Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank say they are psychologically exhausted as Israel takes photos of them without their consent, not knowing what they do with their data. | Rotating cameras planted on a rooftop terrace "follow our every move", said Al Khalil resident Umm Nasser, protesting intensified Israeli surveillance of her occupied West Bank city since the start of Israel's war on besieged Gaza. 💬 "Psychologically, I'm exhausted," admitted the 55-year-old Palestinian woman. She lives above the Abu al Rish checkpoint, the site of frequent violence at the heart of historical Al Khalil. [...] Umm Nasser said that surveillance enhanced by artificial intelligence tools has become "especially difficult during the war" between Israel and the Palestinian resistance group Hamas in besieged Gaza. To Umm Nasser, the use of technology is stifling. 💬 "We've tried putting pieces of wood or fabric over the cameras to maintain our privacy, but every time, the army removes them," she said. "One day, soldiers took our identity cards and told us they were going to use them for a facial recognition system." She said she hadn't heard about it since.

In the image released by an Israeli soldier, blood can be seen flowing from the leg of the shackled Palestinian man as the soldier towers over him | Anger is mounting over an image released by an Israeli soldier towering over a stripped, bound and wounded Palestinian man in the besieged Gaza Strip. ● In the undated image uploaded to Instagram by Yosee Gamzoo, who is the apparent photographer of the scene, the Palestinian man’s hands are tied behind his back as blood pours from a wound in his leg at a school in Gaza City. Gamzoo has since deleted the post as well as his Instagram account after the image went viral and was widely shared by pro-Palestinian accounts. ● Several social media users condemned the photo, with some likening it to images from Abu Ghraib where Iraqi detainees were humiliated and tortured by American guards. "This is one of the most moral armies," journalist Dima Halwani sarcastically tweeted as she shared the photo. ● On Monday, US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel called the image "deeply troubling" but deferred questions about violations of humanitarian law in relation to the Israeli military. "I have no knowledge or information as it relates to the circumstances surrounding that incident," Patel said. ● Late last year, images shared by Israeli soldiers caused widespread anger as they showed scores of blindfolded and handcuffed Palestinian men in Gaza City who were forced to strip down to their underwear. Israeli media had claimed the images were of Hamas members surrendering themselves. However, among them were doctors, teachers and journalists, including Diaa al-Kahlout, a correspondent for Araby al-Jadeed.

■ ‘Torture was severe’: Gaza doctor recounts ordeal in Israeli captivity (02/06/24)

A US report says 32 captives held by the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip have been killed in Israeli bombings as the occupying regime continues its brutal war on the besieged territory. | Citing a document compiled by Israeli intelligence officers, the New York Times reported on Tuesday that 32 of the 136 captives held by Hamas have died since Israel began its bombing campaign against Gaza in early October. Israel's chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Tuesday that 31 of them were pronounced dead. The daily newspaper, citing four military sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, reported that Israel is also assessing unconfirmed intelligence indicating that at least 20 other captives may have also been killed by the bombings. The Israeli military also told the New York Times that it was “deploying all available resources to locate and retrieve as much information as possible” regarding the captives currently held by Hamas. The latest development comes as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is on a tour in the region, purportedly seeking a new deal on a truce and the release of captives.

■ Day 124 in Gaza: 27,708 killed, 67,147 injured (Al Mayadeen)
■ Israel informs families of 31 hostages of their deaths in Gaza Strip (Anadolu)
■ Israel-Palestine live: Israel pounds Rafah as Hamas sends ceasefire counteroffer (MEE)
■ UN chief 'alarmed' by Israel's possible military operation in Rafah (Anadolu)
■ Humanitarian disaster looms over Rafah as Israel's ground invasion imminent (PressTV)

The American fear was that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz might let the Russian gas flow, easing German economic worries, he wrote | Germany has been in economic and political turmoil since the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines were blown up, US investigative journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh opined in his blog on Substack. 💬 "The American fear was that [German] Chancellor [Olaf] Scholz [...] might [...] let the [Russian] gas flow, easing German economic worries and reinstating an important energy force for German industry [following the sabotage on the Nord Streams]. That would not be allowed to happen, and Germany has been in economic and political turmoil since," he wrote. ● On September 27, 2022, Nord Stream AG reported "unprecedented damage" on three strings of the offshore gas pipelines of the Nord Stream system. Later, Swedish seismologists said they had identified two explosions on the route of the Nord Stream pipelines on September 26, 2022. Following the incident, the Russian prosecutor general’s office opened a case on charges of international terrorism. ● On February 8, 2023, Hersh wrote that, in June 2022, with assistance from Norwegian experts, the Navy divers planted the remotely triggered explosives that, three months later, destroyed three of the four Nord Stream pipelines. Later, The New York Times reported, citing US officials, that the sabotage on the gas pipelines could have been carried out by a certain "pro-Ukrainian group" that acted without the knowledge of the US authorities.

■ Seymour Hersh: A YEAR OF LYING ABOUT NORD STREAM (09/27/23)
■ Nord Stream Blast: Why the West Still Can't Name the Culprit (09/26/23)

Sweden announces the termination of the investigation into the explosions at the Nord Stream gas pipelines, the Swedish Prosecution Authority said on Wednesday. 💬 "The conclusion of the investigation is that Swedish jurisdiction does not apply and that the investigation therefore should be closed," the authority said in a statement, adding that "the authorities have a clear view of the incident and that nothing has emerged to indicate that Sweden or Swedish citizens were involved in the attack." The prosecution authority said the fact that the sabotage at the pipelines was not directed against the interests of Sweden was among reasons to terminate the investigation.

■ Sweden ends Nord Stream sabotage probe, hands evidence to Germany (aNews)

The Netherlands has concerns about data security on Meta’s social media platform | The Dutch government may ban public servants from using Facebook due to concerns over data security on the platform, De Telegraaf newspaper reported on Monday. Digitalization Minister Alexandra van Huffelen told the outlet that a formal report on the issue was pending. ● She said the government had long-standing reservations about how Meta, the social network’s US parent company, handles sensitive user information. Last November, the Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP) was asked to advise whether government officials should be using Facebook. It is expected to issue a response soon, added van Huffelen. ● Sources told De Telegraaf that a memo imposing a ban was already being prepared after Dutch officials considered Meta’s reaction to their concerns to be inadequate. Preparations are being made at government level to disengage the platform, the report claimed.