THIS IS SEVEN DAYS OLD... SINCE THEN MANY MORE PALESTINIANS HAVE DIED. A FRAGILE CEASEFIRE IS NOW IN PLACE...

For all the sensationalism surrounding the events of Oct. 7, when Hamas broke through the Gaza fence and seized territory in the Gaza Envelope as part of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, there is still much that we do not know. The official Israeli death toll from the attack is estimated at 1,200 civilians, revised from an initial estimate of 1,400. Among this figure are several hundred civilians, which Israel says were killed by Hamas militants. Other testimony from survivors of Oct. 7 suggests an alternative explanation—that in its fervor to defeat Hamas, Israeli commanders may have willingly targeted and sacrificed Israeli soldiers and civilians in the crossfire. Max Blumenthal of The Grayzone joins The Chris Hedges Report for an in-depth look.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0gECjlpXF8

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Liel Hetzroni was among the noncombatants killed in Kibbutz Be’eri when the small southern Israeli community was momentarily taken over by Hamas militants seeking captives to spur a prisoner exchange. During the standoff that ensued, she was killed instantly alongside twin brother, great-aunt and several other residents of Be’eri.

However, the 12-year-old Hetzroni was not slain by Hamas. According to new testimony by an Israeli eyewitness to the girl’s death, she was killed by an Israeli tank shell alongside several neighbors.

The revelation of Hetzroni’s friendly fire death came as the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanhahu attempts to shut down the Israeli newspaper Haaretz for reporting that Israeli Apache helicopters killed Israeli citizens fleeing the Nova electronic music festival on October 7. Haaretz’s reporting confirmed a viral Grayzone investigation which highlighted disclosures by Israeli helicopter pilots and security officials of friendly fire orders throughout the fateful day. 

One came from a member of the security team for Kibbutz Be’eri, who told Haaretz that “the commanders in the field made difficult decisions – including shelling houses on their occupants in order to eliminate the terrorists along with the hostages.”

A tank battalion commander recalled receiving the same orders when he arrived on the scene, stating in a video interview, “I arrived in Be’eri to see Brig. Gen. Barak Hiram and the first thing he asks me to do is to fire a shell into a house [where Hamas members were sheltering].”

The decision to use heavy weapons on the small homes of Be’eri wound up costing many Israeli lives. Among them was the girl whose death has been weaponized to justify Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza. And for the first time, an eyewitness to the attack has come forward with the uncomfortable truth about the killing.

Yasmin Porat was among the Israelis taken hostage by Hamas militants in Be’eri on October 7. She had fled the Nova electronic music festival and sought shelter in the community when the militants arrived. In a November 15 interview with the Israeli national broadcaster, Kan News, Porat provided exclusive details of the standoff which badly undercut her government’s official narrative.

Under the mistaken impression that they were surrounded by Israeli troops, who were actually largely absent at the time and in a discombobulated state, the Hamas gunmen sent hostages outside the home and phoned the Israeli police in an apparent attempt to negotiate their own exit. 

“You see that most of the kidnappings occurred in the morning, at 10, 11, 12,” Porat said. “By 3 [in the afternoon], every [Israeli] citizen thought the army was already everywhere. [The Hamas militants] could have taken us out and back [to Gaza] ten times. But they didn’t believe that was the situation, so they asked for the police.”

When the Israeli special forces finally arrived on the scene, Porat said, a “ceasefire” ensued between Hamas and Israeli forces, and her own captor decided to surrender. To ensure his own safety, he stripped himself naked and used her as a human shield as he made his way toward the Israeli soldiers.

After Porat was freed and her captor surrendered, she said 14 Israelis remained hostage under the guard of 39 Hamas militants. Among those left behind, she said, were twin girls, Liel and Yanai Hatroni, along with their great-aunt and guardian, Ayala Hatroni. 

“I sat there with the commander of the unit,” Porat recalled, “and I described to him what the house looks like, and where the terrorists are, and where the hostages are. I actually drew it for him: ‘Look, here, on the lawn there are four hostages that are lying this way on the lawn. Here are two that are lying under the terrace. And in the living room there is a woman lying like this, and a woman lying like this.” 

Porat explained, “I told [the Israeli commander] about the twins (Yanai and Liel Hatzroni) and their great-aunt (Ayala), I didn’t see them. You know what, when I left, they were the only ones I didn’t see. I heard Liel the whole time, so I know for certain that they were there.. I tried to explain to [the commander] that from somewhere near the kitchen, that’s where I heard the screams coming from. I didn’t see her, but I heard her, and I heard where the screams were coming from. I tried to explain to them where all the hostages were.”

