01/17/24 01/17/24 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york this is democracy now! >> it may seem given the war i terror has stretched for over 20 years, but this might be the most dangerous moment i have experience in the middle east whether it is the united states or iran in each of their various allies, the escalatory pressures

of the current war emerging from israel's devastation of gaza are tremendous. and come from iraq to lebanon to pakistan to the red sea, can israel's war on gaza escalate into a full-blown regional conflict? we will speak with award-winning journalist spencer ackerman. but first, gaza is the deadliest place for journalists on record. >> or journalists have been killed that have ever been killed in a single country over an entire year. many of those journalists who are still alive have lost family members, homes. this is a war on journalists in gaza. amy: we will speak with sharif abdel kouddous and sherif mansour to take an in-depth look at a new investigation into the killing of an al jazeera cameraman last month. and what do israelis pipipipipi?

we will speak to haaretz journalist gideon levy. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. pakistan condemned iran for violating its airspace and killing two children in air attacks less than a day after iranian attacks in iraqi kurdistan killed at least four people. iranian media said two bases of the jaish al-adl militants in balochestan were destroyed late tuesday, though there has been no official confirmation from tehran of its responsibility. pakistan recalled its ambassador from iran and said that the iranian ambassador to pakistan would be barred from returning. this comes amid escalating tensions that are spreading throughout the middle east. the u.s. carried out its third strike against yemen's houthi forces tuesday. the white house also announced

it is re-designating the houthi militia as a terrorist group and re-imposing penalties on the iran-backed group in retaliation for their attacks in the red sea, which have disrupted global trade. the group has vowed to continue its campaign in the red sea as long as israel continues to attack gaza. on tuesday, a greek vessel headed to israel was hit by a houthi missile. we will have more on the possibility of a wider conflict later in the broadcast. in gaza, displaced civilians are again fleeing as intense israeli bombardment rains down on khan younis, including the area around its main hospital al nasser. israeli ground forces have also been reported in the area. overnight, palestinian journalist bisan owda posted a video from the hospital despite a five-day-long communications blackout. she said she feared it could be her final update. >> the medical staff, the

ambulances, and people also evacuated. this is the last functioning hospital in gaza. that means thousands of injuries are still here alone in the hospital. i don't know if i can go anywhere. i am alone. alone as thousands. alone as many others in hospitals. amy: bisan owda did survive the night and called on her followers to observe a global strike against the war next week. qatar and france have brokered a deal for medicine to enter gaza for the remaining israeli hostages in exchange for aid for palestinians. this comes amid a worsening humanitarian catastrophe. a u.n. rights expert asserted "every single person in gaza is hungry." the death toll has topped

24,000. meanwhile, saudi arabia's foreign minister said tuesday saudi arabia could recognize israel if the conflict is resolved and includes palestinian statehood. israel's deadly attacks in the occupied west bank continue with at least seven palestinians killed over the past day. on tuesday, mourners attended the funeral of 21-year-old ahed muhammed in dura, near the west bank city of hebron, after she was killed during an israeli raid monday. this is her sister. >> ahed was martyred on the rooftop of her in-laws house where there was supposed to be a wedding next week. ahed has a six-month-old daughter. she left her daughter behind. she left her to be a daughter of a martyr with no memories with

her mother because they did not have a chance to make memories together. amy: the palestinian health ministry says israeli forces have killed around 350 west bank palestinians since october 7. in addition, at least 94 houses have been destroyed across the occupied territory, displacing 602 palestinians, including 263 children, since october 7 according to the u.n. on monday, an elderly israeli woman was killed and 17 injured, including children, after a ramming and stabbing attack. a palestinian man and his nephew had been detained as suspects. here in the u.s., senators voted against a resolution advanced by senator bernie sanders tuesday that would have required the biden administration to provide congress with a report on how u.s. arms are being used in israel and its human rights violations in palestine. just 11 senators backed sander''

