Palestine -- Latest Developments
Israel Steps Up Slaughter of Palestinians in Rafah
Rafah from the air,
February 8, 2024
On February 9, the office of the Israeli Prime Minister said: "It is impossible to achieve the goal of the war without eliminating Hamas, and by leaving four Hamas battalions in Rafah. On the contrary, it is clear that intense activity in Rafah requires that civilians evacuate the areas of combat." "Therefore," the statement continued, "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the IDF [Israel Defense Force] and the security establishment to submit to the Cabinet a combined plan for evacuating the population and destroying the battalions."
In
a February 11 call, U.S. President Joe Biden told Netanyahu that
Israel
should not launch a military operation in Rafah "without a
credible and
executable plan for ensuring the safety of and support for the
more
than one million people sheltering there." No evacuation plans
from the
IDF have
been forthcoming as of February 12, while Israeli attacks on
Rafah have
been escalating.
In overnight Israeli attacks from the air and sea on the evening of February 11-12, at least 67 Palestinians were killed, the Gaza Health Ministry reported. Starting overnight February 8-9, Israel had stepped up air strikes in Rafah, that night hitting two residential buildings near the Kuwaiti Hospital, with estimates of 14 people killed in the bombing.
As of the afternoon of February 12, at least 28,340 people have been killed by Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, including more than 12,500 children and 8,300 women. More than 67,984 have been wounded, including 8,663 children and 6,327 women. More than 7,000 people are missing.
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) informed on February 10 that "Increased airstrikes in Rafah have heightened fears which would further hamper overstretched humanitarian operations. Nearly 1.5 million people are in Rafah, six times the population in comparison with before 7 October [2023].
Catherine Russell, head of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) stated, "We need Gaza's last remaining hospitals, shelters, markets and water systems to stay functional." She said, "Without them, hunger and disease will skyrocket, taking more child lives."
"Intense fighting in/around Khan Yunis (southwest of Gaza) over the last three weeks is causing loss of life and damage to civilian infrastructure, including UNRWA's largest shelter in the southern area, the Khan Yunis Training Centre (KYTC). This is forcing thousands of Palestinians to flee further south towards Rafah, which is severely overcrowded, with reports of Israeli Forces' strikes in Rafah on 7 February. The Director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza expressed concern at the prospect of an Israel military offensive in Rafah which could result in hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the fighting and warned that the agency 'will not be able to effectively or safely run operations from a city under assault from the Israeli army.'"
On February 9, U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby claimed that, "Any major military operation in Rafah at this time, under these circumstances, with more than a million -- probably more like a million and a half -- Palestinians who are seeking refuge and have been seeking refuge in Rafah without due consideration for their safety would be a disaster, and we would not support it." The Biden administration also warned Israel not to wage such a campaign during Ramadan which takes place from March 20 to April 8 this year. This is seen as telling Israel to hurry up.
Biden even issued a special memo on February 9 which declares
the
U.S. must maintain an "appropriate understanding of foreign
partners'
adherence to international law," including, as applicable,
international human rights law and international humanitarian
law. It
calls for "credible and reliable
written assurances" from the foreign country receiving U.S.
military
aid "that it will use it in accordance with international
humanitarian
law and, as applicable, other international law." The memo also
states,
"If the credibility or reliability of assurances given by the
recipient
country has been
called into question, the Secretary of State or the Secretary of
Defense shall report to the president within 45 days of such
assessment
and outline appropriate next steps to be taken to assess and
remediate
the situation." Yet Biden continues to push Congress for $14
billion more in immediate funding for Israel.
Situation in West Bank
Israeli Security Forces (ISF) continue attacks in the West Bank, with homes being searched and people being detained or killed. For example, from February 6-7, more than a dozen operations took place. In one incident, UNRWA informs that the "ISF surrounded a Palestinian house in Al Damaj quarter in Nur Shams refugee camp, targeted it with missiles, set it on fire, demolished parts of it, killing three Palestinians and injured two Palestinians with live ammunition, including a woman. UNRWA services were severely affected."
As of February 12, at least 390 people in the West Bank, including more than 102 children, have been killed by Israel, while more than 4,450 have been injured.
In related news, on February 12, Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories (the Gaza Strip and the West Bank) was banned from entering Israel in retaliation for her comments on the events of October 7, 2023. In a February 10 tweet she said, "The victims of 7/10 were not killed because of their Judaism but in response to Israel's oppression. France & the international community did nothing to prevent it." Her comment was a response to a remark by French President Emmanuel Macron who portrayed Operation Al-Aqsa Flood as "the largest anti-Semitic massacre of our century." Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz and Interior Minister Moshe Arbel in a joint statement said that "If the UN wants to return to being a relevant body, its leaders must publicly disavow the anti-Semitic words of the special envoy -- and fire her immediately."
This article was published in
Volume 54
Number 10 - February 13, 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/MS54101.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca