Adding further credence to the idea that the ICC option should be explored was the intense opposition by Israel and the United States, ominously threatening the PA with dire consequences if it tried to join the ICC, much less to seek justice through its activation. The American ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, herself long ago prominent as a human rights advocate, revealed Washington’s nervous hand when she confessed that the ICC “is something that really poses a profound threat to Israel.”

In this context, I urgently call on the Israeli Security Forces to put an end to attacks against, or endangering, civilians and civilian infrastructure which are contrary to international humanitarian law. In Gaza, risks are compounded by the very high population density. Maximum restraint must be exercised and measures of distinction, proportionality and precaution must be respected to avoid further casualties and overall destabilization. Clearly at this stage not enough is being done in that regard. Too many lives are being lost and this must end. If calm is not quickly restored, the casualty levels will become even more intolerable and unacceptable. I echo the United Nations‘ call for all parties to respect international law, and protect the civilian population. This includes an end to rocket fire from Gaza aimed at Israel, which the United Nations has described as indiscriminate.

Israeli diplomats said that as part of this campaign, the Palestinians and the Arab states will seek a UN Security Council vote this week on a resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.

Responding to a correspondent who questioned the disproportionate number of civilians killed, including 22 children, CNN anchor Brianna Keilar explained: “Yes, Gaza is just so heavily populated. That’s certainly always a side effect and we’re seeing that there.”

But the Israeli fighter planes did not even spare a centre for the disabled. Undoubtedly these attacks, which cannot be described as anything but war crimes,

According to al-Mezan, a Gaza-based Palestinian human rights group, in the past week 869 Palestinian homes have been destroyed or damaged in similar Israeli attacks that have also claimed the lives of 173 people, many of them civilians. Even as talk of a ceasefire is growing, the attacks by both sides continue.

Heavy metal–tungsten alloys (HMTAs) are dense heavy metal composite materials used primarily in military applications. HMTAs are composed of a mixture of tungsten (91–93%), nickel (3–5%) and either cobalt (2–4%) or iron (2–4%) particles. Like the heavy metal depleted uranium (DU), the use of HMTAs in military munitions could result in their internalization in humans. Limited data exist, however, regarding the long-term health effects of internalized HMTAs in humans.

The carcinogenic effects of heavy metal tungsten alloys (HMTA) have been studied by the U.S. Armed Forces since at least the year 2000 (along with depleted uranium (DU)). These alloys were found to cause neoplastic transformations of human osteoblast cells.[4]

A more recent U.S. Department of Health and Human Services study in 2005 found that HMTA shrapnel rapidly induces rhabdomyosarcoma in rats.[5]

The tungsten alloy carcinogenicity may be most closely related to the nickel content of the alloys used in weapons to date. However, pure tungsten and tungsten trioxide are also suspected of causing cancer and other toxic properties, and have been shown to have such effects in animal studies.[6]

In 2009, a group of Italian scientists affiliated with the watchdog group New Weapons Research Committee (NWRC) pronounced DIME wounds „untreatable“ because the powdered tungsten cannot be removed surgically.[7]

Dr. Erik Fosse told Press TV that the majority of patients hospitalized in Gaza are civilians injured in attacks on their homes and about thirty percent of them are children.

Dense Inert Metal Explosive, known as DIME, is an explosive device developed to minimize collateral damage in warfare.

Experts say it has a relatively small but effective blast radius and is believed to have strong biological effects on those who are hit by the bomb‘s micro-shrapnel.

Fosse, a department head at a university hospital in Oslo, also says some Palestinian in the besieged enclave have been wounded by a new type of weapon that even doctors with previous experience in war zones do not recognize.

Israel also used depleted-uranium and white phosphorus shells in the besieged region during their previous assaults.

Protesters crowded the streets outside the Israeli Embassy in Kensington High Street, west London, and some took it even further by standing on one of the city‘s iconic double-decker buses.

The rally was held in protest at media coverage – particularly by the BBC – which demonstrators say ignores the ‘thousands murdered since the illegal occupancy in Gaza’.

– 114 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the Gaza emergency, of whom 88 (77%) are civilians.
– Some Israeli attacks have raised concerns about the targeting of civilians and civilian objects, including the destruction of homes of alleged members of armed groups.