measure. of the 11 backers, only three have called for a ceasefire in gaza -- elizabeth warren, peter welch, and jeff merkley. dick durbin is the fourth u.s. senator to call for a ceasefire. ben & jerry's ice cream has joined calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in gaza. ben & jerry's board chair said the ice cream company has long stood by the principle of peace. meanwhile, on capitol hill, some 130 protesters were arrested tuesday during a peaceful sit-in in the cannon house office building. demonstrators sang hymns and chanted, "let gaza live!" meanwhile, in the latest crackdown by u.s. colleges on palestinian voices, indiana university canceled the first u.s. retrospective of renowned artist samia halaby. halaby, who is an indiana university alum, was informed her social media posts on the

israeli assault expressing solidarity with gazans under attack was the reason for the cancellation. the exhibition had been in the works for over three years. texas republican governor greg abbott is facing more condemnation over his support of anti-immigrant and border enforcement policies that led to the recent deaths of another three asylum seekers attempting to cross the rio grande near the border city of eagle pass. the mother and her two young children have been identified as 33-year-old victerma de la sancha cerros, yorlei rubi and jonathan agustín briones de la sancha, who were 10 and 8 years old. they were from mexico. their drowning friday came just days after texas troopers took over about 2.5 miles of the u.s.-mexico border, including shelby park near eagle pass, a city park on the banks of the rio grande, denying access to the u.s. border patrol and

making it impossible for agents to respond to rescue calls. the area has also been blocked off with fencing, gates and razor wire. the biden administration has given governor abbott until today to remove the barriers after the justice department on friday petitioned the u.s. supreme court to intervene against texas. texas congressmember joaquin castro said -- "this is what operation lone star looks like on the ground. texas officials blocked border patrol agents from doing their job and allowed two children to drown in the rio grande. governor abbott's inhumanity has no limit. everyone who enables his cruelty has blood on their hands." bipartisan congressmembers agreed to a $78 billion short-term funding bill that would avert a partial government shutdown on friday, while expanding the child tax credit and restoring business tax breaks, among other things. the deal was put forward by democratic senator ron wyden, chair of the senate finance committee, and republican jason smith, chair of the house ways and means committee.

but it's not clear if the measure can garner enough support to pass. some democrats say the child tax credit does not go far enough and are pushing for the same deal as during the pandemic-era american rescue plan. the center on budget and policy priorities forecasts the plan would lift some 400,000 children out of poverty in its first year. meanwhile, president biden is expected to meet with congressional leaders at the white house today amid deadlocked talks over his request for $100 billion in supplemental funding for ukraine and israel's military, and taiwan, which republicans have insisted be tied to further militarizing the u.s. southern -- u.s.-mexico border. the u.n.'s human rights office is calling on alabama to halt its first planned execution of a prisoner using nitrogen gas asphyxiation later this month. >> we have serious concerns smith's execution under these circumstances could breach torture and degrading treatment or punishment, as well as his

right to effective remedies. these are rights set out in two international human rights treaties that the u.s. is bound by. amy: kenneth eugene smith is scheduled to be executed next thursday, january 25 after losing his appeal at the alabama supreme court. in november 2022, prison officials called off another execution attempt of smith after they were unable to establish an iv line for his lethal injection. smith's lawyers argued subjecting him to a second execution attempt constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. in d.c., the capitol police and fbi are investigating statements attributed to long-time trump associate roger stone, who reportedly said two top democratic lawmakers and trump critics "have to die" weeks before the 2020 election. the website mediaite reports the comments targeting eric swalwell and jerry nadler were made to stone associate salvatore greco, a former new york city policeman, and posted audio of the encounter.

