Democracy Now!

World leaders are warning of the risk of a wider war in the Middle East as Israel's assault on Gaza could spill over to other parts of the region. We speak to independent journalist Sharif Abdel Kouddous about the negligible amount of aid that Israel is allowing to trickle into Gaza from the Rafah border crossing. He also discusses Egypt's response to Israel's attempts to ethnically cleanse Gaza by forcibly transferring the already-displaced Palestinian population into the Sinai. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's refusal thus far to comply with this Israeli directive has generated widespread support in his country and across the Arab world, but, Kouddous notes, it's a stance that's also rooted in economic self-interest.

Hamas has released two Israeli civilians held hostage in Gaza, 79-year-old Nurit Cooper and 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz, with the militant group saying they were let go for humanitarian reasons and poor health grounds." Hamas shared a video of armed fighters releasing the elderly hostages that shows Lifshitz reaching back to shake the hand of one of her captors and saying Shalom" - the Hebrew word for peace." We feature comments from Lifshitz upon her release as she describes humane treatment by her captors and expresses criticism of Israel's intelligence failure, and we get a response from Palestinian American journalist Rami Khouri. She represents probably the essence, I think, of what makes Judaism such a special religion. It is based on ethics ... and the pursuit of justice," Khouri says. The struggle of Palestinians is not with Jewish people. It is with the Zionist movement that became the state of Israel, which is widely recognized around the world as an apartheid system."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is warning if Hezbollah joins the fray in Israel's escalating war on the Palestinian territories, Israel will wage a second war in Lebanon. This comes as Israel exchanged fire with Hezbollah on the southern border of Lebanon and struck airports in Syria. We discuss the latest developments with Rami Khouri, Palestinian American journalist and columnist with 50 years' experience in the Middle East. He discusses simmering tensions in the region, where he says Israel's tough guy" approach is a failed military strategy that only generates greater resistance a year or two down the road" from groups like Hezbollah and Hamas - who see themselves as defending themselves from an invading and occupying force in the last anticolonial struggle in the world."

Israeli Strikes Kill 700 Palestinians Across Gaza as Hospitals Face Critical Fuel Shortage, Freed Israeli Hostage Yocheved Lifshitz Says She Was Treated Well by Hamas Captors, Israel-Hezbollah Cross-Border Violence Displaces 20,000 in Southern Lebanon, French President Emmanuel Macron Visits Israel Pledging Full Support" for Gaza Bombardment, Ontario Legislative Assembly Censures MPP Sarah Jama After She Calls for Gaza Ceasefire, New Delhi Police Arrest Protesters Near Israeli Embassy as They Demand Gaza Ceasefire, Jewish Peace Activists in New Mexico Hold Protests Demanding Senators Call for Gaza Ceasefire, Russia and Ukraine Trade Deadly Artillery Fire After Russian Missile Kills Six at Kharkiv Postal Center, Lubbock Becomes Largest Texas County to Ban Travel by Pregnant People Seeking Abortions, 6,800 Walk Out of Stellantis Assembly Plant as United Auto Workers Expands Strike, 92NY Suspends Literary Events as Writers Protest Censorship of Gaza Assault Critic Viet Thanh Nguyen

We speak with Noy Katsman, whose brother Hayim Katsman was a peace activist killed by Hamas militants in the village of Holit on October 7, about how they are demanding the death of their sibling not be used as a pretext for more bloodshed. What Israel is doing now is very clearly not for the security of anyone," Katsman says of the bombing campaign. The real reason is just revenge and killing and distraction [from] the failure of Israel to protect its citizens."

Raji Sourani, a leading human rights lawyer in Gaza, joins us by phone after his home was destroyed by Israeli airstrikes. Sourani and his family survived the bombing and are now staying with relatives, but he says they refuse to leave Gaza despite Israel's continuous bombardment. They want to evict Gaza and create a new Nakba. They don't want anybody in Gaza. They want us to leave," Sourani says, No power on Earth will take me from here. We are the stones of the valley." Sourani is the director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza. He is a recipient of the Right Livelihood Award and the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award.

The death toll from Israel's 17-day bombardment of Gaza has topped 5,000 as Israel intensifies its assault on the besieged territory ahead of an expected ground invasion. Israel continues to reject calls from the United Nations for a humanitarian ceasefire, and relief groups say the aid convoys that have been allowed to enter Gaza are a mere drop in the bucket compared to the needs of Gaza's 2.3 million residents. We get an update from Palestinian scholar Jehad Abusalim, executive director of humanitarian and educational organization The Jerusalem Fund, who describes life in Gaza for those who have stayed and reiterates international calls for a ceasefire. Israel is just bombing Gaza nonstop, killing as many civilians as it could, simply because it's being enabled by the international community," says Abusalim.