Underscoring the shoddy Israeli intelligence that made the October 7 Hamas operation possible, Porat said the soldiers did not believe that so many militants could be inside one home, or that such a large force could have penetrated the high-tech siege walls Israel had constructed around Gaza. “The first time I told [the Israeli special forces] that there are about 40 terrorists, they told me, ‘It can’t be. It seems like you’re exaggerating’… I told them, ‘There’s more of them than you.’ They didn’t believe me! It was still the naiveté of our army, as well.”

By 4 PM, a gun battle began to rage between the militants inside the home and the Israeli special forces stationed across the street. After failing to dislodge the Hamas fighters, the Israelis called in a tank at 7:30 PM. 

Porat described a sense of panic as she watched the tank trundle into the small community: “I thought to myself, ‘Why are they shooting tank shells into the house?’ And I asked one of the people that was with me, “Why are they shooting?’ So they explained to me that it was to break the walls, in order to help cleanse the house.”

From across the street, Porat heard two loud explosions. The tank had fired a couple of shells into the home. Laying down outside the house was her partner, Tal, another man named Tal, and the couple who owned the house, Adi and Hadas Dagan. There were also the 12-year-old twins, Liel and Yanai Hatsroni, along with their great-aunt. 

When the dust cleared, only Hadas Dagan emerged from the house alive.

Porat said Dagan later told her, “‘Yasmin, when the two big booms hit, I felt like I flew in the air… It took me 2-3 minutes to open my eyes, I didn’t feel my body. I was completely paralyzed. When I opened my eyes, I saw that my Adi [Dagan] is dying… Your Tal also stopped moving at that point.”

Dagan confirmed that the tank shells killed Liel Hatsroni: “‘The girl did not stop screaming for all those hours,” she told Porat, referring to Liel. “She didn’t stop screaming… [but] when those two shells hit, [Liel] stopped screaming. There was silence then.”

Porat concluded, “So what can you take away from that? That after that very massive incident, the shooting, which concluded with two shells, that is pretty much when everyone died.”

Dagan emphasized to Porat that none of the hostages had been intentionally killed by the Hamas fighters. “There were no executions, or anything like that. At least not the people with her,” Porat said.

In a separate interview on October 15, Porat insisted the Palestinian militants “did not abuse us. They treated us very humanely.” 

It is impossible to know if the standoff between Israeli and Hamas forces at the Dagan home could have been resolved without bloodshed. But it is clear that the Israeli decision to shell the home with tanks wound up killing almost everyone inside, including the child who has become a centerpiece of Israel’s international anti-Hamas propaganda campaign. All the Israelis left behind, Porat said, was “a house full of corpses.”

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https://ronpaulinstitute.org/israeli-october-7-posterchild-was-killed-by-israeli-tank-eyewitnesses-reveal/

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Jesus Buried Under Rubble in Bethlehem

BY Finian Cunningham

All the Christian Churches in Bethlehem will not be celebrating Christmas in the usual way this year. There will be religious services and prayers but there will be no festivities and lights.

Amen to that!

The prevailing atmosphere is one of mourning and solidarity with the people of Gaza and the West Bank who are suffering genocidal violence from the Western-backed Israeli state.

Bethlehem is the historic birthplace of Jesus whom Christians believe is the Son of God. Nearly 2,000 years ago, Christians believe the “savior of the world” was born in poverty and in a humble stable in Bethlehem, a town in what is now the Occupied Palestinian West Bank territory.

Instead of the Roman Empire, we now have the U.S. and its American-armed Israeli garrison.

Every year there are usually magnificent celebrations to commemorate Christmas in Bethlehem, with a splendid lit-up giant Christmas tree aloft in the town square, along with fireworks and droves of pilgrims from all over the world.

This year, however, there will be no visitors from overseas as the West Bank and Gaza, the other Palestinian territory, are submerged in shockingly brutal military violence meted out with impunity by the Israeli state, armed to the teeth by an indulgent Washington.

The Israeli onslaught against defenseless civilians is declared by the scowl-faced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and endorsed by Western governments, to be retaliation for a deadly attack by the militant group Hamas on October 7.

In reality, for many other observers, it is a heinous opportunistic ramping up of genocide to wipe Palestine and Palestinians off the map. The Israelis have admitted that objective. The slow-motion genocide of Palestinians that has going on for decades with American and European acquiescence (under the guise of a peace process and delivering humanitarian aid) is now hideously sped up. There is no pretence now. And it is shocking how blatant and brazen it is with no objection from the Western governments. Every day the slaughter is televised as if it were normal or excusable.