>> either swalwell or nadler has to die before the election. amy: "either swalwell or nadler has to die before the election. they need to get the message," says the recording. mediaite reports an unnamed source believed stone was "not joking around." roger stone has dismissed the reports and the recording as ai manipulation. and as world leaders are gathering in davos, switzerland, for the world economic forum, oxfam issued a new report showing that the world's five richest billionaires have seen their wealth double over the past four years while 5 billion others have become poorer. oxfam is predicting the world could have its first trillionaire in a decade. oxfam's interim executive director amitabh behar spoke in davos. >> i certainly would say having billionaires is a failure. very often we hear you end up

celebrating billionaires, but i think it is a final failure that we have 800 million people sleeping hungry. they do not have enough food to eat. 800 million people. on the other hand, you have these billionaires with their private yachts, private jets, and a lifestyle which could not even be undisputed. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by democracy now!'s juan gonzález in chicago. it is freezing cold here in new york. how about chicago? juan: even colder here, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: israel's bombardment of gaza from the land, air, and sea continued today, much it in the

southern part of the territory in the cities of khan yunis and rafah. at least 163 palestinians have been killed in gaza in the last 24 hours according to the health ministry. some of the worst shelling hit the western side of khan yunis, which was designated in the early stages of israel's assault on gaza as a so-called safe zone by israel. there has also been intense israeli bombardment in the vicinity of nasser hospital, the main hospital in the city, and tanks and armored vehicles are on the main road leading to the area. among the places hit in khan yunis was a school sheltering displaced palestinians. an eyewitness described the attack. >> we saw debt with all colors. these tanks entered. we saw every thing vividly. it was horrible. random shelling, random killing. they are coming to kill and go back home. this is a nakba. they're coming to kill children,

women, elderly in the bathroom, in the school, in the streets. they are just coming to kill only. just killing. amy: the interruption of communications and internet services in gaza has continued for the fifth consecutive day, the longest telecommunications blackout of the war so far. this has caused delays for emergency workers to respond to airstrikes and has hampered media coverage from palestinian journalists in gaza. meanwhile, al jazeera's bureau chief wael al-dahdouh left gaza on tuesday, crossing into egypt and then flying to qatar to receive medical treatment. dahdouh has come to symbolize both the suffering and resilience of palestinian journalists in gaza. in october, four members of his family were killed, including his wife, 15-year-old son, and seven-year-old daughter, and his grandson in an israeli strike on

a refugee camp where they were seeking shelter after their home was bombed. last week, his eldest son, 27-year-old-hamza, also a journalist, was killed, along with another journalist in an israeli airstrike on their car in khan younis. dahdouh will receive medical treatment in doha for a wound he received when israel bombed the area he was in that ended up killing his cameraperson samer abu daqqa. by some counts, over 110 journalists have been killed in gaza since october 7. the committee to protect journalists has found that more journalists have been killed in the first 10 weeks of israel's war on gaza than have ever been killed in a single country over an entire year. for more, we are joined by two guests. sharif abdel kouddous is an independent journalist and a democracy now! correspondent. his latest piece for the intercept investigates the killing of abu daqqa.

it's headlined "israel bombed an al jazeera cameraman -- and blocked evacuation efforts as he bled to death." he is joining as from here in new york. in washington, d.c., we are joined by sherif mansour, the middle east and north africa program coordinator for the committee to protect journalists. we welcome you both to democracy now! before we talk to sharif abdel kouddous about the al jazeera cameraman who bled to death over five hours, can we put this in a broader context, sherif mansour? talk about the astounding number, the horrific number of journalists who have died in gaza. >> thank you for having me again, amy. i already talked to you at least twice. the number only goes higher. we have since talked about that

pattern of targeting journalists, their families -- specifically when we discuss al jazeera and al-dahdouh's family. they really are rewriting what it means to be a journalist today. the never before seen sacrifices that palestinian journalists, local journalists so far -- the overwhelming geordie are killed by the israeli army. the israeli army has killed more journalists in three months that any other entity or army have done over the course of one year since 1992. this is the most dangerous and the most we have ever seen before. of course we want to see the

case of al-dahdouh and his sent an al jazeera and others -- the israeli army to be put to public scrutiny by allowing immediate entry to international media and international investigators into gaza without censorship by the israeli army. the killing must stop. for that to happen, the record must be made public. u.s., european, and others need to call israel on that record and ensure those investigations are made immediately public. juan: sherif mansour, what has been the response of the israeli government and defense forces given the enormous number of journalists killed?