Israel Intensifies Bloody Assault on Gaza; U.N. Warns Babies Could Die in Minutes If Power Lost, Gazan Journalist Roshdi Sarraj Killed; 29 UNRWA Workers Dead in Indiscriminate Israeli Attacks, Israeli Airstrikes Kill West Bank Palestinians Amid Unchecked Assault on Gaza, American Israeli Mother and Daughter Are First Two Hamas Hostages Released, Protests Continue to Demand Immediate Ceasefire; 100,000 Rally for Palestinian Rights in London, Activists Occupy Office of Rep. Ro Khanna After He Refused to Sign On to Ceasefire Resolution, Former U.S. Rep. Justin Amash Announces Family Members Killed in Israeli Strike on Gaza Church, Acclaimed Author Viet Thanh Nguyen Has NYC Event Canceled After Condemning Israel's Assault on Gaza, Detroit Synagogue Leader Samantha Woll Found Murdered Outside Home, Mother of Murdered 6-Year-Old Palestinian American Released from Hospital, Peronist Candidate Sergio Massa to Face Far-Right Populist in Argentina Presidential Runoff, Opposition Leader Maria Corina Machado Wins Venezuela Presidential Primary, Iranian Journalists Sentenced to Prison for Covering Death of Mahsa Amini in Police Custody, Nawaz Sharif Returns to Pakistan; Former PM Imran Khan Indicted over State Secrets", 9 Republicans Vie for House Speakership After Rep. Jim Jordan Drops Bid

In Part 2 of our interview with legendary Israeli journalist Amira Hass, who has reported from the occupied West Bank and Gaza for over 30 years, she discusses attending Wednesday's historic protest in Washington, D.C., led by American Jewish groups, calling for an immediate ceasefire, as well as the events leading up to the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, the ongoing hostage situation, and what could come next. How can they say Israel is not responsible?" asks Hass, who says the government has continued its policy of apartheid, occupation and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians despite decades of international pressure to end the conflict. Israel did everything possible to foil the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel."

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is urging Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, where the death toll from Israel's two-week bombardment has topped 4,100. Israel says a ground invasion may be imminent. This isn't an effort to try to quell, to destroy Hamas specifically," says Tareq Baconi, Palestinian analyst and author of Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance. This is an effort to pursue an ethnic cleansing campaign in the Gaza Strip and beyond the Gaza Strip, as we see the violence rising in the West Bank." Baconi lays out Israel's history of enabling Hamas while designating them as terrorists in order to maintain tight control over Gaza. After the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,400, Baconi says, that equilibrium has now shattered."

Gaza Death Toll from Israeli Attacks Tops 4,100 as Blast Kills Civilians Sheltering in Church, Nearly One-Third of Palestinian Homes Have Been Damaged or Destroyed, U.N. Urges Distribution of Lifesaving Aid to Gaza as Rafah Crossing Remains Closed, Israeli Raid and Airstrike on West Bank Refugee Camp Kills 13 Palestinians, Including Children, Israeli Defense Minister Rallies Soldiers for Ground Invasion of Gaza, An Inflection Point in History": President Biden Urges Support for Massive Foreign Aid Package, China's Xi Jinping Calls for Gaza Ceasefire, Drone Attacks on U.S. Forces in Iraq & Syria Increase Fears of Wider Middle East War, British PM Rishi Sunak Discusses Gaza War with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Protests from Paris to Pakistan Demand Gaza Ceasefire, End to Israel's Occupation, Police Arrest Joseph Felix Badio, Key Suspect in 2021 Assassination of President Jovenel Moise, Jim Jordan Faces Third Vote in Bid to Become House Speaker Amid GOP Disarray, Former Trump Lawyer Sidney Powell Pleads Guilty in Georgia Racketeering Case, Sen. Laphonza Butler Will Not Seek Full Term as U.S. Senator in 2024, Hotel Cancels CAIR Event Amid Death Threats, California Judge Rules Against Law Banning Assault Weapons for 2nd Time

We speak with Amira Hass, Haaretz correspondent for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, who is usually based in Ramallah and attended Wednesday's anti-occupation protest in Washington, D.C., organized by American Jewish peace groups. Hass is the only Israeli Jewish journalist to have spent 30 years living in and reporting from Gaza and the West Bank. She decries the marginalization and suppression of the Israeli left, as extreme fascists" in the Netanyahu government have whipped the Israeli public into one that is drunk with the will to take revenge."

