Independent journalist Sharif Kouddous is reporting: “The killing is escalating. 756 Palestinians killed in Israeli bombardment in the last 24 hours, including 344 children. Toll now at 6,546 dead, including 2,704 children. 17,439 wounded. 65 percent of casualties in the past week in southern Gaza, where Israel said to evacuate to, according to the health ministry. … Health ministry in Gaza says the health system has completely collapsed and calls for immediate supplies of fuel and medical aid to resume work.”

SAURAV SARKAR, sauravsarkar2000@gmail.com, @sauravthewriter
Sarkar wrote the recent piece “Unconfirmed ‘Beheaded Babies’ Report Helped Justify Israeli Slaughter” for the media watch group FAIR, noting that despite a media and political mantra, no evidence of Hamas beheading babies emerged. The article noted: “Even with all this said, why does it matter? After all, other horrific crimes were committed in southern Israel. It matters because the war in Gaza was already underway when i24 reported on the ‘decapitated babies’ story — about 260 children were killed in the Gaza Strip as of October 10 (AP, 10/10/23). To maintain lockstep … support, the IDF needed to differentiate its mass slaughter from Hamas’s violence — which it could only do by painting Hamas as sadistic, savage, subhuman. The claim about beheading babies was ideal for the job: a shocking story that served to turn off logic and critical thinking. Who wouldn’t want to avenge murdered, desecrated infants?”