Wednesday, September 3, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

Mass grave discovered in Palestinian medical complex

The situation in Gaza

Published 22 April 2024
– By Editorial Staff
Exactly how many bodies are buried in the area is unclear at this time.
2 minute read

Two weeks after Israeli forces left the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, Palestinian civil defense workers have discovered a mass grave in the area containing at least 180 bodies.

After months of Israeli bombing and protracted fighting, much of the town lies in ruins and it is unclear how many have died.

– In the hospital courtyard, civil defence members and paramedics have retrieved 180 bodies buried in this mass grave by the Israeli military. The bodies include elderly women, children and young men, according to Qatar-based Al Jazeera correspondent Hani Mahmoud, who was there on Sunday.

“Our teams continue their search and retrieval operations for the remaining martyrs in the coming days as there are still a significant number of them”, the Palestinian emergency services said in a statement.

Israeli troops only withdrew from the largely destroyed city on April 7.

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34,000 killed

Several mass graves have been discovered in Gaza in the past, and another mass grave was discovered early last week at the al-Shifa hospital, which was recently subjected to a two-week Israeli siege.

So far, more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to the territory’s authorities, and several of Gaza’s main cities are in ruins. The vast majority of those killed are women and children, but the exact death toll is difficult to confirm – not least because many are still missing and many bodies are believed to be buried under rubble or in areas where medical personnel cannot reach.

On Sunday, Israeli attacks continued, including a bombing of the town of Rafah that killed 18 children, including a three-year-old and a pregnant woman. However, doctors managed to save the child, according to the hospital.

– Entire families are being directly targeted inside the residential homes they shelter in, Mahmoud said.

Rafah is now home to more than half of Gaza’s population – a town previously described by Israeli officials as a “safe zone”, but which Israel is expected to invade soon, claiming that Hamas is there and using the town to attack Israeli targets.

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Belgium recognizes Palestinian state – imposes sanctions against Israel

The genocide in Gaza

Published yesterday 15:19
– By Editorial Staff
"Belgium had to take strong decisions to increase pressure on the Israeli government", according to Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot.
3 minute read

Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot announces that the country will recognize Palestine at the UN General Assembly later in September. At the same time, a series of sanctions are being imposed against the Israeli government, including import bans from illegal settlements and entry bans for two extremist ministers.

Belgium will formally recognize a Palestinian state when the UN General Assembly opens on September 9, according to the country’s Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot.

“Palestine will be recognized by Belgium during the UN session! And firm sanctions are being imposed on the Israeli government”, Prévot writes on platform X.

The foreign minister announces that Belgium will implement twelve sanctions targeting Israel at the national level. The decision comes as a reaction to what he describes as a “humanitarian tragedy in Palestine” and Israel’s actions in violation of international law.

“Belgium had to take strong decisions to increase pressure on the Israeli government”, Prévot explains. “This is not about sanctioning the Israeli people but about ensuring that their government respects international and humanitarian law and taking action to try to change the situation on the ground”.

Comprehensive package of measures

The sanctions package contains several concrete measures:

• Ban on imports of products from Israeli settlements
• Review of public procurement with Israeli companies
• Restrictions on consular assistance to Belgian citizens in illegal settlements
• Possible legal prosecutions
• Ban on overflights and transit
• Entry ban for two extremist Israeli ministers, Hamas leaders and several violent settlers

Although Prévot did not name the ministers, it appears to concern Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who have already been hit by similar measures from other EU countries such as the Netherlands.

Pressure at EU level

Belgium will also work for measures at the EU level, including suspending the union’s association agreement with Israel and terminating research programs and technical cooperation.

The recognition of Palestine takes place within the framework of a joint initiative from France and Saudi Arabia.

“Belgium will recognize Palestine during the joint initiative of France and Saudi Arabia. A strong political and diplomatic gesture to preserve the chances of a two-state solution”, writes Prévot, who also states that Brussels is participating in the initiative to “mark the condemnation of Israel’s expansionist ambitions with its settlement programs and military occupations”.

Hostages must be released first

Prévot emphasizes that the measures are directed against Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and its actions during the 22-month-long offensive against Gaza – not against the Jewish people.

The government simultaneously states that it also intends to take measures against glorification of Hamas and combat what it describes as antisemitism.

The sanctions will take effect through royal decree, but only after the last hostage held by Hamas in Gaza has been released and when the group no longer has any role in the administration of Palestine.

