Israel's conflict with its neighbours

[caltrek]

Leading Genocide Scholars Say Israel’s War in Gaza Fits the Definition
By Julianne McShane
September 2, 2025

Introduction:

(Mother Jones) Leading genocide scholars have ruled that Israel’s actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide.

In a resolution issued Sunday by the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), the scholars argue that Israel’s actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide under the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. That document, which has been ratified by more than 150 member states, characterizes genocide as crimes “committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”

The IAGS resolution cites several figures and examples from Israel’s war in Gaza to make its cases: more than 59,000 reported fatalities and 143,000 reported injuries, according to the UN; deliberate attacks on journalists, aid workers, and medical professionals; the aid blockade; and the destruction of Palestinian schools and cultural sites.

The resolution calls on the Israeli government “to immediately cease all acts that constitute genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians in Gaza” and asks both the Israeli government and the UN “to support a process of repair and transitional justice that will afford democracy, freedom, dignity, and security for all people of Gaza.” It also calls upon members of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to “surrender any individual subject to an arrest warrant,” seemingly referring to the arrest warrants the ICC issued last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

The resolution comes as international condemnation of Israel’s actions are ramping up. Several countries recently announced plans to recognize Palestinian statehood, with Belgium becoming the latest as of Tuesday morning. Amnesty International also concluded Israel is committing genocide in Gaza in a 300-page report issued in December, as my colleague Noah Lanard reported at the time, and the Israeli human rights groups B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel both determined the same in July.

Read more here: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2 ... inition/

[firestar464]

Spain imposes permanent weapons embargo on Israel

https://www.politico.eu/article/spain-p ... go-israel/

[weatheriscool]

[firestar464]

UN assembly votes overwhelmingly to back two-state solution to Israel-Palestinian conflict

https://apnews.com/article/un-assembly- ... b74d69e2d4

[firestar464]

[weatheriscool]

[wjfox]

The death toll is nowhere near that high. You've been told multiple times to fact-check before posting these random tweets, yet still you persist.

Do you want another warning point on your profile?

----------

GPT-5:

this tweet is wildly false.

What the best current sources say (as of mid-September 2025):

Total deaths in Gaza: ~64,600 since 7 Oct 2023, per the Gaza Ministry of Health figures cited by UN OCHA on 10 Sept 2025. Even allowing for gaps and later identifications, that is not hundreds of thousands.

Children killed: by early July, UNRWA’s breakdown of identified fatalities included ~17,900 children; Save the Children reported the toll had surpassed 20,000 by 6 Sept 2025. That’s devastating, but nowhere near 479,000.

Under-5 population check: Gaza’s entire under-5 population is roughly 342,000 (mid-2024 est.). The claim that 380,000 under-5s were killed is arithmetically impossible.

Context: some analyses argue that indirect deaths (from disease, hunger, collapsed health care) could substantially raise the overall toll, but even a debated upper-bound modeling paper discussed figures on the order of ~186,000, not 680,000.

Verdict

False. The tweet’s figures (680,000 total; 479,000 children; 380,000 under-5s) are not supported by credible data and contradict authoritative UN/NGO reporting and basic demographics.

[firestar464]

to be honest, bro posts so many random tweets that people like me have just given up on checking them. I just ignore them like noise i suppose

[weatheriscool]

/

[weatheriscool]

to be honest, bro posts so many random tweets that people like me have just given up on checking them. I just ignore them like noise i suppose

You're anti-science and people like you are exactly why we will never be 1/10th of what we could be as a species. Everything is too much money as the anti-appollo fucks whined about that ended the program 55 years ago and we to this day hardly do shit in space because of this reason since. Whining and bitching about educating our children with tax dollars, whining and bitching about maintaining our roads, whining and bitching about investing in our own leadership on this goddamn planet! How the f*ck can you be a leftist if you're so against spending effin money? I want single payer healthcare, I want new infrastructure like bullet trains and cities on the moon. Why does everything needs to be regulated into the ground in ways to just kill advancements? and frankly that isn't serving us very well at all. Why can't the goddamn flying car vehicals be sold all the f*ck already? Why can't the jet pack? Why can't I buy a driverless car all the f*ck ready???? Some of the greatest advancements in history were made by taking risk and that is just reality.

