(October 15, 2024)
One rogue nation cannot declare war on the UN itself and continue to get away with it
Archiv: West Asia War / Palestine / Black Shabbat 07-10-2023 / Hamas attacks Israel / massacres / Hezbollah attacks / bombings massacres ground invasion genocide in Gaza by Israeli government
Israeli air strike on multi-storey building in Beit Lahiya kills 72
An Israeli air strike on a multi-storey residential building in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, left dozens of Palestinians killed and wounded on Sunday morning.
The government media office in Gaza put the number of those killed at 72. It said the strike hit a residential building that housed members of six families.
Earlier on Sunday, an Israeli air strike killed at least 10 people in al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, when a missile hit a house, medics said.
Indonesian parliament asks UN to revoke Israel membership
The Committee for Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) has urged the United Nations to revoke Israel‘s membership over Tel Aviv‘s military maneuvers that have claimed many victims.
„Expel Israel from the UN because the genocide carried out by the Israeli military continues, and more and more victims are falling,“ the committee‘s chairperson, Mardani Ali Sera, said in a statement released on Thursday.
Suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement
Paris, 12 March 2024. Respect for human rights is an essential element of the EU’s association agreements with partner countries. Article 2 states that „relations between the Parties, as well as all the provisions of the Agreement itself, shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles, which guides their internal and international policy and constitutes an essential element of this Agreement“. Violation of the so-called „essential elements“ clauses allows the EU to denounce or suspend the agreements in whole or in part under Article 60 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. In the light of the deaths and suffering endured by the Palestinian people, the European Union has the duty and the means to act to prevent Israel’s crimes in Gaza and to reduce the extent of human suffering.
Suspend political dialogue with Israel: Borrell’s proposal comes to the table of EU countries
(November 14, 2024)
A political legacy on the part of the EU diplomacy chief, who has come to the end of his term, but one that is unlikely to be seized upon by the 27: for any amendment to the Association Agreement that governs EU-Israel relations, the rule of unanimity is required.
UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese calls David Lammy a ‚genocide denier‘
)November 14, 2024)
The United Nations special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories has accused British Foreign Secretary David Lammy of being a „genocide denier“ and said the UK has done „nothing“ to prevent atrocities in Gaza.
In an interview with Middle East Eye in London on Wednesday, Francesca Albanese took aim at Lammy in response to comments he made in late October denying that Israel is committing genocide.
„I hadn‘t realised that Mr Lammy was a lawyer,“ she said, referring to Lammy‘s legal background.
„As a politician, you might say that for political convenience,“ she suggested, adding that would still make someone „a genocide denier“.
Gaza death toll rises to 43,764
Gaza‘s health ministry said that 28 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks on the enclave in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 43,764 since 7 October, 2023.
Additionally, 103,490 people have been wounded since the start of the war.
‘Unacceptable’ – British PM, Foreign Secretary Claim Israel Not Committing Genocide
Lammy recently alleged that the term genocide referred to “when millions of people lost their lives in crises like Rwanda, the Second World War in the Holocaust” and that using it to describe Gaza “now undermines (its) seriousness”.
(…)
“Will the Prime Minister share (Lammy’s) definition of genocide with this House?” the lawmaker asked Starmer.
The prime minister answered by saying that “it would be wise to start a question like that by reference to what happened in October of last year”.
“I’m well aware of the definition of genocide, and that is why I’ve never described this as and referred to it as genocide,” he added.
Nearly two percent of Gaza’s population killed by US-Israel war machine
(August 12, 2024)
The bureau said in a statement that Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians. “This constitutes around 1.8 percent of the total population in the territory,” PCBS said.
According to the data, approximately 24 percent of those killed by Israel in Gaza are youths.
UK urged to share Gaza spy planes footage with ICC war crimes probe
(October 30, 2024)
The defence ministry told Middle East Eye: “As a matter of principle, we only provide intelligence to our allies where we are satisfied that it will be used in accordance with International Humanitarian Law, and in this instance, only information relating to hostage rescue is passed to the Israeli authorities.”
(…)
Brendan O’Hara, the Scottish National Party’s spokesperson for the Middle East, told MEE it was “inconceivable”, given the scale of the destruction and death in Gaza, that the flights “do not contain footage which would be of significant interest to the investigators from the International Criminal Court”.
(…)
Labour MP Rachael Maskell told MEE: “It is crucial that any intelligence of breaches of international law are shared with the courts so they can assess the evidence and secure justice.”
“I trust that the UK government is working with the international courts to aid them in their work.”
Revealed: UK military has flown 200 spy missions over Gaza in support of Israel
(May 8, 2024)
British spy planes have recorded up to 1,000 hours of footage over Gaza, including from the day Israel assassinated three UK aid workers.
Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories
The present report contains information regarding the efforts of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories to implement its mandate and documents human rights concerns in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the occupied Syrian Golan from October 2023 to July 2024. The Special Committee was not able to conduct visits to the occupied territories, but did conduct its annual consultations in Geneva and undertook a visit to Amman, and met with government officials, United Nations organizations and mechanisms, representatives of civil society organizations, youth representatives, human rights defenders, and Palestinian families.
The report raises serious concerns of breaches of international humanitarian and human rights laws in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including starvation as a weapon of war, the possibility of genocide in Gaza and an apartheid system in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. It documents the impact of the conflict escalation since 7 October 2023 on Palestinians’ rights to food; to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment; to physical integrity, liberty and security of persons; as well as the disproportionate effects on the rights of women, children, and future generations more broadly. The report also highlights the ongoing attacks against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and refers to developments in the occupied Syrian Golan. The report provides recommendations to the General Assembly and Member States; to the State of Israel; and to businesses operating with Israel, that in any way contribute to maintaining Israel’s unlawful presence in the occupied territories.
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IX. Conclusions
69. The developments in this report lead the Special Committee to conclude that the policies and practices of Israel during the reporting period are consistent with the characteristics of genocide. The targeting of Palestinians as a group; the life-threatening conditions imposed on Palestinians in Gaza through warfare and restrictions on humanitarian aid – resulting in physical destruction, increased miscarriages and stillbirths – and the killing of and serious bodily or mental harm caused to Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are violations under international law. Civilians have been indiscriminately and disproportionally killed en masse in Gaza, while in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Israeli colonial settlers, military and security personnel have continued to violate human rights and humanitarian law with impunity. Senior Israeli government and military officials must be held accountable, including for using dehumanizing language and inciting violence.
As US Keeps Arms Flowing, UN Panel Says Israeli Assault on Gaza ‚Consistent With Genocide‘
Less than 48 hours after the Biden administration said it does not believe Israel is unlawfully obstructing humanitarian assistance in Gaza, a United Nations special committee issued a report Thursday arguing that the Israeli military‘s actions in the Palestinian enclave bear „the characteristics of genocide.“
Global Fury After State Dept Claims Israel Not Violating US Law by Blocking Gaza Aid
(November 12, 2024)
Last month, the Biden administration—which has approved tens of billions of dollars in military aid for Israel and provided nearly unconditional diplomatic support since October 2023—sent a letter to the Israeli government threatening to cut off U.S. arms transfers if it failed to take „urgent and sustained actions“ to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza within 30 days.
Asked during a Tuesday press conference if the Israeli government has met the letter‘s demands, State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said that „we have not made an assessment that they are in violation of U.S. law.“
“Hopeless, Starving, and Besieged”: Israel’s Forced Displacement of Palestinians in Gaza
To All Governments
– Publicly condemn Israel’s forced displacement of the civilian population in Gaza as a war crime and crime against humanity, as well as other violations of international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and international criminal law by Israeli authorities, and urge them to immediately halt those crimes and cooperate with international judicial bodies and investigative mechanisms.
– Increase public and private pressure on the Israeli government to stop violating international humanitarian law in the conduct of hostilities, to fully comply with its obligations and the binding orders and advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice, and to ensure the entry and safe distribution throughout Gaza of adequate aid and provision of basic services. Consider, in that regard, the review and possible suspension of bilateral agreements with Israel, such as the EU-Israel Association Agreement, as proposed by the governments of Spain and Ireland, and the US-Israel Free Trade Agreement.
– Suspend military assistance and arms sales to Israel so long as its forces commit violations of international humanitarian law with impunity.
– Enforce domestic legislation limiting the transfer of arms and military assistance for violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.
– Publicly support the International Criminal Court, uphold the court’s independence, and publicly condemn efforts to intimidate or interfere with its work, officials, and those cooperating with the institution.
– Urge the Government of Israel to grant access to independent, international monitors, including from the UN Special Procedures.
– Impose targeted sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, against Israeli officials credibly implicated in ongoing serious violations, for the purpose of ending these violations.
– Address long-standing impunity by Israeli authorities and Palestinian armed groups for serious crimes under international law, and support reparations for all victims of gross human rights abuses.
– Support the creation of a register of damages, caused by unlawful Israeli action to persons in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, for the purposes of calculating reparations.
(…)
To the Prosecutor of the International Crimin19al Court
– Investigate Israeli authorities’ forced displacement and prevention of the right to return as a crime against humanity.
Israel is committing ‘ethnic cleansing’ amid mass forced displacements in Gaza, HRW report says
Israel has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, including pursuing a deliberate policy of forcibly displacing people and denying them the right to return home, according to a Human Rights Watch report released Thursday. The report also labelled the likely permanent dispossession of Gazans in areas cleared by Israel to serve as buffer zones and security corridors as “ethnic cleansing”.