have they accepted any culpability for any of these killings? >> the cases of precise attacks by drones -- al jazeera come happened at least twice in the last four weeks -- included for the first time the israeli army taking responsibility of doing those attacks but also what has been done in the past when they're held responsible because of the killing of journalist -- someone behind and international news organization. they say they will investigate but they also push false narratives. terrorists or ongoing crossfire. as we have seen in past incidents before this war, these narratives pushed by the israeli army correcting and changing and providing nothing more than a questionable document with

english for the first time coming from what they said was a terrorist group, but providing no other evidence that support their claim and so far the outlets, eyewitnesses, and the families of the journalists have denied the israeli army narrative and show to the contrary that, for example, hamza, was approved to travel before his father did yesterday after israel embedded him. if he was wanted, he would not have had's approval before he was killed. -- she would not have had this approval before he was killed. this is also the same narrative for this war started in our deadly pattern report. it is a pattern designed --

pushing the false narratives. juan: human rights watch and amnesty international are both calling for israel to be officially investigated for war crimes, targeting journalists not only in gaza, but outside of gaza. an internal reuters investigation found one of its journalists was killed by an israeli tank shell in southern lebanon october 13. can you talk about these attacks outside of gaza? >> we saw the same pattern of disregard for press insignia that we reported before this war . 15 out of 20 killed over many years.

they have insignia showing they are media personnel. like those cases come it was in pinned it -- like those cases, it was an independent investigation. mapping, audio, visual analysis by international human rights groups and media organizations that show the journalists did not pose any threat to israeli government positions, that they have been seen by an israeli drone at least an hour, that they were visibly expressing or showing press signs and cameras, and the position was a high vantage that did not obscure their location with being close to any camera or house that justified they would have any threat. and all of these and other

evidence have shown what we show in the past, none of the cases of at least 3 -- in the cases of at least three journalists, including shireen abu akleh, that there was no justification for the use of lethal force by the israeli army and those in other cases that we call for independent investigation have war crimes because the israeli army did not live up to their commitment and obligation under international law. amy: shireen abu akleh was killed may 11, 2022 outside the jenin refugee camp. sharif abdel kouddous did an award -- won an award for that piece. i want to ask you about this latest piece you did for the

intercept "israel bombed an al jazeera cameraman -- and blocked evacuation efforts as he bled to death." give us the tiktok, the chronology on what happened on that horrific day when he and wael al-dahdouh, a gaza bureau chief for al jazeera, went to the school that was bombed. tell us exactly what happened. >> when we talk about the killing of palestinian journalists in gaza, this was december 15 where much of the world watched as ours ticked by as al-dahdouh was wounded and prevented from getting medical care by israel and eventually died. that timeline of what happened i think is important. basically, wael al-dahdouh, al jazeera's bureau chief in gaza, which with a 20 year veteran cameraman to this school in khan younis which had been bombed

earlier in the day. they were accompanied by a team of civil defense workers. that team had received -- requested and received approval by the israeli military through the red cross to be in the area. they got there around noon and spent about 2.5 hours in the area according to wael al-dahdouh. as they were wrapping up the coverage, there were drones buzzing overhead, just about to go back to the ambulance that brought them there would a strike hit the about 2:30 p.m. wael al-dahdouh was thrown to the ground. he said when he regained awareness, he realized he was bleeding profusely from his arm and would bleed to death if he did not get medical attention. he saw the three civil defense workers accompanying then had been killed instantly. at a small distance away, he saw his colleague on the ground who have been wounded in the lower part of his body. wael said he seemed like he was

screaming but he had lost much of his hearing from the blast. samer could not get up. realize the only chance they had was for him to get medical attention and get help to bring samer out as he could not get up. wael stumbled about 800 meters to the ambulance waiting. he begged them to go in and get samer but they insisted on evacuating him and another ambulance would retrieve him. there are videos of wael receiving treatment, calling on people to go get samer, to coordinate with the red cross. what we understand from wael and others, and ambulance did try to retrieve samer but they were fired on by israeli forces. al jazeera's bree our chief in ramallah -- bureau chief in ramallah was making calls to the red cross around 3:00, 3:30