Some common sense regulation is ok but people like you aint happy taking any chance and chasing me off is exactly why the right is winning. Idiocy is winning over people that love science and have the nerve to push the boundaries. You should be on my side but you aint because you have ate the loserterian shit too and believe we shouldn't spend money and we shouldn't take any risk at doing a goddamn thing. It is insanity.

Fucking sucks. How old are you? Seriously, takes some nerve to call the work I put into this dead board as noise! lol. I put hours and a lot of work into reporting and posting the latest news on dozens of futurist concepts.

[weatheriscool]

The death toll is nowhere near that high. You've been told multiple times to fact-check before posting these random tweets, yet still you persist.

Do you want another warning point on your profile?

----------

GPT-5:

this tweet is wildly false.

What the best current sources say (as of mid-September 2025):

Total deaths in Gaza: ~64,600 since 7 Oct 2023, per the Gaza Ministry of Health figures cited by UN OCHA on 10 Sept 2025. Even allowing for gaps and later identifications, that is not hundreds of thousands.

Children killed: by early July, UNRWA’s breakdown of identified fatalities included ~17,900 children; Save the Children reported the toll had surpassed 20,000 by 6 Sept 2025. That’s devastating, but nowhere near 479,000.

Under-5 population check: Gaza’s entire under-5 population is roughly 342,000 (mid-2024 est.). The claim that 380,000 under-5s were killed is arithmetically impossible.

Context: some analyses argue that indirect deaths (from disease, hunger, collapsed health care) could substantially raise the overall toll, but even a debated upper-bound modeling paper discussed figures on the order of ~186,000, not 680,000.

Verdict

False. The tweet’s figures (680,000 total; 479,000 children; 380,000 under-5s) are not supported by credible data and contradict authoritative UN/NGO reporting and basic demographics.

If you're going to do it then just Ip ban my account and delete me for good. I spend a lot of time trying to better your board and I'd rather be gone if it isn't helping your cause. I aint here to play games and don't want to be given a red point like I am 5 years old. I am nearly as old as you're mr.fox. We're both too goddamn old to be playing dumb school yard games. If you really think I aint serving futuretimeline then ban me now.

I was posting what I felt was a piece from research professors that understand the subject. I aint going to stop posting such stuff as that is part of what I believe strengthens the board as an information source. LIke I said above if posting left wing stuff that better elines with your beliefs is worthy of my banishment then do it.

Also I think it is possible that the number is a good amount higher then those numbers...Probably at least twice. I do NOT believe that the information is totally accurate and anything is possible as the powers that be are slanting information against palastein.

[wjfox]

If you're going to do it then just Ip ban my account and delete me for good. I spend a lot of time trying to better your board and I'd rather be gone if it isn't helping your cause. I aint here to play games and don't want to be given a red point like I am 5 years old. I am nearly as old as you're mr.fox. We're both too goddamn old to be playing dumb school yard games. If you really think I aint serving futuretimeline then ban me now.

I was posting what I felt was a piece from research professors that understand the subject. I aint going to stop posting such stuff as that is part of what I believe strengthens the board as an information source. LIke I said above if posting left wing stuff that better elines with your beliefs is worthy of my banishment then do it.

Also I think it is possible that the number is a good amount higher then those numbers...Probably at least twice. I do NOT believe that the information is totally accurate and anything is possible as the powers that be are slanting information against palastein.

No need to take it so personally. You speak as if I want to ban you -- I absolutely don't. Your contributions to this forum are greatly appreciated. I only ever ban people as a last resort.

