Headlines in This News Package:

• People of South Asia Reaffirm Solidarity With Palestine on Anniversary of Genocide in Gaza

• Abu Obaida on October 7 Anniversary: “Al-Aqsa Flood” a Preemptive Blow to Israeli Enemy

• Haitians Demand True Security and Justice in the Wake of Gang Massacre

• United States Has Sent $17.9 billion to Israel Since October 7, 2023

[NEWS ITEM TEXT]

People of South Asia Reaffirm Solidarity With Palestine on Anniversary of Genocide in Gaza

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Thousands participated in demonstrations across South Asia as part of international calls for mobilization to mark a year of Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, express solidarity with the Palestinian people, and demand an immediate ceasefire.

Addressing a rally in India’s capital New Delhi, Prakash Karat, the national coordinator of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and for Israel to be held accountable for committing genocide and war crimes.

Left parties in India including CPI (M), the Communist Party of India (CPI), and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, had given a nationwide call for protest in solidarity with Palestine and against the Indian government’s pro-Israeli policies on October 7. Protests were held in several Indian states including Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir, and West Bengal.

Several rallies were organized at Sharea Faisal and Teen Talwar in Karachi, Pakistan, on October 6 and 7. The protest calls were given by several political parties as well as progressive and left movements such as the Aurat March and Progressive Students Collective.

The rally at Sharea Faisal was attended by different political parties in Pakistan including Jamaat-e-Islami and Pakistan People’s Party. The speakers in the rally condemned Israel’s genocide of Palestinians, calling its indiscriminate attacks on civilians criminal.

Speakers highlighted how there is a competition among the presidential candidates in the U.S. to show who supports the Israelis more. This makes it clear that Israel’s war in Gaza has full American support, they claimed.

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Abu Obaida on October 7 Anniversary: “Al-Aqsa Flood” a Preemptive Blow to Israeli Enemy

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Abu Obaida, the spokesperson of Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, delivered a televised speech commemorating the first anniversary of October 7. The speech marked the first televised appearance of Abu Obaida after three months of absence amid speculations about his status, following a series of assassinations carried out by Israel against resistance leaders in the Middle East.

Obaida pointed out in his speech that Al-Qassam Brigades carried out “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood” on October 7 as a “preemptive strike” in response to what he described as a major “Israeli offensive” that was then impending.

Obaida’s words were echoed by Hamas leader abroad Khaled Mashaal, who said that the “Al-Aqsa flood” was a response to “the escalation of crimes of torture against prisoners, and the increasing pressure on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.”

Abu Obaida asserted that although the resistance groups and brigades in the Gaza Strip are fighting in an unequal battle against a “criminal enemy that does not hesitate to commit every crime,” the operations carried out by the resistance have been draining Israel’s security and defense capabilities, inflicting economic losses, and displacing Israeli settlers.

The Al-Qassam spokesperson praised resistance fronts in Yemen, Iraq, and Lebanon. “Frontlines around Palestine are ablaze, fighting alongside our people, supporting them, and directly battling the enemy, inflicting significant losses,” Abu Obaida said. He expressed support for the retaliatory aerial attacks launched by Iran against Israel during the past year, which have “inflicted huge economic losses upon the Zionist enemy.”

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Haitians Demand True Security and Justice in the Wake of Gang Massacre

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On October 5, the Haitian government condemned the massacre committed by the Gran Grif (Big Claws) gang in the town of Pont-Sondé, in the Artibonite region, located between the capital Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haïtien.

According to a statement from the United Nations Human Rights Office, “[G]ang members reportedly set fire to at least 45 houses and 34 vehicles, forcing a number of residents to flee.” Videos recorded by residents and posted on the internet show dozens running in terror as gang members open fire indiscriminately on civilians.

Acting Prime Minister Garry Conille wrote, “My visit to St-Marc after the tragic Pont-Sondé massacre reminded me of the strength and resilience of our people.” Conille is now on an international trip seeking more assistance for the Multinational Security Support Mission. His first stop was to the United Arab Emirates.

According to Radyo Rezistans, a Haitian news outlet and radio station, the Pont-Sondé massacre, one of the worst in Haiti’s recent history, is evidence that the Haitian state has no way of protecting its citizens from gang attacks. They have also stated that the United Nations-backed and Western-financed Multinational Security Support Mission, in which hundreds of Kenyan policemen are assisting the Haitian police, is not producing the expected results.

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United States Has Sent $17.9 billion to Israel Since October 7, 2023

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According to a report by Brown University’s Costs of War project, the U.S. has sent $17.9 billion in military aid to Israel since October 7, 2023. This accounts for the largest amount of military funding ever granted to Israel in a single year. The report analyzes U.S. military funding of Israel from October 7, 2023, to September 30, 2024, during which Israel has been carrying out a genocidal rampage first against Gaza, and now against the rest of the occupied territories and neighboring countries like Lebanon.

Israel’s genocide would not be possible without the bankrolling, supplying, and political backing of the U.S. While the vast majority of people in the U.S. support an arms embargo on Israel, its political class shows no sign of staunching the flow of military aid to Israel.

Israel’s recent escalation into Lebanon would not have been possible without the United States, which supplied the 2,000-pound bunker-buster bombs used to kill Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as well as civilians in Beirut.

“We all must ensure nothing like the horrors of October 7 ever happen again. I will do everything in my power to ensure that the threat Hamas poses is eliminated, that it is never again able to govern Gaza, that it fails in its mission to annihilate Israel, and that the people of Gaza are free from the grip of Hamas,” read an October 7, 2024, statement by Vice President Kamala Harris.