43736 dead in Gaza strip since beginning the extermination war
Palestinian Health Ministry stated the Israeli enemy has perpetrated three massacres over the past 24 hours in Gaza strip, claiming lives of 24 Palestinians and injuring 112 others.
“Number of victims from the continuous Israeli aggression for the 405th consecutive day has risen to 43,736 martyrs, and 103,360 wounded.” the Ministry said in a statement on Thursday adding that there are numbers of bodies are still stuck under the rubble where Occupation forces prevent the ambulance and civil staff from reaching them.
Israel raids villages across the occupied West Bank
Israel has launched raids across the occupied West Bank, storming the town of Beita, south of Nablus, and the town of Taybeh, west of Jenin.
A summit to nowhere
After silently watching Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza for the past one year, the leaders of the Arab and Muslim countries have once more met in Riyadh to discuss the escalating conflict.
The so-called international alliance conceived by Saudi Arabia, with its aim of pressing for the establishment of a Palestinian state, failed to formulate a concrete plan of action to stop the Israeli invasion that has been extended to Lebanon.
Gaza death toll tops 43,700, with 47 killed in past day
Israeli forces have killed at least 47 Palestinians and wounded 182 in the last 24 hours across Gaza, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
This brings the death toll in the besieged enclave since 7 October 2023 to 43,712, with more than 103,258 wounded. At least 10,000 people are still missing, likely dead and buried under rubble.
Watch: Marco Rubio says he is against Gaza ceasefire
After being ambushed with demands for him to call for a ceasefire in December last year, he replied: “No, I will not. On the contrary … I want [Israel] to destroy every element of Hamas they can get their hands on.
“These people are vicious animals who did horrifying crimes.” To the activists, he added: “I hope you guys post that, because that’s my position.”
Trump expected to name pro-Israel Sen. Marco Rubio as secretary of state
US President-elect Donald Trump is expected to tap Senator Marco Rubio to be his secretary of state and Rep. Michael Waltz as national security adviser, The New York Times reported Monday, pushing the emergent cabinet in a hawkish, pro-Israel direction.
Video: Massive Israeli strike hits makeshift tents in ‚humanitarian zone‘
An Israeli air strike hit makeshift camps for displaced Palestinians in the so-called Israeli-designated „humanitarian zone“ in al-Mawasi near Khan Younis on Wednesday.
Footage posted on local media showed a massive explosion after the air strike.
Israeli forces strike tents of displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah
No description has been added to this video.
Israeli drones shooting children in Gaza deliberately ‚day after day‘, UK surgeon tells MPs
A retired NHS surgeon who recently returned from working at a hospital in Gaza said he treated children „day after day after day“ who had been deliberately targeted by Israeli drones following bomb attacks.
In harrowing testimony to British MPs on Tuesday, Nizam Mamode said of all the conflicts he had worked in, including the genocide in Rwanda, he and other experienced colleagues in Gaza had „never seen anything on this scale ever“.
He said at least once or twice daily, there were „mass casualty incidents,“ meaning that 10 to 20 people were killed and up to 40 seriously injured. He estimated that at least 60 percent of the people treated at these times were women and children.
Resolution Issued by the Extraordinary Arab and Islamic Summit
18- To start working to mobilize international support to suspend Israel‘s participation in the United Nations General Assembly and all its affiliated entities, in preparation for submitting a joint draft resolution to the General Assembly – the tenth special session (Uniting for Peace), on the basis of its violations of the United Nations Charter, its threat to international peace and security, and its failure to fulfill its membership in the United Nations and based on the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice on July 19, 2024.
19- To call on all countries to ban the export or transfer of weapons and ammunition to Israel; urging countries to join the initiative proposed by the Republic of Turkey and the core group consisting of (18) countries, which was signed by (52) countries, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab States, and to send a joint letter to the UN Security Council, the President of the UN General Assembly and the UN Secretary-General to halt the provision of arms to Israel, and to invite all countries to sign it.
Arab, Islamic leaders call for suspension of Israel‘s UN membership
He reminded the attendees that, despite ongoing regional conflicts, the UN has never revisited Israel‘s 1949 admission under Resolution 181.
“Today, the Islamic group and the Arab group are two organisations moving before the international community, and I am confident that there are many countries that will support the idea of freezing membership,” he added expressing optimism that the proposal would garner widespread backing.
Arab and Islamic leaders urge UN membership freeze for Israel
During a summit in Riyadh, Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit highlighted the importance of the proposed action to freeze Israel‘s UN membership. He described it as a “major step” toward addressing longstanding grievances. “There is a paragraph in this text that I find very important and vital, a paragraph that talks about moving before the General Assembly to freeze Israel‘s membership,” Aboul Gheit stated. He pointed out that Israel‘s initial admission to the UN in 1949 had been under Resolution 181, a decision that many now view as overdue for reconsideration.