Thousands rallied at the U.S. Capitol this week calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, in what organizers with IfNotNow and Jewish Voice for Peace called the largest-ever protest of Jews in support of Palestine. Hundreds were also arrested during a sit-in of the Cannon House Office Building. We feature addresses by Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian American member of Congress, and author Naomi Klein.

As the death toll in Gaza nears 3,800 from two weeks of Israeli aerial bombardment, we go to the occupied West Bank to speak with Dr. Mustafa Barghouti. With the passage of each minute, more Palestinians are killed," says Barghouti, general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative. Barghouti has been a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council since 2006 and is also a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization Central Council. He discusses Biden's visit to Israel, the clearly Israeli" strike on Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, Israel's plans to annex Gaza, and the collapsed civilian society there, where residents have no access to clean water, no hospital beds for critical medical care and no safe haven. The game is clear: They want to ethnically cleanse, completely, the Gaza Strip."

Gaza Death Toll Nears 3,800 as Israel's Siege and Bombardment Enters 13th Day, British PM Rishi Sunak Visits Israel, Voices Support for Siege and Bombardment of Gaza, Israeli Troops and Settlers Attack Palestinians in Occupied West Bank, Push Death Toll to 69, U.S. Vetoes U.N. Resolution Calling for Humanitarian Pause" of Gaza Assault, Knesset Suspends Lawmaker Ofer Cassif for Criticizing Israel's War on Gaza, Bernie Sanders Blocks Ban on U.S. Aid to Gaza as Pentagon Sends More Materiel to Middle East, State Department Official Quits to Protest Biden Administration's Blind Support" of Israel, Hundreds Arrested on Capitol Hill at Jewish-Led Protests Against Gaza War, Protests from The Hague to Cape Town Condemn Israeli Genocide" in Gaza, Colombia and Spain Anger Israel by Condemning War Crimes in Gaza, Ukraine Fires U.S.-Supplied Long-Range Missiles at Russian Targets, Russian American Journalist Alsu Kurmasheva Detained in Russia, Jim Jordan Loses Second Vote for House Speaker, Receiving Fewer Votes Than First Round

We speak with Israeli peace activist Maoz Inon, whose parents Bilha and Yakovi Inon were killed in the surprise attack by Hamas militants on October 7 that killed over 1,300 people in Israel. He wants the war to end. Let's call for peace. Let's call for hope. Let's call for a complete ceasefire. Let's call for building bridges," says Inon. We must build the future, and this future must be based on equality, on partnership, on peace."

Francesca Albanese, United Nations special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, says the latest violence in Israel and Palestine has shocked even long-term observers of the conflict. She says Hamas atrocities cannot justify Israeli crimes in Gaza, where at least 3,300 people have been killed since Israel began pounding the territory with thousands of bombs. What we are watching is a catastrophe of Olympian proportions," says Albanese. The only reasonable and necessary thing to ask for is an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, which of course must be also accompanied by the release of the civilian hostages that Hamas has taken." She says the scale of Israel's response cannot be considered proportional, and warns that the displacement of potentially millions of Palestinians from Gaza would constitute the largest instance of ethnic cleansing in the history of this tormented land."

President Biden is in Israel to show more support for its relentless assault on the Gaza Strip, which has reduced much of the territory to rubble, killed at least 3,300 Palestinians and displaced more than a million people. Israel also continues to maintain a complete siege, refusing to let in food, water, fuel, medicines and other necessities. Meanwhile, international outrage is growing over a massive explosion at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital that killed hundreds of people on Tuesday. Palestinian authorities say it was an Israeli airstrike, while Israel has claimed a failed rocket launch by Gaza militants caused the blast. Whoever was responsible, the result will be enormous, enormous anger at the United States for its support of Israel, as well as a further increase in this enormous death toll inside Gaza," says Palestinian American historian Rashid Khalidi, the Edward Said professor of modern Arab studies at Columbia University.