p.m., asking the red cross to allow four emergency crews to reach samer. the israeli military new there was a wooded journalists who lay helpless that needed evacuation. at the same time, news was spreading. there is a group called the foreign press association which is a jerusalem-based nonprofit representative reporters, mostly foreign, from over 30 countries. there is a whatsapp group. a freelance reporter and producer posted just after 3:00 p.m. about the samer's plate and called on the journalists to call israeli military spokespeople and demand samer be evacuated. the fpa, foreign press

association, were calling israel i military spokespeople, senior ones, repeatedly asking for passage for samer. what we understand, we obtain screenshots of the whatsapp group in speaking with others involved, that for hours, israel did not give approval to the ambulances. finally, after about five hours after samer was initially wounded, a bulldozer was approved to reach samer that he had already bled out. he was found that she had removed his flak jacket and had tried to crawl and had died. it was incredibly tragic. he had lain there -- al jazeera had posted live counter of the

hours and minutes since he was wounded on his broadcast and people were watching. he eventually died and the next eight al jazeera -- and the next day, al jazeera called it in assassination. so did reporters without borders , also included his killing in a filing with the icc, war crimes against journalists killed in gaza. the world should be outraged about this killing, about all of the killings happening to palestinians, palestinian journalists in gaza. juan: in this particular case, there is no doubt the highest echelons of the israeli defense forces were aware this journalist was wounded and in need of medical attention? >> yes, we have multiple journalists who told -- we have screenshots where there discussing having spoken to

israeli military spokespeople saying no approval yet. ambulances not clear. bulldozer not cleared. this took hours. the israeli military must have known early on what the situation is. they are the ones that repeatedly bombed the area. they knew there was rubble in the streets. there is near constant drone surveillance of gaza. the red cross we know was liaising to try to get approval. and yet they did not allow, by some accounts, firstly, ambulances were fired on that tried to reach samer. they returned. they were waiting then for approval. they also asked for red cross teams to accompany them to the area as a form of protection. all of this is happening while samer is lying helpless.

the israeli military is not giving assistance. he eventually died. amy: that was wael al-dahdouh's cameraperson and dear colleague who leads to death over five hours. and then in the last weeks, his son hamza al-dahdouh, also a journalist, is killed and this israeli airstrike, along with the afp stringer mustafa thuraya in an airstrike, drone strike on a car. final comments? >> look, in this country, the journalistic community should be outraged it should be vocal other outrage other killings and gaza. we have not seen that. in 2022, the pulitzer board awarded a special citation to journalists of ukraine for the coverage of the war.

"despite bombardment, doctrines, even deaths in their ranks, they have persisted to provide an accurate picture of a terrible reality." this is the case many times over for the journalists of gaza. i doubt they will be receiving any such accolade. that is where the problem lies. amy: sharif abdel kouddous, independent journalist. wrote this piece "israel bombed an al jazeera cameraman -- and blocked evacuation efforts as he bled to death." we will link to it at democracynow.org. and sherif mansour, middle east and north africa program coordinator for the committee to protect journalists. next up, we look at what israelis see on television. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "telk qadeya" by cairokee. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez.

from coverage of the war by palestinian journalists on the ground, we turn to coverage of the war by the israeli media. what do most israelis see on tv? how is the israeli media's coverage shaped opinions of the war? this is a clip from i24 news of israeli military commander lieutenant colonel dotan talking about an alleged hamas tunnel in an exclusive video shown by the network last week. >> the idf has found tunnels and weapons inside a child's room inside the gaza strip. these visuals were obtained from the idf and i 24 news is going to be allowed to play that. >> during our patrols in the area, uncovered this tunnel under this desk where the children who were supposed to study.