The vast majority of your posts are perfectly fine. I don't expect you to fact-check literally every post, on every subject on this forum. But when it comes to sensitive topics -- such as war -- then surely you'd agree, some extra care is needed? We're talking about human lives here, and the potential spreading of propaganda.

The tweet's claim of 680,000 killed in Gaza would mean over three times the Hiroshima + Nagasaki death tolls combined -- and more than Gaza's entire under-5 population. It is manifestly false.

It took me 30 seconds to get ChatGPT to verify it. Or I could have used numerous other sources online -- the BBC, Wikipedia, etc. There's also a free chatbot that doesn't even need registration or a subscription: https://www.perplexity.ai/

If you aren't sure, then at least include some note or comment alongside your post, e.g. "Not sure on the accuracy of this, but..."

And once again, please stop taking this so personally. I have no desire to ban you, and this isn't about "school yard games" or whatever. I just would like members to be more careful when posting:
• War-related tweets
• Non-mainstream sources

This doesn't mean you can't ever post war-related tweets, or non-mainstream sources. It just means, exercise a little more caution with those. Twitter is notoriously bad for this stuff.

Thank you!

[caltrek]

...

I was posting what I felt was a piece from research professors that understand the subject. I aint going to stop posting such stuff as that is part of what I believe strengthens the board as an information source. LIke I said above if posting left wing stuff that better elines with your beliefs is worthy of my banishment then do it.

Also I think it is possible that the number is a good amount higher then those numbers...Probably at least twice. I do NOT believe that the information is totally accurate and anything is possible as the powers that be are slanting information against palastein.

No need to take it so personally. You speak as if I want to ban you -- I absolutely don't. Your contributions to this forum are greatly appreciated. I only ever ban people as a last resort.

Reasonable

The vast majority of your posts are perfectly fine. I don't expect you to fact-check literally every post, on every subject on this forum. But when it comes to sensitive topics -- such as war -- then surely you'd agree, some extra care is needed? We're talking about human lives here, and the potential spreading of propaganda.

Also reasonable.

The tweet's claim of 680,000 killed in Gaza would mean over three times the Hiroshima + Nagasaki death tolls combined -- and more than Gaza's entire under-5 population. It is manifestly false.

I think it is a closer call as to the "entire under-5 population."

Estimated population of Gaza by 2020 was "2.1 million.'"

Of that, some 75% were "under the age of 25." That would work out to 1,575,000 under the age of 25.

The 380,000 total for under the age of 5 would work out to about 24% of those under the age of twenty-five. Given that the age pyramid would be largest at the bottom, 24% is not that far off. Moreover, we are not discussing a moment frozen in time. Some of those who died under the age of five would be six or seven years old had they survived. I imagine the birth rate has plummeted since the genocide started, but I believe it has been above zero. So, there has been some replenishment of the under 5 population.

Of course, 380,000 dead would be a death rate of nearly 100%. Not "arithmetically impossible" but hard to believe. Still, engineering a famine is a way to really elevate the number of casualties. Also, if one believes that my population estimates are low, that makes 380,000 dead less than 100%.

Sources: https://www.statista.com/statistics/142 ... opulation/

https://worldpopulationreview.com/cities/palestine/

It took me 30 seconds to get ChatGPT to verify it. Or I could have used numerous other sources online -- the BBC, Wikipedia, etc. There's also a free chatbot that doesn't even need registration or a subscription: https://www.perplexity.ai/

Well, the argument is that conventional sources have understated the death count, so a quick "verification" merely restates estimates of such conventional sources

And once again, please stop taking this so personally. I have no desire to ban you, and this isn't about "school yard games" or whatever. I just would like members to be more careful when posting:
• War-related tweets
• Non-mainstream sources

Yes, let's keep this an academic debate and not be highly emotional about it. Very difficult given that we are discussing genocide. Also, some identifying that a source is "non-mainstream" is reasonable when claims dramatically differ from the mainstream.

This doesn't mean you can't ever post war-related tweets, or non-mainstream sources. It just means, exercise a little more caution with those. Twitter is notoriously bad for this stuff.