Medical workers in Gaza are racing to treat survivors of a massive explosion Tuesday at Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, where displaced people were sheltering from Israel's unrelenting attacks when, Palestinian officials say, an Israeli airstrike hit the compound, killing hundreds of people. Israel denied responsibility, blaming a failed rocket launch by militants for the blast. Israeli strikes had already damaged the hospital once before, and have killed medical workers and struck other medical facilities since it started bombing Gaza in retaliation for a deadly Hamas raid into Israel on October 7. As a physician, I'm afraid if I now leave and go to work, my hospital is going to be hit, as well," says Dr. Hammam Alloh, an internal medicine and nephrology specialist at Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital, which is the largest hospital in Gaza. He describes how almost 40,000" people are seeking refuge outside of hospital buildings in Gaza.

Biden Sides with Israel After Airstrikes Level Gazan Hospital, Killing Hundreds of Palestinians, Iran Warns of Possible Attacks Against Israel Amid Cross-Border Skirmishes Between Israel and Lebanon, Reports: Israel to Ban Al Jazeera for Reporting on Gaza War, Major Jewish-Led Protest in Capital Calls for Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza, U.N. Warns of Humanitarian Nightmare" in Sudan; Press Groups Condemn Killing of Reporter, Venezuelan Gov't and Opposition Sign Election Deal That Could Ease U.S. Sanctions, Amazon River Reaches Record Low Amid Drought and Wildfires, Greta Thunberg Arrested During London Oil and Gas Conference Protest, A Black Man Who Was Wrongfully Imprisoned for 16 Years Shot Dead by Georgia Officer, Jim Jordan Fails in First Vote to Become House Speaker, SCOTUS Reinstates Regulations on Ghost Guns in Blow to Gun Makers

President Biden will visit Israel on Wednesday in an unprecedented show of support for the country following last week's surprise attack by Hamas that killed over 1,400 Israelis, including many civilians. The United States continues to rush ammunition, air defenses and other weaponry to Israel ahead of a possible Israeli ground invasion of Gaza. To end this conflict, former Israeli peace negotiator Daniel Levy says, the U.S. must change course to end Israel's impunity toward Palestinians. If Biden refuses to recognize Palestinian suffering, then he is, by sins of omission, encouraging the kind of ... genocidal language that is proliferating right now and that is incredibly dangerous to everyone," says Levy.

Israeli soldiers and settlers have cracked down on the occupied West Bank since Hamas's shocking attack on Israel on October 7, killing at least 55 and arresting over 700 Palestinians, including several prominent lawmakers. People are worried. All of this is unprecedented," says Sari Bashi, program director at Human Rights Watch in Ramallah. Bashi is co-founder of Israeli human rights group Gisha, which works against apartheid policies that affect Palestinians, and urges U.S. lawmakers to address the human rights violations that led to this conflict. No U.S. policy toward Israel-Palestine will be successful if it doesn't address the abuses on the ground."

We go to Gaza City to speak with Raji Sourani, director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza, who is refusing to move south after Israel's evacuation order. Why should we be good victims for criminals who do war crimes [in] the daylight in front of the whole world, and the world is watching?" asks Sourani, who says there are no safe havens in Gaza, but social solidarity is high among survivors. They can bomb us. They can kill us. But they cannot take the love and the justice from our hearts and minds." Since October 7, Israel's attacks on Gaza have killed 2,800 people - over a third of them children - a figure that does not include an estimated 1,000 additional Palestinians trapped under rubble of homes and businesses. Civil groups are sounding the alarm as civilians in Gaza are being forced to use contaminated water, a majority of hospitals remain partially operational, and critical supplies are running low under Israel's complete siege of the territory.

Gaza Water and Health Crisis Deepens as Israel's Bombardment Stretches into 11th Day, IDF Says Hamas Took 199 Hostages; Families Hold Vigil Outside Israeli Defense Ministry, U.S. and Allies Reject U.N. Security Council Resolution on Gaza Ceasefire, White House Says Biden Will Visit Israel Wednesday in Show of Solidarity, Jewish American Activists Arrested at White House Protest Demanding Gaza Ceasefire, 13 House Democrats Call on Biden to Press for Immediate Gaza Ceasefire, 6-Year-Old Palestinian American Killed in Anti-Muslim Hate Crime Laid to Rest in Illinois, GOP Rep. Jim Jordan's Bid to Become House Speaker Heads to Uncertain Floor Vote, U.S. Reaches Settlement in Class-Action Suit Brought by Families Separated at Border, Guinean Asylum Seeker Dies in Open-Air Detention Site Near San Diego, Protesters Take Nonviolent Direct Action Against Mountain Valley Pipeline

At least 12 journalists, mostly Palestinians, have been killed over the past 10 days of conflict in and around the Gaza Strip. Sherif Mansour of the Committee to Protect Journalists says it is one of the highest death tolls for journalists covering the conflict since 1992 and calls today it the deadliest time for journalists in Gaza." He joins Democracy Now! to discuss the role of journalism in combating misinformation during times of violence and the threat of widespread censorship by Israel and other state actors.

