InternationalVOLUME 19 ISSUE # 6

Israel’s war crimes in the world’s eyes

Israel, so far, has killed around 20,561 innocent Palestinians, including at least 8,276 children, while around 57,975 Palestinians have been injured. Since October 7, 1,200 people have been killed and 8,730 injured in Israel.

According to the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, Israel has dropped more than 25,000 tonnes of bombs on the Gaza Strip, equivalent to two nuclear bombs. The latest data from the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Palestinian government shows that Israel has damaged at least 222,000 residential buildings, more than 40,000 completely destroyed. It has damaged around 278 schools, 270 healthcare facilities, 69 places of worship and 45 ambulances till November 9.

According to United Nations’ Secretary General Antonio Guterres, 136 UN workers have been killed in Gaza over the past 75 days, calling it “something we have never seen in UN history.” World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has stated that the “devastating toll of the war so far cannot be ignored, including the loss of over 20,000 lives, predominantly women and children, and over 53,000 injuries.”

The Committee to Protect Journalists declares that 64 media professionals, including journalists, cameramen, photographers, drivers, technicians, have been killed since October 7. Unfortunately, the UN, OIC and other world organisations have failed to stop this war. In fact, the UN has become irrelevant and marginalised. Tamer Qarmout, assistant professor in Public Policy at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, says the UN Security Council’s failure to pass a resolution calling unequivocally for a ceasefire in Gaza has highlighted how the international body has become “irrelevant” to resolving the war.

“When the UN was formed after the second world war, it was supposed to tackle, to prevent similar conflicts such as the one happening in Gaza,” Qarmout said. “But it’s a political organisation that is controlled by powerful countries, especially those with veto power at the UN Security Council. So politics is there in every policy, little detail of the UN work. I don’t think this war can be resolved through UN channels … the UN is becoming irrelevant, marginalised, very politicised and its mandate is being questioned now,” he added.

There should not be any doubt that Israel is violating international laws after declaring war against all Palestinians. About Israel’s war crimes and genocide, L. Michael Hager writes: As defined in the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, genocide means specified acts committed with intent to destroy “a national ethnical, racial or religious group.” Such acts include “killing members of the group” and “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.” Article IV provides that “persons committing genocide …shall be punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals.” Prime Minister Netanyahu, his war cabinet, and individual IDF soldiers and commanders should be held accountable for genocide. In his provision of offensive weapons to Israel and in his steadfast refusal to join other nations in calling for a ceasefire, President Biden has made the U.S. complicit in Israel’s genocide.  He has also made himself a potential subject for prosecution by his “direct and public incitement to commit genocide.”

A December 3 news article by The Intercept, quoting “a bombshell new report” in the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom describes a Netanyahu proposal to “thin” the Palestinian population in Gaza “to a minimum” by relocating the Palestinians to other Arab countries and/or opening up sea routes to allow a mass escape to European and African countries. Israel Today has reported a plan being pushed by members of Congress that would condition U.S. aid to Arab countries on their willingness to accept Palestinian refugees. Given the inhospitable conditions of the devastated Gaza Strip, such plans seem not as far fetched and immoral as they should be.”

Phyllis Bennis, an author of Understanding ISIS and the New Global War on Terror: A Primer, writes: “There is no military solution — this was true in Afghanistan and Iraq and it is true in Gaza. It is not possible to destroy Hamas militarily. Going to war against a small group of militants doesn’t work — with nearly 20,000 Palestinians killed, it still appears as of this writing that Israeli forces haven’t killed any top leaders of Hamas. Such military action only breeds greater resistance. Washington — and the Biden administration in particular — is increasingly seen as enabling, funding, and arming an Israeli assault shaped by violations of international humanitarian law, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and more. Statements from Biden and Congressional leaders that “we stand with Israel” and that “we always will have Israel’s back” — combined with the continuing U.S. provision of seemingly unlimited amounts of weapons known to be used to attack Gaza — undermine U.S. claims of concern about civilians, support for a supposed “two-state solution,” or commitment to international law. The administration’s efforts to persuade Congress to send Israel an additional $14 billion in cash and weapons on top of this year’s previous $3.8 billion undermine any claims that the U.S. government requests for a changed Israeli strategy are serious. The recent announcement of a U.S. “emergency” sale to Israel of $106 million worth of replacement tank armaments and more further undermines that claim”.

Yoav Litvin, a doctor of psychology/ behavioral neuroscience, writes in Al Jazeera,“On October 7, the carefully constructed Zionist facade of incremental genocide within a liberal/democratic framework collapsed, exposing Israel’s genocidal and fascistic core. Zionists in Israel and beyond did not mourn the end of this charade, and instead celebrated their newfound freedom to kill and destroy Palestinians without any restraint or pretence. This development not only poses a threat of elimination to the Palestinian people but since the Occupied Territories are used as a laboratory for the development and testing of new military technology and strategies, it could also set the stage for similar violent escalations against oppressed communities in the Global South as well as against BIPOC and immigrant communities within the Global North. For Israelis to break their addiction to aggression, they would need to go through a process of deprogramming and decolonisation. This would require them to embrace the truth about the history and nature of their country, commit to sincere accountability, recognise the humanity of Palestinians, and empathise with their suffering and plight. Once the oppressive structure, Zionism, is disassembled, it can be effectively dismantled, paving the way for a process of rehumanisation and reconciliation through the use of empathy. Liberation, reconciliation and an end to Israel’s genocidal violence can only be achieved within a steadfast and unwavering anti-Zionist framework that aligns with wider leftist, antiracist, anticolonial values.”

The war will spread throughout the entire region if it is not stopped. All the armed-producing manufacturers, which are controlling the great powers, want to derail the entire region in the flames of war. However, only the power of the people and independent media can save Gaza and the region.

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