can see clearly the tunnel which goes toward the gallery. we can also see these missiles. these munitions grouped in the same sector, including vests and grenades ready for use. amy: that was a clip from israeli media outlet i24 news. for more on the israeli media's coverage of the war, we go to tel aviv where we are joined by gideon levy, an award-winning israeli journalist and author. columnist for the newspaper haaretz and a member of its editorial board. his most recent piece is headlined "if it isn't a genocide in gaza, then what is it?" welcome back to democracy now! talk about what israelis see on television, where most get their news. we just did this whole piece on the killing of gazan journalists, palestinian journalists. we have never seen anything like this in modern history where you have between 80 and over 100 palestinian journalists killed

in a matter of weeks. what do israelis understand is happening? >> the main situation is what they don't see or what they are not being shown. as you know and as your viewers definitely know, israeli media is quite a free media, commercial, owned, quite liberal, no pressure from the secret services. everything it does it does voluntarily. the israeli military decided almost wall-to-wall, except haaretz, -- they decided they are part of the israeli propaganda machine. they stopped and journalists. they do it to ways. the first is the most serious. they don't show gaza. the israeli average viewer does not see gaza at all.

he sees the soldiers. he sees the families of the hostages. he is being told day and night about the israeli sacrificed, how brave are the soldiers. you see seven days a week, 24 hours a day, and only one thing you don't see is the suffering of gaza. the media decided not to show it not because anyone pushed the media not to do it, they do it because they know very clear this is what the viewers don't want to see. and they want to please them. by this, they are betraying our first mission, to tell the full story. there are israelis who wouldn't care less to see the terrible images and say, hamas is to be blamed, the arabs are to be blamed, they deserve it, everything is fine. but they have to see what is being done on our behalf.

the second, which is less important but still must be mentioned, is the israeli media speaks only in one voice. there's no room for any credit about the war. no room for any question marks. i don't remember a war with so many stages still the entire media is just a failed echo of the propaganda machinery of the army. juan: gideon, your newspaper haaretz is somewhat different from the rest of the press. how widely read is it within israel and who reads haaretz? >> haaretz is not a big newspaper in terms of quantity, but it is still quite an influential newspaper abroad, as you know, because it is in

english and hebrew, and also israel -- parts of the elite are reading it. i don't want to say every israel i reads haaretz, but every israeli knows about haaretz. and through social media, some kind of influence but it is limited. amy: can you talk about the levels in gaza we hearing about of starvation -- that every palestinian is hungry right now? dead babies being pulled from the rubble? -- the babies been pulled from the rubble? we are thousands of miles away from you. tel aviv is very close to gaza. what do they see when it comes to casualties? >> nothing. they hear the figures but figures are only figures. it doesn't make you feel company doesn't make you understand the

scale of the tragedy, the scale of the crimes i must say. you waatch and you see children dying on the dirty floors of the hospitals bleeding to death. you see the uprooted people. you see the destruction. you see the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people. obviously, the starvation. in israel, you see only the soldiers, only the families of the hostages, only the scenes where you don't see palestinians -- it seems as if they don't exist. that is not new because the israel media betrayed by covering in the same way the occupations throughout so many years. dehumanizing the palestinians as much as possible, but this time reach a level that i don't

remember such a level because you could really watch for hours israeli tv and have no clue what is going on in shiva hospital or other hospitals. where are the people? how do they make their living? nothing of this. nothing which might remind as the palestinians are human beings. it is almost taboo. don't mention the human beings. juan: prime minister netanyahu keeps assuring the international community that israel does not intend to permanently occupy gaza. but what is he saying domestically to the israel israel israel people? he has two twitter handles, one that is official and one that is geared toward sending out incendiary messages to the population. >> just this morning he was

quoted in a private talk i think that the war will continue at least until 2025. and nobody sees the end. there is no end game. there is no plan what to do the day after. the israelis start to believe this might last for many years, at least the occupation of gaza. obviously, without intention -- it never intended to go for wars and always finds itself in war. it never intended to create an occupation of over 50 years and it came out like this. the intention is one thing. the results are another thing. israel has no plan to leave gaza in the coming months or years, which doesn't mean israel will stay there but i don't see any -- what will they do? amy: i want to ask about haaretz

