TV News LIES

The non-violence training to join the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s ships to Gaza has been intense. As hundreds of us from 32 countries gathered in Istanbul, we were briefed about what we might encounter on this voyage. “We have to be ready for every possibility,” our trainers insisted.

The best scenario, they said, is that our three ships—one carrying 5,500 tons of humanitarian aid and two carrying the passengers—will reach Gaza and accomplish our mission. Another scenario would be that the Turkish government might cave to pressure from Israel, the United States, and Germany, and prevent the boats from even leaving Istanbul. This happened in 2011, when the Greek government buckled under pressure and 10 boats were stalled in Greece. With our boats docked in Istanbul today, we fear that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who recently suffered a crushing blow in local elections, is vulnerable to any economic blackmail the Western powers might be threatening.

Another possibility is that the ships take off, but the Israelis illegally hijack us in international waters, confiscate our boats and supplies, arrest and imprison us, and eventually deport us.

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Israel has provided no evidence that hundreds of U.N. aid workers in Gaza are affiliated with Hamas, but the aid agency needs more "robust" screening to ensure neutrality among its workforce, an independent review released Monday has found.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres ordered the review after Israel accused workers with the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) of providing support for the attack on Israel that ignited the Hamas-Israeli war. More than a dozen nations, including the U.S., halted funding for the agency when the allegations became public.

The review was prompted by Israeli allegations that at least 12 UNRWA employees were directly involved in the Hamas-led attack Oct. 7, another 30 supported the attack in some way, and as many as 12% of the organization’s staff were affiliated with the militant group. UNRWA has over 13,000 aid workers in Gaza.

"Moving forward, the secretary-general appeals to all stakeholders to actively support UNRWA, as it is a lifeline for Palestine refugees in the region," his office said in a statement.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying Hamas is tied in so closely to UNRWA that “it is impossible to say where UNRWA ends and Hamas begins.”

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In addition to using firearms to attack Palestinians, settlers and Israeli forces also torched hundreds of homes, buildings and cars in the West Bank, per OCHCR. Shamdasani said that settlers also reportedly established at least two new illegal outposts this week “near Palestinian communities which have been repeatedly attacked by settlers in the past months and are at imminent risk of being forcibly transferred from their homes and land.”