Monday Updates (Added at the Top) on Israel-Gaza Tragedy

11:00 Terrific NYT online-only lengthy "diary" of eight harrowing days in Gaza by novelist/political scientist.   

5:00 Classic:  after three days of taking hits on Israeli censorship of story or  stories related to the "capture" of Lt. Goldin--who actually was dead (se below)--the NYT finally posts a full piece about it, by embattled bureau chief Jodi Rudoren.  And...it's behind the NYT "Premier" pay wall!  (See update below)  Note: NYT mentioned at least twice that it was subjected to censorship, in one case even reading part of a story over the phone to Israeli official.  But at least once (see below) it deleted a key paragraph, without noting that--perhaps IDF asked and they complied. Rudoren has long been accused of hardly needing a censor to toe Israel's line.  She says she has adopted a "Don’t Ask/Hope They Don’t Tell" atttude and it's too apparent that this is her policy, even if she means it in a different way.

Update:  Here's special link where you should be able to get behind wall to see.  Note that she admits that a key reference to "Hannibal"  was in early version of story, then cut--without explaining why.   Just lets it pass. She also fails to acknowledge that--given the savagery of the Israeli response to the "capture" (killing 200 civilians)--it was important that readers know that one reason for that might have been the soldier's relation to the defense chief.  Which she killed. 

1:00 p.m. ET  Good piece by NYT's Anne Barnard on psychologist who tries to treat trauma of others in Gaza and ended up a victim himself after shell hit home and killed 6 relatives. 

Inevitably, Sean Hannity posts photo of himself in Gaza tunnel.   And a second one.  I note again:  no Israeli civilian has ever been killed because of a tunnel.

New from Human Rights Watch:  "Gaza: Israeli Soldiers Shoot and Kill Fleeing Civilians."  Some had ordered same people to leave homes.  Some carried white flags.  Not exactly news and limited but still vital....

Yes, there's a new Bomb Gaza video game you can play online. Okay to kill civilians.

11:00 a.m. ET  Finally an expert analysis, at Foreign Policy, of Hamas crude, very unguided, rockets--and you'll understand why Israel civilian death toll has remained at three for two weeks now (and it's not mainly because of Iron Dome).  "Few in Israel or the West seem to understand the purpose of Hamas’ rocket attacks. Killing Israelis is a secondary goal in launching the rockets. The primary goal is to change Israel’s political calculations by creating the conditions for that country’s international isolation. And for now, at least, it seems to be working." h/t @BBedway

UK investigating report that Brit national killed in missile attack in Rafah while delivering supplies. Meanwhile, two alleged "terror" attacks in Jerusalem, one dead. 

Full-page ad in NYT with letter signed by Elie Wiesel accusing Hamas of "child sacrifice." The current conflict is clearly between "those who celebrate life and those who champion death."  Some celebration.

Official Amnesty Int'l plea--sign petition to John Kerry to halt weapons to Israel.  "The Israeli military has used a wide variety of conventional weapons such as guns, bullets, missiles, drones, jet fighters, artillery, tanks, armoured vehicles and naval vessels to commit serious human rights abuses in Gaza. It is time for the U.S. government to urgently suspend arms transfers to Israel and to push for a UN arms embargo on all parties to the conflict."

8:00 a.m. ET Glenn Greenwald at The Intercept with new piece based on Snowden docs on full extent of U.S. aid to Israel.  "The U.S. government has long lavished overwhelming aid on Israel, providing cash, weapons and surveillance technology that play a crucial role in Israel’s attacks on its neighbors. But top secret documents provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden shed substantial new light on how the U.S. and its partners directly enable Israel’s military assaults – such as the one on Gaza....The new Snowden documents illustrate a crucial fact: Israeli aggression would be impossible without the constant, lavish support and protection of the U.S. government..."

Peter Beinart at The Atlantic:  Most Americans not too upset with how Israeli is acting in targeting civilians--because we do it ourselves....CNN exec:  No, we have not been hindered or intimidated by Hamas in covering Gaza. 

"Infidel" author Ayan Hirsi Ali says Netanyahu deserves Nobel Peace Prize.
Israeli air strike may have broken its own ceasefire--bombed refugee camp no less, one dead, 30 wounded. 

NPR from Jerusalem on lack of "empathy" for others in tragedy.  NYT graphic/map showing destruction from shelling in Gaza may shock some.  Right-wingers claim BBC removed top correspondent due to anti-Israel bias--just another lie.  He's on vacation.

I noted a day ago Haaretz (that's the Israeli daily)  item suggesting that Israel has been telling lie all along about the three soldiers, including poor Goldin, attacked and blown up by militant wearing  "suicide vest." Now it has a full story on this, affirming it, and linking to the "Hannibal Directive" (also see below).   Still leaves huge gap on where Goldin found and why dead.  Reading between the lines, and all the references to the Hannibal, one might surmise reporter is hinting that Israel killed Goldin?  Some of his "remains" found but not from suicide vest so...because of what?  "According to an IDF source, virtually all the firepower in the south-central region of the Gaza Strip were sent to the Rafah sector, where the incident took place, on orders from Givati Brigade commander Col. Ofer Winter. This included a tank battalion and an infantry battalion, which helped search for additional tunnel shafts. These forces also laid down heavy fire 'from all directions,' including tank shells, artillery bombardments and air strikes...."

Note:  NYT had a couple sentences on Israel utilizing "Hannibal" in main story earlier--but now it's not-so-mysteriously vanished.  See cut here.  This was it:  "On Friday, Israeli forces immediately used a protocol for captured soldiers known as 'Operation Hannibal' to pursue the Hamas squad into the tunnel and try to cut off any possibility of escape.  Hannibal includes intense pursuit and an option to engage the enemy 'even at risk of the soldier,' Colonel Lerner said."  Given the paper caving  to Israel censorship demands on the soldier story all weekend we can probably guess what happened.   

Haaretz piece on the "Hannibal Directive."  In case you thought critics were making it up.

Somehow missed Woody Allen on the crisis, where he offers this history lesson:  "But I feel that the Arabs were not very nice in the beginning, and that was a big problem. The Jews had just come out of a terrible war where they were exterminated by the millions and persecuted all over Europe, and they were given this tiny, tiny piece of land in the desert. If the Arabs had just said, 'Look, we know what you guys have been through, take this little piece of land and we’ll all be friends and help you,' and the Jews came in peace, but they didn’t. They were not nice about it, and it led to problems."