On Friday, an Israeli shell reportedly landed among a group of international journalists covering clashes on Lebanon's border with Israel, killing Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and injuring six others. We speak to Abdallah's close friend Lama Al-Arian, an international producer for Vice News in Beirut, who says colleagues believe that Abdallah's death was the result of a targeted attack." Abdallah, whose hometown of Khiam had been occupied by Israel during the 15-year occupation of southern Lebanon, became a journalist to tell stories from this region that he cared about so much, that he thinks is very misunderstood by Western media." Remembers Al-Arian, He always wanted to show the humanity of people suffering."

Raz Segal, an Israeli expert in modern genocide, calls Israel's assault on Gaza a textbook case of intent to commit genocide" and its rationalization of its violence a shameful use" of the lessons of the Holocaust. Israeli state exceptionalism and comparisons of its Palestinians victims to Nazis" are used to justify, rationalize, deny, distort, disavow mass violence against Palestinians," says Segal.

The death toll from Israel's bombardment of Gaza has topped 2,700, including more than 1,000 Palestinian children. As the humanitarian crisis worsens, we get an update from Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch, who says conditions in Gaza are dire, as Israel has cut off access to electricity and safe water, and many disabled and ill residents are physically unable to obey the evacuation order. This comes as Israeli President Isaac Herzog said his government holds the entire population of Gaza, including civilians and children, responsible for Hamas's attack. Shakir also discusses Israel's use of white phosphorus, an illegal weapon of war. People in Gaza are saying their goodbyes to the world," says Shakir.

This Is a Genocide": Gazans Face Constant Israeli Attacks, a Closed Border as Essentials Run Out, At Least 12 Reporters Killed Covering Israel-Gaza War Amid Reports of Harassment and Attacks, State Dept. Reportedly Bans Officials from Publicly Using Terms De-escalation," Ceasefire", Protests Across the U.S. Call for Israel to End Its Siege and Genocide in Gaza, 6-Year-Old Illinois Boy Killed, Mother Injured, in Anti-Muslim Hate Crime, More Earthquakes Strike Western Afghanistan, Compounding Humanitarian Crisis, Donald Tusk Poised to Lead Poland as High Voter Turnout Drives Opposition Parties to Victory, 35-Year-Old Banana Baron Daniel Noboa Elected New President of Ecuador, New Zealand Conservatives Set to Form New Government as Labour Party Falters, Australian Voters Reject Referendum to Recognize Indigenous Peoples in Constitution, U.N. Suspends 8 Peacekeepers in DRC over Allegations of Sexual Violence, Jeff Landry Elected Governor of Louisiana, Bolstering Republican Supermajority, Healthcare Workers at Kaiser Win Safer Staffing Levels and Pay Raises After Historic Strike

The World Health Organization warns Gaza's healthcare system is at a breaking point" under Israel's unabated bombing of civilians, and its blockade of resources and medical supplies. The WHO also reports dozens of attacks on hospitals and ambulances. We speak with Dr. Zaher Sahloul, a physician specializing in disaster relief with the international medical nonprofit MedGlobal, which is supporting doctors in Gaza. He calls the situation there beyond catastrophic" as the number of critically injured patients far outstrips available hospital beds. Sahloul says the U.S. must tell Israel to stop the hell that is raining on Gaza."

The unfolding crisis in Gaza, where relentless Israeli bombardment has killed more than 1,500 people since Saturday, is a humanitarian catastrophe," says Palestinian American human rights attorney Noura Erakat. She says Western leaders and the mainstream media have relied on racist, Islamophobic tropes to build a false consensus that war is inevitable and that whatever consequences come out is the fault of Hamas, thereby further blaming the victims for their own killing and massacres." Erakat also decries the Israeli order that 1.1 million residents in Gaza relocate under threat of a ground invasion. What we are seeing is a genocidal campaign. You cannot forcibly transfer 1.1 million Palestinians in a 225-square-mile enclosed area. There is nowhere for them to go," says Erakat, an associate professor at Rutgers University and author of Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine.