Photojournalist leaves Reuters in protest: “Western media enable Israel’s journalist killings”

The genocide in Gaza

Published 29 August 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Zink states that significantly more journalists have been killed in Gaza than during both world wars - and argues that Israel is deliberately murdering reporters.
2 minute read

After eight years, Canadian photojournalist Valerie Zink is resigning from news agency Reuters. She accuses Western media of systematically spreading Israeli government propaganda and of enabling the murders of 245 journalists in Gaza so far.

Valerie Zink published a striking Facebook post on Monday explaining that she can no longer work for Reuters. The decision comes after five journalists, including Reuters’ own cameraman Hossam al-Masri, were killed in an Israeli attack on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

“At this point it’s become impossible for me to maintain a relationship with Reuters given its role in justifying and enabling the systematic assassination of 245 journalists in Gaza”, Zink writes.

She directs very harsh criticism at how Western media has handled reporting from Gaza, particularly the case of Al Jazeera reporter Anas al-Sharif who was killed earlier in August.

“Reuters chose to publish Israel’s entirely baseless claim that Al-Sharif was a Hamas operative”, she writes, pointing out that the reporter’s work had previously won a Pulitzer Prize for Reuters itself.

“Reuters’ willingness to perpetuate Israel’s propaganda has not spared their own reporters from Israel’s genocide”, Zink continues in her post.

“Repeats Israel’s genocidal lies”

Zink accuses Western media of “repeating Israel’s genocidal fabrications without determining if they have any credibility” – and thereby abandoning the most basic journalistic principles.

She emphasizes that this submissive attitude from establishment media has “made possible the killing of more journalists in two years on one tiny strip of land than in WWI, WWII, and the wars in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Yugoslavia, and Ukraine combined, to say nothing of starving an entire population, shredding its children, and burning people alive”.

The attack on Nasser Hospital is described as an example of a “double tap” attack, where Israel first bombs a civilian target and then strikes again when rescue personnel and journalists have arrived at the scene.

“Western media is directly culpable for creating the conditions in which this can happen. As Jeremy Scahill from Drop Site News put it, ‘every major outlet – from the New York Times to the Washington Post, from AP to Reuters – has served as a conveyor belt for Israeli propaganda, sanitizing war crimes and dehumanizing victims, abandoning their colleagues and their alleged commitment to true and ethical reporting'”, she continues.

“I can’t conceive of wearing this press pass with anything but deep shame and grief”, Zink concludes her post, calling the journalists in Gaza “the bravest and best to ever live”.

Swedish pensions finance Israeli white phosphorus manufacturer

The situation in Gaza

Published 22 August 2025
– By Editorial Staff
An Israeli M109 Doher fires a shell. The self-propelled artillery system is one of several that can fire ammunition containing white phosphorus.
2 minute read

Sjunde AP-fonden (Seventh AP Fund) owns shares worth €9 million in Israeli ICL Group, which manufactures white phosphorus. Human rights organizations have long warned about the company’s links to war crimes against civilians – and now the fund’s officials claim they will review the investment.

Swedish public radio Sveriges Radio Ekot reveals that Swedish pension funds are invested in the Israeli company ICL Group, a manufacturer of white phosphorus that has previously received harsh criticism from several human rights organizations.

The investigation shows that the Seventh AP Fund (one of Sweden’s national pension funds) owns shares worth €9 million in the company. During 2025, the pension fund’s holdings have also increased from 1.2 million to 1.6 million shares.

White phosphorus may be used in conflict zones under international law to illuminate targets or create smoke screens. However, the substance is prohibited for use in ammunition near civilians as it causes severe burns.

Israel has been accused by several human rights organizations of using white phosphorus in densely populated areas during attacks in Gaza. According to the radio station, it is not established whether phosphorus from ICL Group specifically was used in these attacks, but the company has previously listed the U.S. Army – which has close cooperation with Israel – as a customer.

“Difficult to verify”

Mikael Lindh Hök, communications director at the Seventh AP Fund, says that they do not plan to immediately sell the holdings, but that the investment will be reviewed.

— If it’s true and you can actually verify that their product, in this case white phosphorus, is used by the Israeli military in the conflicts, then that is grounds for blacklisting, as it constitutes a violation of human rights, he says.

Lindh Hök simultaneously points to the difficulties in obtaining evidence.

— But there we have the problem that it has been very difficult to verify this, as there are contradictory reports. No one has admitted, so to speak, that they have used it. But if we manage to get it verified, then that is grounds for exclusion.

