cross-posted from: ibbit.at/post/85705

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday 18 October that he had decided to keep the Rafah crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt closed until further notice, despite the Palestinian embassy in Cairo’s earlier announcement that the crossing would open on Monday.

Rafah Crossing remains closed by Israel

Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that the opening of the crossing would be linked to ‘Hamas’s commitment to its role’ in handing over the bodies of Israeli detainees in Gaza, as well as ‘the implementation of the agreed framework,’ without providing further details. As the Canary previously reported, Hamas handing over Israeli bodies was not part of the ceasefire agreement. Meanwhile, Israel has so-far violated this 47 times itself.

For its part, the government media office in Gaza accused Israel of obstructing the implementation of the terms of the ceasefire agreement, continuing to close the crossings and preventing the entry of food and humanitarian aid, calling on the international guarantors of the agreement to intervene immediately to ensure that the commitments are implemented.

Adnan Abu Hasna, spokesperson for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), pointed out that thousands of trucks loaded with humanitarian aid are still waiting for permission to enter the Gaza Strip, saying:

There are about 6,000 trucks carrying food and basic supplies stuck at the crossings, in addition to large quantities of medicines and medical supplies waiting to be brought in to meet the emergency needs of the population.

Abu Hasna added that the delay in opening the crossings is exacerbating the humanitarian situation in the Strip and threatening the lives of thousands of civilians, especially the sick and injured who need urgent care.

The Palestinian Embassy in Cairo announced that the Rafah crossing would be opened on Monday to allow Palestinians residing in Egypt who wish to return to Gaza to register via a dedicated electronic application, and that they would be notified later of the times and places to gather to move towards the crossing.

Breaching the ceasefire

It is noteworthy that on 9 October, Israel and Hamas reached an agreement on a ceasefire and prisoner exchange in accordance with US President Donald Trump’s plan, and the first phase of the agreement was activated the following day. The agreement stipulates that all Gaza Strip crossings, especially Rafah, will be opened to the movement of individuals and humanitarian aid, with the participation of Qatar, Turkey and Egypt, and under US supervision.

This comes after two years of genocide waged by Israel on the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023, with US support, resulting in the martyrdom of 68,116 Palestinians, the injury of 170,200 others, and the destruction of more than 90% of the infrastructure in the Strip.

Featured image via the Canary

By Alaa Shamali

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From Canary via this RSS feed

Alaa Shamali, Author at Canary

Articles by Alaa Shamali for Canary

^{Alaa Shamali (The Canary)}

cross-posted from: lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/3324140…

Pirulecy

Where do I go to find resellers/providers who won't rip me off? I had one that was fine for a year plus, but it's gone under. I found it in a random forum.

American sports and general shows/movies. Adult wouldn't be bad either. lol.

Don't give me direct links to any actual providers, unless I misread the rules. DM is fine though ;)

Since last I checked, every IPTV sub on Reddit was banned. The ones that are left are mostly bots.

Very much on my mind too is where we can talk about this shit now if it's not Reddit or Lemmy.

Like many researchers, Gerlich believes that, used in the right way, AI can make us cleverer and more creative – but the way most people use it produces bland, unimaginative, factually questionable work. One concern is the so-called “anchoring effect”. If you post a question to generative AI, the answer it gives you sets your brain on a certain mental path and makes you less likely to consider alternative approaches. “I always use the example: imagine a candle. Now, AI can help you improve the candle. It will be the brightest ever, burn the longest, be very cheap and amazing looking, but it will never develop to the lightbulb,” he says.

To get from the candle to a lightbulb you need a human who is good at critical thinking, someone who might take a chaotic, unstructured, unpredictable approach to problem solving. When, as has happened in many workplaces, companies roll out tools such as the chatbot Copilot without offering decent AI training, they risk producing teams of passable candle-makers in a world that demands high-efficiency lightbulbs.

There is also the bigger issue that adults who use AI as a shortcut have at least benefited from going through the education system in the years before it was possible to get a computer to write your homework for you. One recent British survey found that 92% of university students use AI, and about 20% have used AI to write all or part of an assignment for them.