Thank you!

Very reasonable.

[wjfox]

Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics:

"The estimated number of children under 18 years of age in Gaza Strip is 544,776 males and 523,210 females, with about 15% of them being under the age of five (341,790 children)."

https://www.pcbs.gov.ps/post.aspx?ItemID=4732

Presumably they mean 15% of each gender, which adds up to 30% or so.

[firestar464]

<wrong topic sorry>

[firestar464]

Democratic PR Firm to Run Bot Army for Israel

https://readsludge.com/2025/09/15/democ ... or-israel/

[firestar464]

Update: They've dropped Israel as a client.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/1 ... t-00567858

[caltrek]

God’s “Blank Check”: Christian Zionists Are Pouring Billions of Dollars Into Israeli Extremism
By Kierra Butler
November – December Issue 2025

Introduction:

(Mother Jones ) By any measure, Yael Eckstein is an incredibly effective advocate for Israel. As the president and global CEO of a massive Israel-focused philanthropy, she oversees humanitarian relief, security programs, social services for elderly Holocaust survivors, and Jewish resettlement. On her weekly podcasts, she ties biblical teachings to modern Israel and personal stories from her own life in Jerusalem. At 41, Eckstein, a native of the Chicago suburbs and an Orthodox Jew who now lives in Israel, has enjoyed recognition for her leadership and philanthropic impact, earning a spot on the Jerusalem Post’s “50 Most Influential Jews” four times from 2020 to 2024 and receiving its Humanitarian Award in 2023. That year, her nonprofit brought in $271 million, significantly more than better-known nonprofits like Amnesty International USA, the ACLU Foundation, and Human Rights Watch.

By this point, you may have noticed that I haven’t yet told you the name of Eckstein’s organization. It’s not the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, known as AIPAC, or the Anti-Defamation League. Eckstein’s group raised more money in 2023 than both combined. Those groups primarily ¬target Jewish donors for their fundraising, but according to a spokesperson for Eckstein’s organization, 92 percent of its donors are Christians. Since 1983, when Eckstein’s father, a rabbi, founded the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, the group says it has raised a staggering $3.6 billion for Israel and to support the Jewish people more generally. Since the death of Eckstein’s father in 2019, the group has more than doubled its revenue.

Read more here: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2 ... n-policy


caltrek’s comment: This is pretty much what I figured was going on except that I was stunned by the absolute financial power of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.

Meanwhile, we are tearing ourselves apart over arguments about how soon certain politicians should have recognized what is going down, even as those very politicians hold the key to potential leadership in opposition to the genocide in Gaza.

[firestar464]

Meloni Shifts Positions on Gaza War as Domestic Pressure Builds

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/me ... r-AA1Npi27

[caltrek]

International Healthcare Workers Report on War Related Injuries Among Civilians in Gaza
September 25, 2025

Introduction:

(Eurekalert) A British led study published by The BMJ today provides detailed data on the pattern and severity of traumatic injuries and medical conditions seen by international healthcare workers deployed to Gaza during the ongoing military invasion.

Healthcare workers describe “unusually severe” traumatic injuries including complex blast injuries, firearm related injuries, and severe burns. Many respondents with previous experience of conflicts reported that the pattern and severity of injuries in Gaza were greater than those they had encountered in previous warzones.

It’s thought to be the first study to provide such detailed data from frontline clinicians during the conflict, which the authors say offers critical insights into the injuries and conditions most relevant to immediate management, rehabilitation, and long term health planning.

Since October 2023, Gaza has faced high intensity Israeli bombardment and ground military incursions. Publicly reported figures show that more than 59,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 143,000 wounded during the conflict, but other analyses suggest these figures may be higher.

To address this gap, healthcare workers were invited to take part in a survey about the nature and pattern of injuries and medical conditions they managed while in Gaza, ranging from explosive and firearm injuries to infections and chronic diseases

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1099594