Amnesty: Suspicions are enough

He emphasizes that the fund manages money for six million Swedes and therefore requires clear evidence before acting.

— Then we want to get it verified so that it doesn’t become arbitrary. Sometimes it can be a rumor that a company has violated something, and then it later emerges that it hasn’t violated an international convention. And since we are the default option for six million Swedes, we have set the threshold at: what international conventions has Sweden signed? he explains further.

Astri Sjoner, political advisor at Norwegian Amnesty, believes that the suspicions alone should be enough to act.

— Now several parties have pointed out that they suspect it is this company’s white phosphorus that has been used in Israel’s warfare in Gaza. When there is this type of suspicion, it is important that those who invest in it take on extra responsibility to assess the risk of human rights violations.

Secret propaganda unit justifies Israel’s journalist killings

The genocide in Gaza

Published 20 August 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Between 186 and 270 journalists are reported to have been killed in Gaza since October 2023 - more than in any other war.
4 minute read

Israel operates a secret military unit whose task is to find or create connections between journalists and Hamas to legitimize deadly attacks.

Intelligence sources tell the Israeli publications +972 Magazine and Local Call how the unit manipulates and distorts intelligence material as international criticism of journalist killings increases.

The so-called “legitimization unit” was established after Hamas’ attack on October 7, 2023. According to three intelligence sources who confirmed the unit’s existence, its main task is not security but pure PR – to try by all means to justify Israel’s warfare in Gaza as international criticism grows.

The unit works systematically to find or create narratives that can defend Israeli military operations and bombings: evidence of Hamas’ use of civilian buildings, documentation of failed Palestinian rocket launches that killed their own civilians, and above all – attempts to smear journalists reporting from Gaza by linking them to Hamas.

An intelligence source reveals the unit’s cynical method: When international criticism against Israel increases, the unit is ordered to produce intelligence material that can be used to silence the criticism.

— If the global media is talking about Israel killing innocent journalists, then immediately there’s a push to find one journalist who might not be so innocent – as if that somehow makes killing the other 20 acceptable, says the source.

Fabricated accusations

It is Israel’s political leadership that directs the unit’s priorities, and the information is used strategically to secure continued American support. Intelligence officers have been explicitly told that their work is crucial for being able to prolong the war.

— The team regularly collected intelligence that could be used for hasbara – say, a stockpile of  weapons in a school — anything that could bolster Israel’s international legitimacy to keep fighting. The idea was to allow the military to operate without pressure, so countries like America wouldn’t stop supplying weapons, explains a source.

The unit has repeatedly manipulated or fabricated intelligence to portray journalists as legitimate military targets. In at least one documented case, they tried to falsely present a journalist as a Hamas operative.

— They were eager to label him as a target, as a terrorist – to say it’s okay to attack him. They said: during the day he’s a journalist, at night he’s a platoon commander, reports a source.

The journalist is said to have been saved only because the manipulation was discovered before any attack could be carried out.

Systematic manipulation

The manipulation continued with Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al-Sharif, who was killed in August after a coordinated smear campaign. The “evidence” the army presented showed activity that had ceased in 2017 – long before the current war. Despite this, the documents were used to justify his execution.

The same applies to the case of journalist Ismail Al-Ghoul, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in July 2024 along with his cameraman in Gaza City.

A month later, the army claimed he was an “military wing operative and Nukhba terrorist”, referring to a document from 2021 allegedly retrieved from a “Hamas computer.” But that document stated he received his military rank in 2007 – when he was only 10 years old, and seven years before he was allegedly recruited to Hamas.

Deadliest war for journalists

The unit’s work also became evident after the controversial explosion at Al-Ahli Hospital in October 2023. To deflect blame from Israel, the army released what they claimed was an intercepted conversation between Hamas members.

A Palestinian human rights activist was shocked when he recognized his own voice – from a completely harmless conversation with a friend. He had never been a Hamas member, but his voice was used to manipulate world opinion.

— It’s very much not in Unit 8200’s DNA to expose our capabilities for something as vague as public opinion, admits a source about the desperate and internally criticized publication.

The result of this systematic disinformation campaign is devastating for reporters on the ground: So far, at least 186 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza since October 2023 according to the Committee to Protect Journalists – the deadliest period for journalists anywhere in modern history.

Other organizations have made higher estimates and claim that nearly 300 journalists have been killed during the Israeli invasion – journalists who were often singled out as militants or terrorists, but where concrete evidence for this has rarely been presented.

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