Under these circumstances, how much are they learning? Are schools and universities still equipped to produce creative, original thinkers who will build better, more intelligent societies – or is the education system going to churn out mindless, gullible, AI essay-writing drones?

Are we living in a golden age of stupidity?

From brain-rotting videos to AI creep, every technological advance seems to make it harder to work, remember, think and function independently …

^{Sophie McBain (The Guardian)}

Public documents show the Department of Homeland Security has contracted to purchase a pair of top-of-the-line Gulfstream jets for the secretary and other top officials.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/us/politics/kristi-noem-dhs-gulfstream.html?unlocked_article_code=1.uU8.CX6d.T7gqWj6eH3_X

Trump has succeeded where Biden failed in bringing some measure of peace to the region. The risk to Democrats is not so much that Trump will woo more Democratic constituents to the Republican Party — Trump’s authoritarian tendencies at home and his vile persecution of all perceived political enemies largely foreclose that possibility. The risk, rather, is that Americans who care about peacemaking abroad will find themselves increasingly alienated from both parties. Trump’s successful diplomatic efforts have put the lie to the idea that there was nothing Biden and the Democrats could have done to end the massacre in Gaza, seriously undermining any claim that Democrats might make as the party of peace.

Some Democrats seem to understand what a dire bind the party has put itself in. Representative Ro Khanna, for example, recently sounded the alarm about Democrats ceding the “anti-war” mantle to Republicans and Trump. Others, like Representative Delia Ramirez, have put this opposition to war-making into legislation, authoring the aforementioned Block the Bombs Act.

But, for the Democrats to truly turn the ship around, many more elected representatives will have to follow in the footsteps of Khanna and Ramirez. If the party cannot quickly change its tune on war and peace, it may risk ceding this policy terrain to the Republican Party well into the future.

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/democrats-have-let-republicans-become-the-peace-party/

Most of the bodies of the more than 100 dead Palestinians Israel released remain unidentified.

They were sent back to Gaza with numbers instead of their names, leaving family members of missing Palestinians to pore desperately through pictures of the bodies, hoping to spot their loved ones.

One thing is clear from the marks left on these bodies, and the blindfolds and handcuffs still on some of them: They had been tortured before their deaths, possibly executed.

What we know about the torture, abuse of Palestinian prisoners by Israel

Testimonies from released Palestinian prisoners, as well as the bodies handed over, highlight alleged Israeli abuse.

^{Abubakr Al-Shamahi (Al Jazeera)}

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced on Saturday that it had received 15 remains from the Red Cross that had been held in Israeli custody.

This brings the total number of Palestinian bodies handed over by Israel to the besieged enclave to 135.

As with previous batches, some of the bodies show signs of torture.

So far, seven have been identified by their families.

Gaza receives total of 135 Palestinian bodies held in Israeli custody

^{Middle East Eye}

Data from the government media office in the blockaded strip revealed that Israel has arrested 362 medical personnel during the two-year genocidal war on Gaza.

Meanwhile, at least 1,670 medical personnel have been killed by Israel since October 2023.

Families of medical personnel from Gaza detained by Israel demand their release

^{Middle East Eye}

The government media office in Gaza said in a press statement that Israel committed 47 breaches of the truce deal since it came into effect last week.

The violations have led to the killing of at least 38 Palestinians and the wounding of 143 others.

"These violations varied between crimes of direct fire on civilians, crimes of deliberate bombing and targeting, and the arrest of a number of civilian citizens, practices that reflect the occupation's continued aggressive approach despite the declaration of a ceasefire," the office added.

"We note that these attacks were carried out by the occupation forces using military vehicles and tanks positioned on the outskirts of residential neighborhoods, electronic cranes equipped with sensors and remote targeting devices, and drones (quadcopters) that continue to fly over residential areas, carrying out shooting operations and directly targeting civilians."

Israel commits 47 violations since Gaza truce came into effect nine days ago

^{Middle East Eye}

cross-posted from: piefed.ca/post/133958

Note: I'm not affiliated with Jolla.

Next gen Jolla Phone

Hi there, As noted in the previous community meeting, we’d like to define the next gen Jolla Phone together with the community.

^{Sailfish OS Forum}