For more than 60 days, the Israeli forces have been bombarding Gaza and systematically killing Palestinians in the West Bank. The death toll has surpassed 16,000 with over 40,000 casualties. Most of the victims are children and women, with many thousands missing, buried under rubble from indiscriminate Israeli air strikes.

Over 80 per cent of the 2.2 million population in Gaza has been displaced by Israeli bombardment. Nowhere is safe in the tiny coastal enclave. Hospitals, schools, mosques, churches and United Nations-run refugee camps have been attacked.

The Biden administration’s valorizing of Israel for creating so-called safe zones is a cynical and nauseating cover for mass murder. The U.S., the European Union and Western media are all complicit in this evil charade. The daily genocide by Israel without any genuine, meaningful practical objection from the Western powers and their lapdog media is an abomination. Far from objecting, the U.S. is arming Israel with bunker-buster heavy bombs to destroy Gaza and all who live there. Washington politicians are cheering on the bloodbath.

Given the appalling war crimes and barbarous inhumanity shown by the Israeli regime, it is only right – absolutely right – that Christmas events in Bethlehem are not displaying the normal celebrations. This year, more than ever, to be a Christian means bearing witness to the slaughter of innocents and taking a stand in solidarity.

Will that give American and European so-called Christians pause for thought? The birthplace of Christ for Christ’s sake! Can it be any more contradictory?

All the Churches in Bethlehem have joined hands in solidarity with the suffering people in the Holy Land, including the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Church.

Greek Patriarch in Bethlehem Father Issa Musleh explained: “This year is going to be totally different. There won’t be any lights, we will not have the Christmas tree, we will be mourning those who have been slaughtered in Gaza. There is a deep atmosphere of grief here. All the Churches have decided to only have religious services for Christmas”.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem led by Pastor Munther Ishaq is replacing its normal nativity scene of the infant Jesus in a stable with a child buried under concrete rubble. It is a powerful re-enactment of the first Christmas to reflect the vile circumstances of today in Palestine.

For Christians, this depiction of Jesus under rubble in today’s Palestinian Holy Land should be perfectly consistent with the original event, not merely a modern trendy revisionism.

Pastor Ishaq said: “It is impossible to celebrate Christmas this year when our people in Gaza are going through a genocide… We wanted to send a message to the world. A message that while the whole world is celebrating Christmas in festive ways, this is what Christmas looks like to us.”

The pastor added: “Christmas is the solidarity of God with those who are oppressed, with those who are suffering. And if Jesus is to be born again this year, he will be born under the rubble in Gaza in solidarity with those who are suffering.”

This is a tremendous revelation of what it means to be a Christian today. Are we to be on the side of the oppressed or the oppressor?

The supposed great temporal powers of the United States and its Western allies are evidently siding with the oppressor Israeli state. They have always taken that side. The United States, Britain and the colonial powers set up the Zionist state in 1948 through chicanery and treachery in complete violation of the indigenous people of the Holy Land. They have sponsored 75 years of brutal oppression, state terrorism and relentless dispossession. These same powers continue to do so even while Israel is committing genocide in full view of the world.

U.S. President Joe Biden and his Western lackeys are enabling genocide while covering up their complicity with cynical words about Israel needing to exercise restraint in murdering civilians.

Arguably, anyone who does not understand Christmas in the way that the Palestinians do is not worthy to call themselves a Christian.

Those Americans and Europeans especially those who side with Zionist Israel’s so-called right to self-defence because of some twisted fundamentalist belief in God are particularly condemnable. They are a perversion of the Christian faith.

The whole world needs to commemorate Christmas with a radical difference this year. The birth of Jesus should always be a revolutionary event to commemorate. Every year, it should be centred on solidarity with people of the world who are oppressed and exploited, downtrodden and dispossessed. It’s not always clear, however, who are the righteous victims in this world and whose side God would be on. This year, it is absolutely clear and shockingly so.

Biden, Netanyahu and all Western enablers are the anti-Christ and Herod figures of today who 2,000 years ago massacred infants in an attempt to kill the Son of God.

They are the enemy of humankind in our present time of history. If there is any hope possibly coming out of the horror of Gaza and the rest of Palestine today it is the revelation to the world of just who and what (their imperialist system) are the enemies of humanity. That truth is truth to set humanity free.

https://strategic-culture.su/news/2023/12/07/jesus-buried-under-rubble-in-bethlehem/

SEE ALSO: https://strategic-culture.su/news/2023/12/02/unable-to-defeat-palestinian-resistance-israeli-regime-intensifies-killing-and-torturing-children/

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