Israel's Crimes Continue Despite "Humanitarian Pauses"

Thousands of patients, displaced persons and staff take flight after being forced out of Al-Shifa Hospital at gunpoint by the Israel Defense forces, November 18, 2023.

After the announcement of "humanitarian pauses" to relieve the suffering and starvation of the people of Gaza, Israel continues to escalate its atrocities with fresh attacks on hospitals, mosques, UN schools and the forcible expulsion from Al-Shifa Hospital of thousands of patients and others sheltering there, at a time when nowhere in Gaza is safe and there is no refuge to be found. Al-Wafa Hospital, an elder care facility was bombed and the medical director died in that strike. Dozens died in the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Mosque.

Reports also inform that the Resistance has been inflicting considerable losses on Israeli forces, a truth that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and Israeli government think they can deny and hide from public view. According to official announcements the Israeli government acknowledges some 60 IDF soldiers have died since October 7. However, this weekend the director of the Mount Herzl Military Cemetery, as the person responsible for the burial of Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza, disclosed that "We are now going through a period where every hour there is a funeral, every hour and a half a funeral, I was asked to open a large number of graves. Only in the Mount Herzl cemetery did we bury 50 soldiers in 48 hours."

Former Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman's assessment is that "The war cabinet has lost the north." News agencies report that by this he meant that Israel is currently facing one of the greatest military defeats in all of its previous wars against not only the Palestinians but also Arab armies. The total lack of credibility of official Israeli reports about the progress of the battles reveals its inability to document any significant achievement.

For its part, the Resistance has documentation showing numerous Israeli tanks being blown up or damaged in direct hits, especially using Yassin105 anti-artillery missiles, along with other improvised rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs). According to satellite images analyzed by Al Jazeera, 383 military vehicles entered Gaza at the start of the ground operation on October 27. By November 8, it was confirmed that 136 military vehicles had been partially of fully destroyed. By November 12 the number of vehicles partially or fully destroyed by the Palestinian Resistance since the beginning of the ground operation amounted to more than 160. The Israeli military on the other hand has not been able to establish permanent and defensible military bases inside Gaza. All it has to show is carnage and an ability and penchant to massacre Palestinians.

At the United Nations

On November 17, the representative of the State of Palestine addressed the Fifth Meeting of 2023 of the High Contracting Parties on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), which refers to the signatories to the Convention. In a  powerful speech titled "Never again is now, "Palestine's UN representative Nada Abu Tarbush vehemently addressed Israel. She confronts Israel's actions in Gaza, highlighting the dismissal of Palestinian identity. Abu Tarbush sharply criticizes Israeli officials' statements, accusing them of viewing all 2.3 million Gazans as legitimate targets. She challenges Israel's claim of adhering to international law, pointing out the alarming justification of over 11,350 deaths, including children, journalists, and UN staff. Her presentation can be viewed here.

Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on November 17 addressed the UN General Assembly. After presenting the statistics of recent Palestinian victims of the Israeli offensive, he highlighted some salient protection points: 1) many civilians are unable to comply with the Israeli forces' instructions to move elsewhere in the face of imminent bombardment; 2) the current Israeli proposal for a so-called "safe zone" is untenable: the zone is neither safe nor feasible for the number of people in need; 3) the imminent total depletion of fuel supplies is leading to the collapse of water, sewage and crucial health care services, and could end the trickle of humanitarian assistance that Israel has to date permitted to enter Gaza.

Massive outbreaks of infectious disease seem inevitable, and the civilians "are facing the immediate possibility of starvation." Türk reiterated various principles of International humanitarian law: 1) All parties must, at all times, distinguish between civilians and combatants, and between civilian objects and military objectives; 2) Attacks directed at civilians or protected civilian objects – such as hospitals -- are prohibited; 3) Indiscriminate attacks are prohibited; 4) attacks disproportionate to the probable military advantage -- as constantly risked by Israel's use of explosive weapons with wide-area effect in densely populated areas -- are prohibited; 5) Forced displacement is prohibited.; 6) taking and holding of hostages is prohibited; 7) Collective punishment -- as in the case of Israel's blockade and siege imposed on Gaza -- is prohibited; 8) No one is above the law ... All serious allegations of multiple and profound breaches of international humanitarian and human rights law – whoever commits them – demand rigorous investigation and full accountability.

Türk expressed deep concern over IDF-backed settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. Recalling the clear position of the overwhelming majority of members of the General Assembly, he said, "These repeated calls by the global community must not be ignored, but implemented at once. There must be a ceasefire on humanitarian and human rights grounds, and an end to the fighting -- not only to deliver urgently needed food and provide meaningful humanitarian assistance, but also to create space for a path out of this horror."

In the U.S. Congress

U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar has introduced legislation to block the sale of $320 million worth of bomb kits to Israel, in the midst of its onslaught on the Gaza Strip. "It is the responsibility of Congress to exercise oversight over weapons sales. That is why we must not allow weapons sales that will be used to directly violate U.S. and international law, human rights, and our own moral standing in the world, the congresswoman said." The resolution is co-sponsored by Representativess Cori Bush, Summer Lee, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Delia Ramirez and Rashida Tlaib, all of whom have criticized U.S. support for the Israeli military's conduct in Palestine.

It is also endorsed by several movements and organizations such as Veterans Against War, Americans for Justice in Palestine action, Amnesty International USA, Centre for Jewish Nonviolence, and the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations.

---

This article was published in

Volume 53 Number 24 - November 2023

Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2023/Articles/MS53243.HTM

Website:  www.cpcml.ca   Email:  editor@cpcml.ca