ISF Media).

Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces arrested a gang of a group of TikTokers who lure children and molest them, shedding light on some criminal networks exploiting social media platforms to implicate people in various crimes.
At least six suspects have been arrested, the ISF said in a statement on Wednesday, including a famous TikToker and three minors also famous on TikTok as part of a gang carrying out sexual assaults against children.
They were of Lebanese, Syrian, and Turkish nationalities.

The scandal uncovered certain criminal networks that were exploiting social media, using it as a tool to falsely incriminate Lebanese individuals in various crimes.
A judicial source told Asharq Al-Awsat that preliminary investigations have shown that the matter has been ongoing for months, and that certain factors have helped it be uncovered.
The source assured that the file gains special attention because the victims are children who were “drugged, assaulted and filmed naked to intimidate and blackmail them, and forced to comply with the gang’s demands”.
He affirmed that the judiciary will impose the harshest measures and penalties against this gang and all those colluding with its leaders, “some of whom are known professionally and socially”.
“The ISF’s Intelligence Unit and the office of combating financial crimes, as well as the General Security apparatus, are working to track down dangerous networks that implicate many people in crimes,” a security source told Asharq Al-Awsat.
“In the last three years, the agencies have gotten hold of a large number of networks who exploit social media to lure people and implicate them in drug, prostitution, and theft networks. Mossad networks and its agents have also succeeded in recruiting many Lebanese youth through these means”, he added on condition of anonymity.
The source noted that the gangs have exploited Lebanon’s economic and financial crisis taking advantage of the victims who need money.
“The economic crisis has also affected the capabilities of the security services, and has limited their role in the field of proactive security,” he said.
He noted that the state has failed to provide modern and sophisticated technologies capable of monitoring these networks, and also prevented the training of investigative agencies to keep pace, track and prosecute the development of network activities.


US Defense Secretary Says There Was No Indication Hamas Planning Attack on US Troops

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin listens during a House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Defense budget hearing Fiscal Year 2025 on Capitol Hill, April 17, 2024, in Washington. (AP)
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin listens during a House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Defense budget hearing Fiscal Year 2025 on Capitol Hill, April 17, 2024, in Washington. (AP)
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US Defense Secretary Says There Was No Indication Hamas Planning Attack on US Troops

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin listens during a House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Defense budget hearing Fiscal Year 2025 on Capitol Hill, April 17, 2024, in Washington. (AP)
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin listens during a House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Defense budget hearing Fiscal Year 2025 on Capitol Hill, April 17, 2024, in Washington. (AP)

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Thursday he did not see any indication Hamas was planning any attack on US troops in Gaza but added adequate measures were being put in place for the safety of military personnel.

"I don't discuss intelligence information at the podium. But I don't see any indications currently that there is an active intent to do that," Austin said during a press briefing.

"Having said that ... this is a combat zone and a number of things can happen, and a number of things will happen."

A maritime pier constructed by the US military to speed the flow of humanitarian aid in Gaza should be open within a matter of days, despite poor weather hampering preparations, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday.

The United States has called on both Israel and Hamas to ensure that aid bound for civilians in Gaza is not disrupted, after a shipment from Jordan was attacked by Israeli settlers and subsequently diverted by Palestinian gunmen.


Political Agreement in Iraq Leads to Postponement of Kurdistan Elections

Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Nechervan Barzani. (AP file photo)
Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Nechervan Barzani. (AP file photo)
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Political Agreement in Iraq Leads to Postponement of Kurdistan Elections

Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Nechervan Barzani. (AP file photo)
Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Nechervan Barzani. (AP file photo)

Shiite and Kurdish forces have reached an agreement to postpone the parliamentary elections in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region that were set for June, said Iraqi sources.

They said Kurdistan President Nechervan Barzani was expected to make an official announcement over the issue.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), headed by Masoud Barzani, had announced in March that it was going to boycott the polls, threatening to quit the political process in Iraq should political powers in Baghdad fail to respect agreements that led to the formation of the Baghdad government.

Masoud Barzani was objecting at the time to the Federal Supreme Court of Iraq’s decision to divide Kurdistan into four electoral districts and eliminating the quota of minorities.

It had also tasked the Independent High Election Commission with overseeing the elections instead of the Kurdistan region commission, sparking objections from the KDP.

A Kurdish source told Asharq Al-Awsat that Nechervan Barzani, who had paid two visits to Baghdad in the past two months, had finally reached a political settlement to postpone the elections.

It remains unclear what guarantees he received in return for the postponement.

A source close to the leaderships of the pro-Iran Shiite Coordination Framework told Asharq Al-Awsat that the visits played a decisive role in reaching an agreement over the postponement.

It explained that the majority of the players in the Framework recognize the importance of the KDP taking part in the elections because it is a strategic partner of the Shiite forces in spite of the tensions that have emerged between them in recent years.

They expected President Barzani to make an announcement over the elections next week. This will allow the KDP to submit its candidacies to the elections commission.

The source was not briefed on the guarantees and concessions that President Barzani received while he was in Baghdad.

On Tuesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani stressed during talks with the commission the need to hold the Kurdistan elections with the “participation of all parties” - a reference to the KDP.


Iraq Cracks Down on ISIS Remnants in 3 Cities

Iraqi soldiers during a mission to crack down on ISIS remnants. (Iraq Defense Ministry)
Iraqi soldiers during a mission to crack down on ISIS remnants. (Iraq Defense Ministry)
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Iraq Cracks Down on ISIS Remnants in 3 Cities

Iraqi soldiers during a mission to crack down on ISIS remnants. (Iraq Defense Ministry)
Iraqi soldiers during a mission to crack down on ISIS remnants. (Iraq Defense Ministry)

Iraq’s national security service announced on Thursday the arrest of 20 members of an ISIS cell in the Nineveh, al-Anbar and Kirkuk regions.

During interrogation, four of the detainees in Nineveh disclosed the location of their hideout where several light and medium weapons and explosive devices were found.

In Kirkuk, the security forces arrested a prominent ISIS terrorist.

The agency said he played an influential role in Iraq when the “terrorist gangs controlled some parts of the country.”

On Tuesday, Iraq received 185 relatives of ISIS members who were held in Syria's al-Hol camp that holds extremists.

The relatives have been moved to a rehabilitation center in the al-Jadaa region, said Nineveh MP Sherwan Al-Doberdani.

The return of relatives of ISIS terrorists is a contentious issue in Iraq, which waged three years of war against the extremists from 2014 to 2017 that ended with ISIS’ defeat.

At the height of its power, the group had seized nearly a third of Iraq. Remnants of the group remain active in the country despite the defeat.

Iraqi authorities often make announcements of the arrest of its members and cells.

In early 2024, Iraq erected a border fence with Syria to tighten security along the porous border that Iraq has said has been easily infiltrated by terrorists.

The wall stretches 160 kms from the al-Qaim region and rises up to three meters.


Washington Pledges Continued Efforts to Improve Jordan’s Air Defense

Senior US officials expressed their government’s support for the modernization of Jordan’s fleet of F-16 fighter aircraft (AP)
Senior US officials expressed their government’s support for the modernization of Jordan’s fleet of F-16 fighter aircraft (AP)
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Washington Pledges Continued Efforts to Improve Jordan’s Air Defense

Senior US officials expressed their government’s support for the modernization of Jordan’s fleet of F-16 fighter aircraft (AP)
Senior US officials expressed their government’s support for the modernization of Jordan’s fleet of F-16 fighter aircraft (AP)

The Pentagon said on Thursday that a meeting of the US-Jordan Joint Military Commission (JMC) in Washington discussed “the destabilizing impacts of ongoing conflicts within the region.”
The 44th JMC meeting, attended by US and Jordanian senior defense officials, also discussed the proliferation of Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UASs), the Pentagon said in a statement.
The Commission then tackled the importance of maintaining security along Jordan's borders with Iraq and Syria, the Pentagon added.
At the meeting, senior US officials expressed their government’s support for the modernization of Jordan's fleet of F-16 fighter aircraft.
“The US officials pledged to continue efforts to improve Jordan's air defense and ability to counter UASs, which will improve the interoperability and effectiveness of the Royal Jordanian Air Force,” the statement noted.

 


Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: French Proposal Has Some Acceptable Points, Others Need Amendment

Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (R) shows a map in his office showing the expansion of the Israeli attacks on Lebanon to visiting French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne (L) during their meeting in Beirut, Lebanon, 28 April 2024. (EPA)
Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (R) shows a map in his office showing the expansion of the Israeli attacks on Lebanon to visiting French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne (L) during their meeting in Beirut, Lebanon, 28 April 2024. (EPA)
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Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: French Proposal Has Some Acceptable Points, Others Need Amendment

Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (R) shows a map in his office showing the expansion of the Israeli attacks on Lebanon to visiting French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne (L) during their meeting in Beirut, Lebanon, 28 April 2024. (EPA)
Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (R) shows a map in his office showing the expansion of the Israeli attacks on Lebanon to visiting French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne (L) during their meeting in Beirut, Lebanon, 28 April 2024. (EPA)

Lebanon’s parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said on Thursday he will reply on Friday or Saturday to France’s latest proposal over how to resolve tensions with Israel.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, he said the latest proposal included "some acceptable points and others that were not and must be amended."