As more details emerge about the shocking Hamas attack on Saturday, we speak with Rabbi David Basior of Kadima Reconstructionist Community, a progressive Jewish group in Seattle focused on social justice. Basior's former congregant Hayim Katsman was among those killed in Israel by Hamas militants who stormed Kibbutz Holit. The 32-year-old was a gardener, mechanic and peace activist who worked with anti-occupation groups. During the attack, he shielded a woman from bullets with his own body, saving her life at the cost of his own. Katsman's family have said that he would not have wanted his death to fuel retribution against Palestinians. Life is the utmost. It is the most core teaching that I have received from my tradition, from my ancestors," says Basior, who evokes the phrase never again," used in remembrance of the Holocaust and other genocides, and says that precept means the violence against Palestinians must be spoken out against."

Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff, recently retired European Union ambassador to Palestine, says Israeli pain and anger cannot justify war crimes in Gaza, where Israeli bombardment has already killed over 1,500 people. Now with Israel demanding the relocation of 1.1 million people ahead of an expected ground invasion, von Burgsdorff says Israel must adhere to international law and protect civilians. No matter what Hamas did, it does not justify the incredible use of lethal force without distinction and without proportionality as far as the Palestinian population is concerned in Gaza," he says.

Israel's military on Friday ordered 1.1 million civilians in the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate southwards" in just 24 hours, a demand that aid groups say will cause untold human suffering. The ultimatum comes ahead of an expected ground invasion of the besieged coastal enclave, where authorities say 1,537 people have been killed since Israel began devastating airstrikes in retaliation for a Hamas attack in which militants killed 1,300 people and took some 150 hostages. Hamas says the intense Israeli bombardment that has pulverized much of Gaza also killed 13 hostages. Meanwhile, Israel continues to maintain a total blockade of the territory, blocking food, water, fuel and medicine from reaching those trapped inside. For more on the crisis and mounting human toll, we speak with Gaza writer Muhammad Shehada, who condemns the international community and mainstream media for its complicity in Israel's destruction of Gaza. These things are unimaginable horrors that are inflicted on Gaza right now with no one intervening to stop it," he says. This is pure madness."

U.N. Warns of Devastating Humanitarian Consequences" as Israel Orders 1.1 Million to Evacuate Gaza, Israel Fires White Phosphorus in Lebanon and Gaza, Iran's Foreign Minister Meets Lebanese Leaders, Warns Israel Could Face Other Fronts", Hamas Says 13 Hostages Captured in Israel Have Died in Gaza Airstrikes, Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin Says U.S. Won't Place Conditions on Weapons to Israel, Western Governments Ban Palestinian Solidarity Demonstrations, Competing Pro-Israel and Pro-Palestine Demonstrations Raise Tensions on College Campuses, Rep. Scalise Drops Bid to Become House Speaker Amid Republican Infighting, Sen. Bob Menendez Faces Fresh Charge of Acting as Unregistered Foreign Agent of Egypt, One Officer Convicted of Homicide, Another Acquitted, in 2019 Killing of Elijah McClain, Actors Vow to Continue Strike as SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood Studios Suspend Talks

Palestinian journalist and senior editor at +972 Magazine Amjad Iraqi believes Hamas breaking through the military border between Gaza and Israel has shattered the belief that the occupation is sustainable. Without being able to ignore Palestinians, Iraqi says, long-term reflection on Israel's apartheid system is possible, but in the short term, the international community is indulging Israel's desire for revenge. Now for the far-right government, this massacre, as atrocious as it is, is for them a historic opportunity," says Iraqi, who describes the desire of Israeli leadership to force out Palestinians or completely destroy Gaza in response to Saturday's attack by Hamas. There is no military solution to this issue, and the real problem in the end is this wider apartheid regime."

Michael Sfard, an Israeli human rights lawyer and expert on international human rights, calls for Israel to act within international law in response to Hamas's attack on civilians Saturday. My government is waging an attack that seems to be using war crimes to retaliate on war crimes," says Sfard. They want revenge, as if a revenge would bring back the dear ones that are gone." Sfard says Israel should end its bombing and lift the blockade on Gaza because civilians do not deserve punishment for militant attacks. Modern international law prohibits, with no exception, collective punishment."

