'An endless cycle of brutality': 4 were rescued as 274 were killed in Gaza

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced that they had rescued four of their hostages, including a Russian national, who had been kidnapped from the Nova music festival on October 7. While news of the rescue was welcomed by the US - who helped aid the mission - many condemned Israel’s actions after the Gaza Health Ministry said that at least 274 Palestinians had been killed as a result.

“This massacre that happened on Saturday [occurred] in the span of about an hour,” said Esteban Carrillo, a Beirut-based Ecuadorian journalist and crime editor for The Cradle, who joined Sputnik’s Fault Lines. “Almost 300 Palestinians [were] killed. The Gaza Health Ministry [said] the death toll [on Saturday was] at 274 killed and almost 700 injured, and it was just complete devastation. And, yes, the rescue of four Israeli captives being held in that camp, according to Hamas, ...the Israeli raid killed three other Israeli hostages, although Tel Aviv has denied this.”

Describing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Carrillo reported that there is a famine spreading across the Gaza Strip. He added that just yesterday, the UN World Food Programme said they would stop the delivery of aid via the US-built pier due to security reasons following the pier’s use for the IDF's military operation. The program’s announcement is tragically ironic, as the pier was first announced by the Biden administration as a use for humanitarian aid.

“When it comes to the Israeli government, it's about the continuation of the war, just like the eradication of Hamas. When they say Hamas, they generally - and I think by their actions they have proven this - that they generally just mean Palestinians, right? Palestinians, no matter [if] they're women, if they are children, they just need to get rid of them,” the journalist suggested.

On Saturday, the Gaza Health Ministry reported that the total death toll in Gaza is now at 37,084 people.

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Using US money to slander Americans to get more US money: Ukraine’s new ‘enemies list’

Last week, a Ukrainian NGO linked to the State Department released a study purporting that hundreds of Americans, including prominent media personalities and outlets, politicians and peace organizations “mirror Kremlin propaganda” to prevent further US aid to Ukraine.

The study admits that most of the people on the list “do not have direct, proven ties to the Russian government or propagandists,” but accuses them of “[echoing] key messages of Russian propaganda aimed at depriving Ukrainians of the ability to defend themselves with Western weapons and funds.”

“Americans should be able to sue their government [for sending] money over to a bunch of crooks who then come up with a list of evil people who are a bunch of Americans. Why are my tax dollars paying for this?” asked the co-host of Sputnik’s The Critical Hour, Garland Nixon, who is included on the TEXTY list.

The list, noscriptd “Roller Coaster, From Trumpist to Communist. The forces in the US impeding aid to Ukraine and how they do it” consists of largely American individuals, outlets and politicians. Among them are several media outlets and their employees, including The Gray Zone, RT, The American Conservative, Antiwar and others.

It also lists 156 politicians, mostly Republicans, including former US President Donald Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Reps Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz, Rand Paul and Marjorie Taylor-Greene. The list also includes independent candidate for President Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Green Party candidate Jill Stein, and Libertarian National Committee chair Angela McArdle.

Antiwar activist group Code Pink and its most prominent members were also listed, as was Rage Against the War Machine.

Notably, not a single Democratic lawmaker was included on the list.

“We don’t have one stinking lawmaker on the left who’s representing [leftists who don’t support funding Ukraine] and says enough is enough,” podcast host Craig ‘Pasta’ Jardula told Sputnik. “While they’re listing people like [Nixon] and putting you in danger. This is ridiculous. This is Looney Tunes.”

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