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crimes against humanity
Families Flee Khan Younis 'Wasteland' as Israel Hammers Gaza With US-Supplied Bombs
"The most effective action the U.S. could take to halt Israel's genocidal war would be cutting off weapons."
Aug 09, 2024
A wave of fresh bombings and military ground operations by Israel were underway in the city of Khan Younis on Friday as images of Palestinian families once again forced to flee plastered global news sites and world leaders, including the United States, refused to intervene to stop the relentless assault being inflicted on the people of Gaza.
Al-Jazeerareports the southern city—which its reporter on the ground, Hani Mahmoud, described as "uninhabitable" and turning into a "wasteland"— was bombed approximately 30 times in "just a few hours" overnight. With evacuation orders by the Israeli military sweeping up and down the Gaza Strip week after week, the internally displaced population is forced to move time and again.
"What we see on the ground is recurrent displacement for many families who just made their way back to their homes," Mahmoud reported early Friday.
With tanks on the ground, adding shelling to the bombs being dropped from the air, Reutersreports how families "fled eastern Khan Younis in vehicles and on foot, belongings heaped on donkey carts and motorcycle rickshaws as they made their slow escape along congested roads."
Ghazi Abu Daka, one evacuee fleeing Khan Younis, told the Associated Press Thursday that this was was the fourth time he and his family had been forced to flee the city.
"Every day there is war. Every day there are rockets. There is no safe place in the eastern area. Now, we are displaced in the streets and don't know where to go," he said, carrying his son in his arms in the scorching heat.
The intensified overnight bombing came just hours after a joint statement Thursday evening from the United States, Qatar, and Egypt signaled a fresh round of mediated negotiations between Israel and Hamas to end the onslaught in exchange for the release of Israeli prisoners still being held since last year's cross-border attack on October 7 of last year.
"There is no further time to waste nor excuses from any party for further delay," the joint statement read in part, indicating that a framework for an agreement would be the basis for the new round of talks that were derailed completely last month after Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated, almost certainly by Israel, in Tehran last month.
While French President Emanuel Macron welcomed news of news talks, posting on X that the "war in Gaza must stop," the United States, under President Joe Biden, has continued to give Israel the green light to carry out its campaign—and provided many of the weapons to sustain it—despite months of presented evidence that the nature of Israel's assault has resulted in war crimes and crimes against humanity.
At a rally in Detroit, Michigan on Wednesday evening, protesters calling for an end to the genocidal assault on Gaza demanded that Vice President Kamala Harris, now the presidential Democratic nominee, commit to supporting an arms embargo against Israel as a way to bring the war to an end.
While Harris suggested a willingness to engage with those interrupting the rally and address their concerns, members of her team later clarified Harris "does not support" such an embargo.
Despite miniscule hopes that fresh talks next week could broker some progress, Drop Site journalist Jeremy Scahill Thursday agreed with those who argue that the "most effective action the U.S. could take to halt Israel's genocidal war would be cutting off weapons."
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93 Nations Back ICC as Israel Faces Charges for War Crimes in Gaza
A joint statement calls on "all States to ensure full co-operation with the Court for it to carry out its important mandate of ensuring equal justice for all victims of genocide, war crimes, [and] crimes against humanity."
Jun 15, 2024
Ninety-three nations on Friday, all them state parties to the Rome Statute that created the International Criminal Court, reiterated their support for the ICC as it assesses an application for arrest warrants of high level Israeli government officials accused of perpetrating war crimes in Gaza.
The 93 countries—including Canada, Bangladesh, Belgium, Ireland, Afghanistan, Costa Rica, Chile, Germany, France, Mongolia, Mexico, New Zealand, and scores of other—cited separate ICC statements defending its mandate for independence and upheld in their joint statement "that the Court, its officials and staff shall carry out their professional duties as international civil servants without intimidation."
Though neither nation is named in the joint statement, both the United States and Israel have publicly condemned ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan for his May 20 arrest warrant applications for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged "war crimes" and "crimes against humanity" in the Gaza Strip.
Khan also submitted arrest warrants for Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, and Ismail Haniyeh for their alleged roles in the October 7 attack on southern Israel. Following Khan's announcement in May, U.S. President Joe Biden said, "Whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence—none—between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security."
In April it was reported that the U.S. government was working behind the scenes to block the ICC from issuing any arrest warrants targeting Israel officials. Neither Israel nor the U.S. is party to the Rome Statute, though the United Nations has recognized the ICC's jurisdiction over the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), where the alleged war crimes by the occupying power, Israel, took place.
After Khan made his application for warrants, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said, "We've been really clear about the ICC investigation. We do not support it." On June 4, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, along with 42 Democrats, passed a measure that would sanction ICC officials if the arrest warrants for any Israeli officials were approved or carried out.
Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, was among those who applauded Friday's public statement.