Riyadh Summit Denounces Israel’s Genocide, Calls for Global Arms Embargo to Israel
Central to the statement was a call on the United Nations Security Council to enact (..)
Arab and Islamic leaders also demanded a global embargo on arms exports and transfers to Israel, (…)
Highlighting Saudi Arabia’s leadership role in uniting Arab and Muslim voices, the statement also called for broader international protection and support for the Palestinian people and the State of Palestine.
Death toll in Gaza rises to 43,665
At least 103,076 Palestinians have been wounded since the war began, the ministry added.
A total of 62 Palestinians were killed and 147 wounded over the past 24 hours.
Israeli air strike kills at least 11 Palestinian civilians in Rafah
Several bodies are pictured after an Israeli air strike killed at least 11 Palestinians in Rafah, southern Gaza (MEE)
Israeli forces kill Palestinian camper near Egypt border ‚without threat‘
The body of Yassin Abu Ruwais, 18, from the village of Bir Haddaj in the Negev region, was found by travellers passing through the area of the Halutza Sands southwest of Beersheba, according to Haaretz.
His father, Suleiman Abu Ruwais told news outlet Arab48 his son had gone on an overnight camping trip with his friends at a desert tourist spot, not far from his village.
„On Friday evening, news and rumours spread that the Israeli army had shot a young man from the village. A few minutes later, I received the news that he was my son Yassin and that he had been transferred by helicopter to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba,“ Suleiman said.
„I went to the hospital immediately and there I learnt that he had died.“
Anwar calls for world consensus to expel Israel from UN
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has called on the world community to build a consensus on suspending or even expelling Israel from the United Nations (UN).
Delivering the national statement at the Extraordinary Arab and Islamic Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Monday (Nov 11), Anwar reiterated that Israel has gone beyond reason and humanity itself in its vile and blatant perpetration of the genocide of the people of Palestine.
Left-wing Jewish MP Ofer Kassif expelled from Knesset for six months
Israel‘s parliament has expelled a prominent left-wing Jewish MP over his support for South Africa‘s case against Israel in the International Court of Justice.
Ofer Kassif, the only Jewish MP for the left-wing Hadash party, will be suspended for six month after accusing Israel of committign war crimes in Gaza.
Tens of Thousands Across Israel Protest Far-Right Govt and for the Release of Hostages
(November 10, 2024)
Protests calling against Netanyhau’s government and for the release of hostages were also held Saturday evening in Jerusalem, Beersheba, Haifa, Kfar Sava, Raanana Junction, Nes Ziona, Ashkelon, Kiryat Gat, Rehovot, Karkur Junction, the southern Shaar HaNegev crossroad, Zikhron Yaacov and other localities. Five people were arrested in Jerusalem, Haifa and Karkur. At Haifa the police attacked again a protest vigil at Central Carmel, Activists from the Anti-Occupation Bloc, among them Hadash activists, demanded the end of the deadly war in Gaza and Lebanon and during the protest cops confiscated signs against the massacre in Gaza
Gaza death toll reaches 43,603
The Palestinian health ministry is reporting that at least 43,603 Palestinians have been killed and another 102,929 wounded in Gaza by Israeli forces since 7 October 2023.
It added that the latest figure includes 51 Palestinians who were killed and 164 who were wounded in the last 24 hours.
Iran-initiated OIC-Arab League meeting aimed at ending Palestine, Lebanon crises: Vice president
“We hope to obtain valuable achievements in the field of providing aid to the displaced and victims of the Zionist regime’s attacks and crimes. Accordingly, we will enter the third stage of the measures. Iran as well as all Muslim and Arab states aim to secure a durable ceasefire in the region,” he underscored.
At the summit, Iranian delegates will present their viewpoints on the core issues affecting Palestine and Lebanon and emphasize the urgent need to end the war in West Asia, Aref stated.
Arab League‘s Assistant Secretary-General to QNA: Arab-Islamic Summit Aims to Come Up with Unified Vision to Stop Aggression on Gaza, Lebanon
His Excellency indicated that the summit will hold Israel fully responsible for what is happening in Gaza and Lebanon, in light of its violation of international law and international humanitarian law, while stressing that just peace and affirming the two-state solution in accordance with the political initiative launched by Saudi Arabia for the international coalition to implement the two-state solution, is the best option for settling the conflict in the Middle East and ensuring security and stability for all peoples of the region and protecting them from violence and wars, especially with the international recognition of Palestine by 149 countries, and support for its right to obtain full membership in the United Nations.
Arab and Muslim leaders meet in Saudi to discuss Gaza, Lebanon wars
This summit follows a similar one held a year ago in Riyadh, where leaders from the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) condemned Israeli military actions in Gaza as “barbaric.”