French officials shared on Tuesday proposals made to Lebanese authorities to defuse tensions between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said as Paris attempts to work as an intermediary between the sides.

Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in escalating daily cross-border strikes over the past six months - in parallel with the war in Gaza - and their increasing range and sophistication has raised fears of a wider regional conflict.

Hezbollah has amassed a large arsenal since 2006 and since October thousands of people on both sides of the border have been displaced.

"A number of proposals that we made to the Lebanese side have been shared (with you)," Sejourne said.

Sejourne was in Lebanon on Sunday where he met officials including politicians close to Hezbollah. French officials say they had seen progress in the responses from Lebanese authorities. Sejourne said the basis of the proposals was to ensure UN resolution 1701 was implemented.

Hezbollah has said it will not enter any concrete discussion until there is a ceasefire in Gaza, where the war between Israel and Hamas is in its seventh month.

Israel has flagged a potential military operation along its northern front, saying it wants to restore calm on the border with Lebanon so thousands of Israelis can return to the area without fear of rocket attacks, even if Hezbollah has said it will not stop exchanges until there is a ceasefire in Gaza.

Sejourne presented this year a written proposal to both sides that included Hezbollah's elite unit pulling back 10km (6 miles) from the Israeli border and Israel halting strikes in southern Lebanon.

It also looked at long-term border issues and was discussed with partners including the United States, which is making its own efforts to ease tensions and exerts the most influence on Israel.

Berri did not go into details, saying the proposal will be up for debate.

"It wouldn’t be right to discuss it before the media before receiving the French response and how much they will be receptive to our comments," he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

He revealed that the proposal was written in English, rather than French, "which came as a surprise."

Berri added that a ceasefire reached in Gaza will inevitably be implemented in southern Lebanon because both conflicts are connected.

Furthermore, he condemned Israel for its "systematic destruction of Lebanese towns and villages along the border."

"Israel is bent on destroying them the same way it is levelling Gaza to the ground," he stated. "It wants to turn the areas into scorched earth in a flagrant attempt to incite the supporters of the resistance against the fighters who are confronting the Israeli occupation that is violating resolution 1701."

He cited Israel’s use of phosphorous bombs, which are banned by the international community, that destroy agricultural lands and render them unusable.

Meanwhile, a prominent source from the Shiite duo of Hezbollah and Berri’s Amal movement said the speaker’s response to the French proposal enjoys "unconditional" support from Hezbollah and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.


Syria Says Israeli Strike Outside Damascus Injures Eight Troops

The strike hit a building operated by Syrian security forces, a security source told Reuters.(Reuters file photo)
The strike hit a building operated by Syrian security forces, a security source told Reuters.(Reuters file photo)
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Syria Says Israeli Strike Outside Damascus Injures Eight Troops

The strike hit a building operated by Syrian security forces, a security source told Reuters.(Reuters file photo)
The strike hit a building operated by Syrian security forces, a security source told Reuters.(Reuters file photo)

An Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of Damascus injured eight Syrian military personnel late on Thursday, the Syrian defense ministry said, the latest such attack amid the war in Gaza.

The Israeli strike, launched from the occupied Golan Heights towards "one of the sites in the vicinity of Damascus", caused some material damage, the Syrian defense ministry said in a statement.

The strike hit a building operated by Syrian security forces, a security source in the alliance backing Syria's government earlier told Reuters.

The Israeli military said it does not comment on reports in the foreign media.

Israel has for years been striking Iran-linked targets in Syria and has stepped up its campaign in the war-torn country since Oct. 7, when Iran-backed Palestinian fighters Hamas crossed into Israeli territory in an attack that left 1,200 people dead and led to more than 250 taken hostage.

Israel responded with a land, air and sea assault on the Gaza Strip, escalated strikes on Syria and exchanged fire with Lebanese armed group Hezbollah across Lebanon's southern border.

The security source said the location struck in Syria on Thursday sat just south of the Sayyeda Zeinab shrine, where Hezbollah and Iranian forces are entrenched.

But the source said the site struck was not operated by Iranian units or Hezbollah.