Rajagapol thanked the signatory nations "for defending the ICC and standing up against the bullies, including the relics from the U.S. Senate whose idea of engaging with the world is to use threats," a possible reference to Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) who denounced Khan's applications as "outrageous," applauded the House approval of sanctions, and vowed further punishment for the ICC.
Such punitive measures and high-profile threats directed at the ICC appeared to be the exact kind of intimidation Friday's joint pledge of support is responding to.
"The ICC, as the world's first and only permanent international criminal court, is an essential component of the international peace and security architecture," the statement reads. "We therefore call on all States to ensure full co-operation with the Court for it to carry out its important mandate of ensuring equal justice for all victims of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression, grave crimes that threaten the peace, security and well-being of the world."
With their show of unified support for the ICC and its mandate, the countries said they aim to "contribute to ending impunity for such crimes and preventing their recurrence while defending the progress we have made together to guarantee lasting respect for international humanitarian law, human rights, the of law and the enforcement of international criminal justice."
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UN Probe Finds Israel Guilty of 'Extermination,' Torture, and Other War Crimes in Gaza
"Israel must immediately stop its military operations and attacks in Gaza, including the assault on Rafah," said the chair of the United Nations commission behind the investigation.
Jun 12, 2024
A United Nations commission tasked with conducting an in-depth investigation of Israeli military actions in the occupied Palestinian territories
concluded Wednesday that Israel's government is responsible for multiple war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip, including "extermination," torture, forcible transfer, and the use of starvation as a weapon of warfare.
The U.N. inquiry began on October 7, the day of a deadly Hamas-led attack on southern Israel. The U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory found that Palestinian armed groups committed war crimes during their attack on Israel, including the deliberate killing and torture of civilians.
Israel's massive military response—launched hours after the Hamas-led attack—has caused "immense numbers of civilian casualties in Gaza and widespread destruction of civilian objects and infrastructure," outcomes that "were the inevitable result of a strategy undertaken with intent to cause maximum damage, disregarding the principles of distinction, proportionality and adequate," the U.N. commission said Wednesday.
"The intentional use of heavy weapons with large destructive capacity in densely populated areas constitutes an intentional and direct attack on the civilian population," the commission added. Many of the weapons Israel has used in Gaza were supplied by the United States.
The new report also points to public statements by top Israeli officials as evidence that Israel's goal in Gaza was to inflict "widespread destruction" and kill a "large number of civilians." The U.N. panel specifically cited Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant's October announcement of a "total siege" on the Gaza Strip that would prevent the entry of water, fuel, food, and other necessities.
The International Criminal Court's top prosecutor has applied for arrest warrants for Gallant and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over war crimes committed in Gaza.
Navi Pillay, the chair of the U.N. commission, said in a statement Wednesday that "Israel must immediately stop its military operations and attacks in Gaza, including the assault on Rafah, which has cost the lives of hundreds of civilians and again displaced hundreds of thousands of people to unsafe locations without basic services and humanitarian assistance.
"Hamas and Palestinian armed groups must immediately cease rocket attacks and release all hostages," Pillay added. "The taking of hostages constitutes a war crime."
. @UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, & Israel says Israeli authorities responsible for #warcrimes & #crimesagainsthumanity in Gaza; Palestinian armed groups responsible for war crimes in Israel https://t.co/pgjqGN1qYw#HRC56Â pic.twitter.com/L9gzeqK566
— United Nations Human Rights Council (@UN_HRC) June 12, 2024
The commission's findings come less than a week after U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres informed the Israeli government that it was added to an annual "list of shame" that condemns nations for killing and wounding children in wars.
Children have suffered horrific physical and psychological impacts from Israel's eight-month assault on Gaza, which has killed around 15,000 children. Earlier this year, the U.N. Children's Fund estimated that around 1,000 kids in Gaza had lost one or both of their legs as a result of Israeli attacks.
Dozens of children were among the more than 270 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces over the weekend during a raid on Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp. The military operation resulted in the freeing of four Israeli hostages, but the U.N. Human Rights Office said Tuesday that "the manner in which the raid was conducted in such a densely populated area seriously calls into question whether the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precaution—as set out under the laws of war—were respected by the Israeli forces."
Doctors Without Borders, known internationally as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said Tuesday that Israeli forces have killed more than 800 people in Gaza and wounded more than 2,400 since the beginning of June.
"How can the killing of more than 800 people in a single week, including small children, plus the maiming of hundreds more, be considered a military operation adhering to international humanitarian law?" asked Brice de le Vingne, the head of MSF's emergency unit. "We can no longer accept the statement that Israel is taking 'all precautions'—this is just propaganda."
“Since October (and certainly before), the dehumanization of Palestinians has been a hallmark of this war," de le Vingne added. "Catch-all phrases like 'war is ugly' act as blinders to the fact that children too young to walk are being dismembered, eviscerated, and killed."
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