reporting a group of family members that israeli's who were killed in kibbutz be'eri october 7 anyhow mass attack on israel are demanding a probe into how their relatives died. an israeli brigadier general recently admitted that he ordered an israeli tank commander to fire on a home where hamas fighters were holding 15 israelis hostage. brigadier general barak hiram told "the new york times" that he had ordered the tank commander to "break in, even at the cost of civilian casualties." 13 of the israeli hostages died. gideon, you are a member of the haaretz editorial board, which recently ran a piece titled "the idf must investigate the kibbutz be'eri tank fire incident -- right now." elaborate on what happened and the investigation your editorial board is calling for now.

>> everyone is postponing all of the investigation until the day after. the day after seems to get far and far. we are concerned it will never be investigated. here we have a very concrete case. and families, rightly so, what to know who is responsible for the killing of their beloved ones and how did it happen. the brigadier general you mentioned happened to be a settler. i don't want to say it says a lot, but let's remember high-ranking generals, more and more of them, are settlers. settlers -- even when they serve in the army, they have motivation which is not always a secular motivation, not always motivation of the other. but in any case, the effect is those people were killed and

might have been rescued. it must be investigated. it is a very concrete event. we were calling the army to do so. we did not hear from the army. i hope they will do it. this could have a lot of consequences in the coming days and weeks and months in gaza because the situation might repeat itself when we will face a house where there are hostages and commanders of hamas, do we shoot them all dead? i really wonder. amy: you also had a piece on how sexism ultimately killed what are known as spotters. the israeli military, the women, who were on the border who were seeing hamas gear up were telling their supervisors it looks like there's about to be an imminent attack. some were told if they raised this again, they would be brought up on charges of subordination.

is that right? >> yeah. we had a big story on this. the small stories might overwhelm or overshadow the big story. because the big story -- there are two huge question marks. what happened on the seventh and how did it happen? all of those stories get to one conclusion, there was no army on this date. the most sophisticated intelligence in the world with the most sophisticated devices, who knows the color of the underwear of the palestinians, all of this i did not know anything. all of the money invested in the reputation they had. where was the army? no army whatsoever. of all, the situation, which bothers me more than anything else, what happened on the

seventh as barbaric as it was, their questions about what happened, but it is clear there was a very aggressive attack. does this give the israelis the right to do anything they want after the seventh forever without any limits? we can just go and kill and destroy as much as we wish? that is the main question. you mentioned there were no soldiers killed just shows how unprepared and unprofessional -- an income most of those young women died. last question, your biggest piece -- >> two survive. amy: and your piece "if it isn't a genocide in gaza, then what is it?" >> listen, the israelis don't

seem to care that so many palestinians were killed. they just care how to label it, if it is genocide or not. i say it doesn't matter what is the legal definition. 24,000 people, most of them innocent people -- 70% of them women and children, 10,000 children among them. this is enough of affect that nobody can deny, by the way, to ask ourselves, do we really have the right to do it? what does it say about us, about our moral standards? above all, how long do we go on and where are we aiming to? will it guarantee more security to israel? even if we have the right to do so? a mako gideon levy columnist , for the newspaper haaretz and

a member of its editorial board. we will link to your piece "if it isn't a genocide in gaza, then what is it?" next up, will israel's war on gaza escalate into a full-blown regional conflict? ♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. from northern iraq to lebanon to

pakistan to the red sea, an array of strikes and counterstrikes over the last several days are compounding fears that israel's assault on gaza could escalate into a full blown regional war. in just the past few days, the u.s. has carried out strikes against houthi rebels in yemen who have resumed their attacks on container ships in the red sea. iran has struck what it said was as an israeli spy headquarters in the semi-autonomous kurdish region of northern iraq as well as targeting anti-iran militants in pakistan and syria. meanwhile, in lebanon, hezbollah and israel have escalated the intensity of fighting across the border. for more, we are joined by award-winning journalist spencer ackerman. foreign-policy columnist for the nation magazine. his latest piece, "israel is not promising to 'scale back' its war." he also publishes the forever wars newsletter on ghost where his new piece is headlined "iran's opening shots and the logic of escalation." talk about the possibility of a