Iraqi Militant Group Claims Missile Attack on Tel Aviv Targets, Source Says

 An Israeli soldier directs a tank, near the Israel-Gaza border, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, in Israel, May 2, 2024. (Reuters)
An Israeli soldier directs a tank, near the Israel-Gaza border, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, in Israel, May 2, 2024. (Reuters)
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Iraqi Militant Group Claims Missile Attack on Tel Aviv Targets, Source Says

 An Israeli soldier directs a tank, near the Israel-Gaza border, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, in Israel, May 2, 2024. (Reuters)
An Israeli soldier directs a tank, near the Israel-Gaza border, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, in Israel, May 2, 2024. (Reuters)

The so-called “Islamic Resistance in Iraq”, a group of Iran-backed armed groups, launched multiple attacks on Israel using cruise missiles on Thursday, a source in the group said.

The source told Reuters the attack was carried out with multiple Arqub-type cruise missiles and targeted the Israeli city of Tel Aviv for the first time.

The group has claimed dozens of rockets and drone attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria and on targets in Israel in the more than six months since the Israel-Hamas war erupted on Oct. 7.

Israel has not publicly commented on the attacks claimed by Iraqi armed groups.


Prominent Gaza Doctor Dies in Israeli Prison

A man tapes off the area as rescuers and medics search for dead bodies inside the damaged Al Shifa Hospital after Israeli forces withdrew from the hospital and the area around it following a two-week operation, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City April 8, 2024. (Reuters)
A man tapes off the area as rescuers and medics search for dead bodies inside the damaged Al Shifa Hospital after Israeli forces withdrew from the hospital and the area around it following a two-week operation, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City April 8, 2024. (Reuters)
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Prominent Gaza Doctor Dies in Israeli Prison

A man tapes off the area as rescuers and medics search for dead bodies inside the damaged Al Shifa Hospital after Israeli forces withdrew from the hospital and the area around it following a two-week operation, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City April 8, 2024. (Reuters)
A man tapes off the area as rescuers and medics search for dead bodies inside the damaged Al Shifa Hospital after Israeli forces withdrew from the hospital and the area around it following a two-week operation, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City April 8, 2024. (Reuters)

A senior Palestinian doctor died in an Israeli prison after more than four months of detention, two Palestinian prisoner associations said on Thursday, blaming Israel for his death.

The associations said in a joint statement that Adnan Al-Bursh, head of orthopedics at Al Shifa Hospital, Gaza's largest medical facility, had been detained by Israeli forces while temporarily working at Al-Awada Hospital in north Gaza.

They called his death an "assassination" and said his body remained in Israeli custody.

An Israeli military spokesperson said that the prison service had declared Bursh dead on April 19, saying that he had been detained for national security reasons in Ofer prison. The spokesperson did not comment on the cause of death.

Medical groups, including the World Health Organization, have repeatedly called for a halt to attacks on Gaza healthcare workers, with more than 200 killed so far in the Gaza conflict, according to an estimate from Insecurity Insight, a research group that collects and analyses data on attacks on aid workers around the world.

The Palestinian health ministry said in a statement that Bursh’s death raised to 496 the number of medical sector workers who had been killed by Israel since Oct 7. It added that 1,500 others had been wounded while 309 had been arrested.

Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals for military purposes and says its operations against them have been justified by the presence of fighters. Hamas and medical staff deny the allegations.

Earlier on Thursday, the Israeli authorities released 64 Palestinians they had detained during their military offensive in Gaza via the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing, the Palestinian borders and crossings agency said.

One of them was the body of another man who had died in detention, the prisoners' associations said.

Another freed detainee arrived in critical condition and was moved into hospital upon arrival, the crossings agency added.

Dozens of Palestinians who had been freed by Israel in past months including some staff of a UN agency have reported ill-treatment during detention, including torture and deprivation of food and sleep.

The two new deaths bring the toll of Gazans who died in Israeli custody to at least 18 since the start of the war, the prisoners associations said, urging Israeli authorities to disclose the number, location and fate of detainees from Gaza.

The UN Palestinian Refugee Agency has documented the release of 1,506 people detained by the Israeli authorities through the Kerem Shalom crossing as of April 4 and said the transfer of detainees regularly holds up aid. The 1,506 included 43 children and 84 women, it said.

Israel's military operation in Gaza was triggered by Hamas's Oct. 7 attack, which by its tallies killed 1,200 with 253 taken hostage. The subsequent Israeli bombardment has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian medics, and displaced the majority of Gaza's 2.3 million people.