We speak with two Palestinians in Gaza City about Israel's devastating bombing campaign while blocking all food, water and fuel from entering the besieged territory. The U.N. reports that all of Gaza's 13 hospitals are only partially operational due to a lack of fuel and medical supplies as the International Red Cross warns hospitals are going to be turned into graveyards." The territory's only power plant has stopped operating due to a lack of fuel, yet Israeli authorities are vowing to continue the siege of Gaza until Hamas releases the over 100 hostages it seized during its unprecedented attack on Saturday. Yousef Hammash, working with the Norwegian Refugee Council, says humanitarian workers cannot secure ourselves to start to deliver assistance for the others" and warns locals barely have time to think about political responses as resources run out. Within days, we will have nothing in Gaza." While U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken plans to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha asks, Why don't they come here and listen to us?" He adds that Gaza has been the largest open-air prison in the world," but with the closure of the passage between Gaza and Egypt, now it has become a prison cell with no window.

Gaza Death Toll Tops 1,350 as Relentless Israeli Assault Worsens Humanitarian Crisis, Israel Death Toll Tops 1,300 as Newly Formed War Cabinet Vows to Wipe Hamas Off Face of Earth, Settlers Backed by Israeli Army Kill Palestinians in Occupied West Bank, Israel Bombs Syrian Airports, Says Air Raid Alert Near Lebanon Border Was False Alarm, Netanyahu Thanks Blinken for U.S. Support in Fight Against Barbarians of Hamas", Jewish Voice for Peace Calls for Restraint After Sen. Lindsey Graham Urges Israel to Level" Gaza, Turkish President Condemns Israeli Massacre" in Gaza, Europe Shows Support for Israel While Cracking Down on Pro-Palestinian Protests, World Food Programme Can Only Support 1 in 5 Afghans as Humanitarian Crisis Spirals, Steve Scalise Receives GOP Nomination for House Speaker But Lacks Votes to Clinch the Job, UAW Workers at Ford's Kentucky Plant Join Stand-Up" Strike Against Big 3, Arundhati Roy Faces Possible Prosecution over Kashmir Comments Made in 2010

So far this year, U.S. spending on Israel, typically the largest annual recipient of U.S. military aid, has been outstripped by military aid to Ukraine, though that balance could begin to change as President Biden plans to ask Congress to approve emergency funding to support Israel's retaliatory campaign against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip following Saturday's attack by Hamas militants. For more on U.S. policy in Ukraine and Israel, we host a discussion with CodePink's Medea Benjamin and the Ukraine Solidarity Network's Barbara Smith. Benjamin urges diplomacy and deescalation, arguing that we have to get off this treadmill of military madness that only benefits the weapons companies and brings horror, suffering, death, destruction," while Smith, a co-founder of the Combahee River Collective and of Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, says that calls for immediate ceasefire are idealistic. This is an invasion by an imperial power, namely Russia, and I stand with the people of Ukraine," she states.

From Tel Aviv, we hear from award-winning Israeli journalist and author Gideon Levy, whose recent column for Haaretz is headlined Israel Can't Imprison Two Million Gazans Without Paying a Cruel Price." Levy discusses the reaction within Israeli society toward Hamas's unexpected attack and condemns the Netanyahu government for only mobilizing for further warfare rather than providing effective assistance to victims. Nobody is leading Israel," declares Levy, who also calls for Israel to lift its blockade of Gaza and accept that its campaign of eradicating Hamas is impossible." After decades of Palestinian subjugation under Israeli rule, you can kill the current top people of Hamas, but you will not kill the ideology of Hamas," says Levy.

As Israel prepares to launch a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, we continue our coverage of escalating conflict in the Middle East. We're joined from Ramallah by Mustafa Barghouti, a Palestinian physician, activist and politician who serves as general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, also known as al-Mubadara, and is a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization Central Council. I don't want any Palestinian or Israeli civilian to be killed," says Barghouti, who argues that a ground operation in Gaza would constitute a campaign of ethnic cleansing, and condemns Israeli occupation and settlement under far-right Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as having destroyed any prospective for a two-state solution." Barghouti also discusses President Biden's abnegation of responsibility toward Palestinian Americans, Egypt's role in the conflict and the relationship within Palestine between the totally marginalized" Palestinian Authority and groups like Hamas.