Saturday, 12th July, a group called Jews Against Genocide (JAG) held a memorial service for Palestinian children killed by Israel in its current attack on Gaza. JAG set aflame to a pile of dolls covered in red paint at Yad Vashem, Israel’s holocaust memorial museum. Jews Against Genocide (JAG) is a movement of Jews from all over the world, including Israelis, who are protesting against Israel’s intent to commit genocide against the non-Jewish indigenous people of Palestine.

The Yad Vashem security guard attempted to disrupt the memorial, confiscated JAG’s fire extinguisher, and called the Israeli police to arrest the participants.

We, Jews Against Genocide, came to Yad Vashem, Israel’s memorial of the genocide committed against Jews, to honor the Palestinian children who are dying in a genocide committed by Jews.

The data indicating that many of the casualties in Gaza are civilians raises the prospect that Israel has committed forbidden actions. There‘s a fine line between war and war crimes.

In the beginning, Zionists invaded Palestine. They expelled the Palestinians and Gaza, an ancient place that hosted Ramses II, Alexander the Great, and Salahuddin, became a tent city. A wasteland for the dejected and destitute.

It didn‘t take long for Palestinians in Gaza to begin to fight to reclaim their homes from the Ashkenazis that displaced them. The Fedayeen – refugee militiamen – commenced with overnight raids as soon as the shock of their ignominious defeat began to wear.

The first Israeli massacre in Gaza occurred in 1956. My father was a small boy at the time, but he remembers how the men were rounded up and shot. Today, his grand-nephews and -nieces, also refugees, also born in camps, cower in terror as the third generation of Ashkenazis in Palestine shows them their place. Life in the shadows, balanced precariously on obsidian with fire on either side – that‘s their inheritance.

Thousands of protesters from Australia to India rallied to voice their support for Palestinians on Sunday, as Israel mounted a ground assault in Gaza against Hamas rocket fire and the death toll from air strikes climbed.

The Israeli Occupation Forces arrested 23 Palestinians overnight in the West Bank, including 10 Palestinian Members of Parliament. The arrests took place in Bethlehem, Ramallah, Jenin, Nablus, Tulkarem, Salfit and Hebron.

This arrest campaign started during clashes that erupted all over the West Bank in solidarity with Gaza and against the Israeli attacks. Several Palestinians were injured with live ammunition, rubber bullets and suffered from tear gas suffocation.

Our media ingrains warped terminology that bolsters the effort to portray Israel as a victim. Here are a few examples.

(14. März 2004) Lapid is of the opinion that Israel takes the initiative and turn to America and European nations to establish an international network to combat terrorism.

Foreign Minister (Likud) Silvan Shalom stated he does not believe the initiative for such a project should come from Israel.

(10. Juli)

…

In this video shot and edited by Boycott from Within activist Ronnie Barkan a gang of young Israeli men can be seen stopping cars to determine whether the drivers were Arabs.

This occurred as Israelis gathered in Jerusalem on 5 July to chant “Death to the Arabs!” and “Death to leftists!” just days after Palestinian teenager Muhammad Abu Khudair was kidnapped and burned alive.

“You’re going to Nazareth? Are you crazy?” That formulation was the most common response when I told people last week of our plan to visit Arab communities around Israel. “You’ll be lynched,” was another, while some people just said “Take care.”

Taglit-Birthright Israel (Hebrew: תגלית‎), also known as Birthright Israel or simply Birthright, is a not-for-profit educational organization that sponsors free ten-day heritage trips to Israel for Jewish young adults, aged 18–26. (..)

About one-quarter of funding comes from the Government of Israel, and about one-fifth is contributed by Jewish organizations and communities, such as North American Jewish Federations through the United Jewish Communities (UJC), Keren Hayesod, and the Jewish Agency for Israel; and many leading private philanthropists through the Birthright Israel Foundation, including Charles Bronfman, Michael Steinhardt, and Lynn Schusterman. The program also receives funding from the German government, through the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.

Itineraries on the free Taglit have been adjusted for security situation, but not a single participant has canceled.

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Jetzt entdeckt Israel, dass es nicht länger das Zentrum der Aufmerksamkeit ist, wie es dies vorher war,, und dass das Schicksal der drei gekidnappten Opfer die Welt nicht länger den Atem anhalten lassen wird, nicht einmal die USA.

Die Welt hat Israel und seinen Wahnsinn satt.

The two minors who have confessed to involvement in the killing ‘aren’t functioning individuals,’ a source says.

The choice is between quick and painful or long and weak. Either way, the people will buy what Benjamin Netanyahu sells them.