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Post by Atticus Pizzaballa on Oct 16, 2023 10:54:54 GMT -5
Middle East Jerusalem Catholic Patriarch offers to be exchanged for Gaza hostages By Philip Pullella October 16, 20235:10 AM EDTUpdated 7 hours ago VATICAN CITY, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Pope Francis' representative in the Holy Land said on Monday he was willing to exchange himself for Israeli children taken hostage by Hamas and held in Gaza. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, made his comment in response to a question during a video conference with journalists in Italy. "I am ready for an exchange, anything, if this can lead to freedom, to bring the children home. No problem. There is total willingness on my part," he said. www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/jerusalem-catholic-patriarch-offers-be-exchanged-gaza-hostages-2023-10-16/ |
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Post by Atticus Pizzaballa on Oct 16, 2023 12:39:14 GMT -5
 Palestinian women walk by buildings destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in the central Gaza Strip on Oct. 16, 2023. (HATEM MOUSSA/AP) |
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Post by Atticus Pizzaballa on Oct 16, 2023 12:46:45 GMT -5
What we know
The situation at the Gaza-Egypt border is unclear, with the crossing still closed and all sides denying any cease-fire agreement to allow foreign national Palestinians to evacuate and aid to get in.
A growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza has seen clean water, food, fuel, medical supplies and electricity run short as hundreds of thousands of people flee south.
President Joe Biden warned that Israel would be making a "big mistake" if it seeks to occupy Gaza when it launches its major ground assault in the wake of the Hamas terror attack. The White House is considering an invitation for him to travel to Israel on a solidarity visit, a senior U.S. official said.
In Gaza, more than 2,800 people have been killed and 10,859 injured. In Israel, 1,400 people have been killed and 3,900 wounded.
As fears grow of global fallout from the war, a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy was stabbed 26 times and died at his home in Illinois in what police said was a targeted attack related to the conflict.
NBC News’ Lester Holt, Tom Llamas, Richard Engel, Raf Sanchez, Kelly Cobiella, Josh Lederman, Matt Bradley, Ellison Barber, Chantal Da Silva and Alexander Smith are reporting from the region.
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Post by Atticus Pizzaballa on Oct 16, 2023 12:58:07 GMT -5
 Palestinians in Gaza |
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Post by Atticus Pizzaballa on Oct 16, 2023 12:59:26 GMT -5
Despite the risk, a Gazan family chooses to stay put. Image  |
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Post by BHU on Oct 16, 2023 14:22:42 GMT -5
As usual when war breaks out it's the children who suffer the most, on both sides. Same deal in Ukraine. Once Hamas is wiped out another radical Islamic hate group will take over & it will be the same old same old. Muslim boy killed and woman wounded in Illinois hate crime motivated by Israel-Hamas war, police say CHICAGO (AP) — An Illinois landlord accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old Muslim boy and seriously wounding his mother was charged with a hate crime after police and relatives said he singled out the victims because of their faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas. In recent days, police in U.S. cities and federal authorities have been on high alert for violence driven by antisemitic or Islamophobic sentiments. FBI officials, along with Jewish and Muslim groups, have reported an increase of hateful and threatening rhetoric. In the Chicago-area case, officers found the 32-year-old woman and boy late Saturday morning at a home in an unincorporated area of Plainfield Township, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) southwest of Chicago, the Will County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on social media. Relatives and a Muslim civil liberties and advocacy group identified the slain boy as the wounded woman’s son. apnews.com/article/muslim-boy-killed-chicago-landlord-will-county-5135dea218326d6e639a996564d9369eI fear that this potential war will explode as a worldwide event involving all the middle east What a tragedy. This hate crime is the same crap that went on following 9/11 thanks to right wing hate groups getting idiots like this guy who killed that kid all riled up. Now MTG is running her ignorant mouth targeting Muslims here who have nothing to do with this. My neighbors are from Bosnia, a husband & wife who are Muslims & wonderful people, friendly but who mind their own business. There property? You could eat off their driveway. Not all Muslms are terrorists who hate this Country. This has to stop. |
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Post by BHU on Oct 16, 2023 14:30:08 GMT -5
Meanwhile, the toddler caucus in the HOR led by idiots like Gaetz can't get there diaper act together long enough to elect a Speaker which sends a clear message to our enemies abroad that this Country is dysfunctional & we can't even govern ourselves let alone tell others what do do. Now we have Trump praising terrorists. He should know, that's what HE is.
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Post by clarencebunsen on Oct 17, 2023 8:05:21 GMT -5
I think the Dems have to take a share of credit for the current clown show. In the vote to oust McCarthy, 190 votes came from Dems only 10 from Reps. In a time of crisis, they voted for politics as usual rather than keeping the government running. I would hope that those 10 Republicans get voted out but given the current state of affairs, they will all get re-elected with 60% majorities.