widening or and what you're most concerned about. >> thank you for having me. i think in my 20 plus years of covering the war on terror, this is the most dangerous moment in -- for the middle east that i have seen professionally. you talk about there the possibility of a full-blown regional conflict where at least -- we are at half alone now, consider what has happened. gaza, the most important, the most devastating to humanity where the palestinians are experiencing what could and probably should be understood as a genocide, but also southern israel, northern israel, southern lebanon, northwestern syria, beirut, northeastern syria, baghdad, southwestern yemen, the red sea, pakistan as

well. this is not a conflict with battlefront ranging across the region each of which facing pressure to escalate as their various combatants objectives are fully achieved. we should not think absence in active act of de-escalation that this won't continue spiraling outward throughout 2024. juan: spencer, this whole idea that we hear almost every day so member of the biden administration say they're trying to prevent an escalation of the conflict in the region when in fact their actions are quite the opposite. >> that's right. we have heard the biden administration say most recently it was deeply concerned about escalation in lebanon. just in the last 24 hours, the israeli air force has been bombing southern lebanon, what it says

are hezbollah positions. it also the u.s. has taken direct action, not just in the red sea but also on yemeni soil itself. three times at least, including yesterday. as well, recently it carried out its first drone strike in baghdad since 2020, which is now straining u.s.-iraqi relations. the u.s., while it says it is containing the conflict, is caught up in the logic of escalation. that means we should not give the biden administration a pass on this. these aren't automatic gravitational forces. these are the accumulation of choices that biden and his team are making to involve the u.s. more deeply in this spiraling conflict, all of which could be stopped if the united states used its immense influence over israel to restrain it or stop it

from carrying out its collective punishment of gaza. juan: we often hear as well the axis of resistance come supposedly controlled or financed by iran, but very little about the axis of empire, of the u.k., the united states, and israel in the region. to what degree does this axis have more right to control the affairs of the region than those who are actually from countries there? >> well said. without ceding any of iran's claims to regional hegemony, the u.s. and its allies act as if they are the representatives of the natural and just order of the middle east and not in fact positions on the aspirations of the citizenry, the people of these countries to determine their own affairs.

we are seeing that quite starkly , most recently in yemen. one of the most war-devastated countries in the middle east. as a result of not only u.s. strikes against al qaeda targets , standing from something like over the past 15 years, but also a u.s.-that saudi and emirati in 2022 that brought not only famine but cholera to this country that has been engulfed in a foreign-backed, foreign-sponsored, foreign-accelerated civil war. nevertheless, even among people who don't accept the houthi movement as a legitimate rulers of yemen, saw massive demonstrations after united

states and its western allies started bombing yemen in retaliation for the houthi attempt to relieve the siege of gaza. you really have full exposure, the rejection of u.s. claims to standing for peace and stability in the region. amy: spencer, your piece last week is headlined "israel is not promising to 'scale back' its war." if you could explain this and what it means -- we just heard gideon levy, the israeli-jewish journalist at haaretz, talking about this war going on for a year or more. >> that's right. when you listen to what the israeli government says to its own people, like gideon mentioned, it talks about a war that will -- and this is what benjamin netanyahu said over the weekend -- will last until

victory and no one, not even the hague, will stop us. i very ominous thing to be said. what it says to the americans, the americans are feeling the pressure from its arab allies in the region and indeed from president biden's own supporters in the united states who what to see this war stopped, is it is in fact scaling down to lower intensity operations or more often he does not say that quite outright, is says it will move away from high intensity operations into what it says is a so-called phase three of its operations in gaza. what is that? it focuses on southern gaza. every day we are getting reports of casualties from gaza, civilian casualties in the triple digits. israel already made something like 1.8 million people --

this war is not scaling down. it is moving toward a sustainable path of civilian devastation. amy: spencer ackerman, we will link to your piece is at democracynow.org.