Death Toll in Israel and Gaza Tops 2,200 as Gazans Face Total Energy Blackout and No Safe Refuge, Journalists Hold Funeral Procession for Their Colleagues Killed in Attacks on Gaza, Families of Israeli Hostages Speak Out as Survivors Grapple with Hamas Attack, Biden Does Not Urge Restraint in IDF Attacks Against Gaza as New U.S. Weapons Arrive in Israel, Another 6.3-Magnitude Earthquake Rattles Afghanistan, 29 People Killed in Burmese Military Attack on Refugee Camp in Kachin State, Dutch Lawmakers Move Toward Phasing Out Fossil Fuel Subsidies After Highway Blockade, World Food Programme Resumes Food Distribution in Ethiopia; U.N. Warns of Genocide Risk, French Soldiers Begin Withdrawal from Niger as U.S. Labels Military Takeover a Coup, George Santos Hit with 10 More Charges Around Campaign Financing Fraud, Hughes Van Ellis, One of the Last 3 Survivors of 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, Dies at 102

As we continue to cover Israel's war on Gaza, we speak with Middle East scholar Shibley Telhami, who says this latest violence is likely to have a major impact on the wider region, especially if other actors like Lebanon's Hezbollah fighters get involved in the conflict. He says U.S. President Joe Biden's support for Israel following the Hamas attack on Saturday was understandable, but that focus must shift to finding a long-term solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This is not a military challenge," says Telhami. This is a political problem, and the occupation has to be addressed."

Palestinian writer Mohammed El-Kurd says Western reaction to Israel's assault on Gaza has once again highlighted the double standard when it comes to how Israeli and Palestinian lives are valued. Israel is bombarding the densely populated coastal territory in retaliation for Saturday's Hamas attack on southern Israel, as well as tightening the existing siege even further. Israeli officials have vowed to wipe out Hamas despite warnings of massive civilian casualties inside Gaza. One wonders how much bloodshed, how much Palestinian death is necessary for people to realize that violence begets violence and that the occupation and the colonization of Palestine, the blockade of the Gaza Strip needs to end for all of this violence to end." El-Kurd also accuses Israeli officials and Western media outlets of using Islamophobic tropes by spreading as-yet-unverified claims of sexual violence and beheadings by Hamas fighters, while downplaying the documented death and devastation being inflicted on Gaza residents.

Israel has mobilized some 300,000 army reservists as it ramps up its war on Gaza following a devastating surprise attack by Hamas militants on Saturday that killed hundreds inside Israel, including many civilians. Journalist Haggai Matar of +972 Magazine says that while the violence shocked Israelis, the unending military occupation and apartheid set the stage for this weekend's events. There is no military solution. These recurring attacks on Gaza bring nothing but death and destruction, and no hope for any of us," says Matar, a conscientious objector who refused service in the Israel Defense Forces.

As hospitals in Gaza are overwhelmed by those killed and wounded in Israel's massive bombing campaign, we go to Gaza City to speak with Palestinian academic and writer Refaat Alareer about conditions inside the besieged territory. Israel announced Monday it was completely cutting off all food, fuel and electricity to Gaza amid airstrikes of unprecedented intensity, launched in response to Saturday's surprise attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel. Hamas has threatened to begin killing hostages if civilians inside Gaza are targeted without warning. No one is safe. No place is safe. Israel is bombing everywhere," says Alareer, who describes his own children as shaking out of fear" amid the assault. Why is this happening? Because we refuse to live under occupation. We refuse to live in total submission. We want freedom."

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In New York, we speak with Rashid Khalidi, author of The Hundred Years' War on Palestine, who lays out how this weekend's extreme violence between Hamas and Israel will force a paradigm shift." Colonial powers will no longer believe they can force people to live under the conditions Israel has subjected Palestinians to and expect no retaliation of the oppressed, says Khalidi. That idea has exploded as a result of the horrific events over the past two-and-a-half days," says Khalidi, who calls the blockade of Gaza a pressure cooker. It had to explode." In response to the escalated conflict, the U.S. promised Israel would have what it needs to defend itself," pledging more military aid and munitions to Israel, already the largest annual recipient of U.S. military funding, as the Biden administration moved warships toward Israel. We finance this occupation. We finance this violence," says Khalidi, who calls on Biden to defuse the situation instead of escalating it. You cannot make peace over the bodies of Palestinians."

We speak to Ofer Cassif, an Israeli Jewish Knesset member with the Hadash-Ta'al coalition, about Hamas' surprise attack and Israel's response. Cassif condemns the violence and killing of civilians on both sides," adding that both Israelis and Palestinians pay the price of the arrogant, criminal, ongoing occupation that Israel refuses to end." He then calls for an immediate end to occupation and of Israel's fascist subjugation" of Palestinians, an act which he says will also liberate the Israelis."