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Post by Atticus Pizzaballa on Oct 17, 2023 8:34:55 GMT -5
 A Palestinian man carries a blanket covering the remains of a dead person retrieved from the rubble of a house destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in town of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman) |
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Post by Atticus Pizzaballa on Oct 17, 2023 8:47:46 GMT -5
Biden will head to Israel and Jordan as concerns mount that Israel-Hamas conflict will spread
President Joe Biden will travel to Israel on Wednesday to show support for the U.S. ally amid concerns the Israel-Hamas war could become a larger regional conflict, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said early Tuesday in Tel Aviv. Biden will then go to Jordan to meet with Arab leaders, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. Blinken’s announcement followed hours of talks with Israeli officials, as well as an invitation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. As the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip grows more dire, Blinken also said the U.S. and Israel had agreed to develop a plan to enable humanitarian aid from donor nations to reach civilians in Gaza, “including the possibility of creating areas to help keep civilians out of harm’s way.” “We share Israel’s concern that Hamas may seize or destroy aid entering Gaza or otherwise prevent it from reaching the people who need it,” Blinken said. |
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Post by Atticus Pizzaballa on Oct 17, 2023 13:58:06 GMT -5
 View from the southern Israeli city of Sderot shows destroyed buildings in the northern Gaza Strip. Photograph: Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images |
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Post by Atticus Pizzaballa on Oct 17, 2023 14:01:08 GMT -5
Between 200 and 300 people killed in Gaza hospital airstrike, according to Hamas-run health ministry The casualty figures from the strike on Al-Ahli Arabi Baptist hospital are very fluid as reports come out of Gaza. Between 200 and 300 people were killed in the strike on the hospital compound, according to a statement from the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. “Hundreds of victims are still under the rubble,” it added. A Gaza civil defence chief told Al-Jazeera that more than 300 people were killed. At least 500 people were killed and injured, a Gaza health ministry official said. Both departments are under the Hamas-run government. Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari would not immediately confirm its forces bombed the hospital. Earlier today, the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency said at least six people were killed after a strike on a school in Gaza’s al-Maghazi refugee camp. 51m ago 14.06 EDT The strike on Al-Ahli Arabi Baptist hospital, which Gaza authorities said killed at least 500 people, comes as the US president, Joe Biden, prepares to travel to Israel on Wednesday. The US president will also go to Amman for talks with Jordan’s King Abdullah, the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, and the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, in an attempt to fend off an even greater humanitarian disaster and a regional war that could draw in Iran and the US. Biden’s trip was announced by the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, after more than seven hours of talks with Netanyahu and his national security cabinet on Monday. It comes after the US said it had reached agreement with Benjamin Netanyahu’s government on the provision of humanitarian relief and safe areas to the more than 2 million people in Gaza who are under fire and in urgent need of water, food and medical help. |
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Post by Atticus Pizzaballa on Oct 17, 2023 14:04:30 GMT -5
1h ago
13.53 EDT
The Al-Ahli Arabi Baptist hospital in Gaza City is “still burning” after the reported airstrike, Al Jazeera reported.
An Al Jazeera journalist reporting on the ground writes:
The situation here is really catastrophic. There are still people under the rubble of destroyed buildings. Medical teams are trying to evacuate the victims, but there is an increasing number of victims across different areas in the Gaza Strip. Hundreds and thousands.
Hundreds of victims under rubble of Gaza hospital, says health ministry
There are “hundreds of victims” under the rubble of the Al-Ahli Arabi Baptist hospital in Gaza after it was struck by an airstrike, the Gaza health ministry said.
The health ministry said at least 500 people have been killed. If confirmed, the attack on the Gaza hospital would be by far the deadliest Israeli airstrike in five wars fought since 2008, AP reported.
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Post by BHU on Oct 17, 2023 15:27:32 GMT -5
I think the Dems have to take a share of credit for the current clown show. In the vote to oust McCarthy, 190 votes came from Dems only 10 from Reps. In a time of crisis, they voted for politics as usual rather than keeping the government running. I would hope that those 10 Republicans get voted out but given the current state of affairs, they will all get re-elected with 60% majorities. Sorry PB, but it was Dems who saved McCarthy's butt & voted for his spending bill to avoid a shutdown. What did he do? The next day he went on Sunday news shows & stabbed them in the back. The guy can't be trusted as far as I could throw a Mack truck. McCarthy sold his soul to those knuckleheads in the Far Side caucus. |
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Post by clarencebunsen on Oct 17, 2023 18:29:52 GMT -5
I agree that it was a good thing to vote to keep the government running for 2 weeks. To vote the next day to remove the speaker so the 2 weeks would be spent with this clown show was the height of irresponsibility. They didn't vote for a compromise budget bill, they voted for a two week stay of execution for the country. There are a few grown ups in the House but the majorities of both parties barely qualify as clowns.
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