UN inquiry accuses Israel of crime of ‘extermination’ in destruction of Gaza health systemA UN inquiry said on Thursday it found that Israel carried out a concerted policy of destroying Gaza’s healthcare system in the Gaza war, actions amounting to both war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination, reports Reuters.
A statement by ex-UN high commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay released ahead of a full report accused Israel of “relentless and deliberate attacks on medical personnel and facilities” in the war.
“Children in particular have borne the brunt of these attacks, suffering both directly and indirectly from the collapse of the health system,” said Pillay, whose report will be presented to the UN general assembly on 30 October.
Israel says that Gaza’s militants operate from the cover of built-up populated areas including private homes, schools and hospitals and that it will strike them wherever they emerge, while also trying to avoid harming civilians. Hamas denies hiding militants, weapons and command posts among civilians.
According to Reuters, the UN inquiry’s statement also accused Israeli forces of deliberately killing and torturing medical personnel, targeting medical vehicles and restricting permits for patients to leave the Gaza Strip.
As an example, it cited the death of a Palestinian girl, Hind Rajab, in February along with family members and two medics who came to rescue her from under Israeli fire.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says more than 10,000 patients requiring urgent medical evacuation have been prevented from leaving Gaza since the Rafah border crossing with Egypt was shut in May. The Palestinian health ministry says nearly 1,000 medics have been killed in Gaza in the past year in what the WHO called “an irreplaceable loss and a massive blow to the health system”.
The statement said the treatment of both Palestinian detainees in Israel and hostages seized by Hamas fighters in the 7 October attack had been investigated and it accused both sides of involvement in torture and sexual violence.
The Commission of Inquiry (CoI) has a broad mandate to collect evidence and identify suspected perpetrators of international crimes committed in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. It bases its findings on a range of sources including interviews with victims and witnesses, submissions and satellite imagery.
The CoI has previously alleged that both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes in the early stages of the Gaza war, and that Israel’s actions also constituted crimes against humanity because of the immense civilian losses. The term is reserved for the most serious international crimes knowingly committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against civilians.
Israel has not cooperated with the inquiry, which it says has an anti-Israel bias. The CoI has accused Israel of obstructing its work and preventing investigators from accessing both Israel and the Palestinian territories, reports Reuters.
Sometimes, the evidence gathered by such UN-mandated bodies has formed the basis for war crimes prosecutions and could be drawn on by the international criminal court.
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Here are some of the latest images sent over the newswires from the central Gaza Strip, after at least 28 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school sheltering displaced families on Thursday.
Among the dead are women and children and more than 50 others were injured in the Israeli attack on Rufaida al-Aslamia school in the city of Deir Al-Balah, medics said.
The Israeli military said it had carried out a “precise strike on terrorists” who had a command and control centre embedded in a school.
A Palestinian inside the destroyed Rufaida School, in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, 10 October 2024. Photograph: Mohammed Saber/EPADisplaced Palestinians search for missing people under the rubble of the destroyed Rufaida School, in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, 10 October 2024. Photograph: Mohammed Saber/EPAPalestinians mourn their relatives who were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Rufaida School, at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, southern Gaza Strip, 10 October 2024. Photograph: Haitham Imad/EPAA group of Palestinian women mourns their relatives who were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Rufaida School, in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, 10 October 2024. Photograph: Mohammed Saber/EPAA Palestinian woman mourns her relatives who were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Rufaida School, in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, 10 October 2024. Photograph: Mohammed Saber/EPA
Lisa O’Carroll
Irish troops based in Lebanon are safe and accounted for after Israeli troops opened fire at three positions held by UN peacekeepers on Thursday, the Irish government has said.
Situation Update on Irish Defence Forces serving with overseas missions in Lebanon for family members
The Defence Forces can confirm all IRISH pers are safe and accounted for. All necessary force protection measures are being observed.
The Defence Forces can also confirm that…
— Óglaigh na hÉireann (@defenceforces) October 10, 2024 The taoiseach, Simon Harri, warned that firing on peacekeepers “can never be tolerated or acceptable”.
Micheál Martin, Ireland’s foreign minister said a drone was operational and Indonesian soldiers were injured. Martin said:
This is unacceptable. Peacekeeping is the noblest thing anyone can do. Our soldiers are there, UN peacekeeping soldiers are there to keep the peace at the invitation of both sides to this conflict, and Israel has an obligation to make sure that no UN peacekeeper gets into harm’s way.
Geneva Abdul
The second round of polio vaccinations in Gaza will start next week, according to the UN’s children agency (Unicef).
The second round of vaccinations will start on 14 October and will vaccinate nearly 590,000 children under the age of 10, Unicef executive director Catherine Russell has said. She said:
Area-specific humanitarian pauses have been agreed. It is critical that these pauses are respected by all parties. Without them, it is impossible to vaccinate the children.
The organisation said they will be including Vitamin A supplements to aid the immune system of children in the territory who are living in “extremely dire” hygiene and sanitation conditions. Russell added:
With the additional vaccine equipment and cold boxes that arrived yesterday, Unicef is ready to deliver and vaccinate children to stop the transmission of polio. The success of the first round shows that when agreements are respected, we can get the job done.
Italy’s defence minister, Guido Crosetto, said his country has protested to Israel after UN peacekeepers in Lebanon said Israeli forces fired on two positions used by them.
As we reported earlier, the Unifil force said two of its peacekeepers were injured in one of the incidents, when an Israeli tank fired at an observation tower at the force’s main headquarters in Naqoura, hitting the tower and causing them to fall.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military about the incidents.
Firing at Unifil bases was “totally unacceptable” and clearly flouts international law, Crosetto said, adding: “For these reasons, I protested to my Israeli counterpart and the Israeli ambassador to Italy.”
Summary of the day so farIt’s just past 5.30pm in Gaza, Beirut and Tel Aviv. Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
At least 28 people, including women and children, have been killed after an Israeli airstrike hit a school sheltering displaced people in central Gaza. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said it had responded to 27 fatalities and 54 injuries after the strike on the school turned shelter in Deir al-Balah. The Israeli military said it targeted militants who were operating in the compound.
More than 42,065 Palestinians have been killed and 97,886 injured in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
The Israeli military continued to push on with an offensive that began six days ago, when it sent its troops into Jabaliya, the largest of Gaza’s eight historic refugee camps and the nearby towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya. Palestinian health officials say at least 130 people have been killed so far in the operation, which Israel says is aimed at preventing Hamas from regrouping. The military has told residents to evacuate an area in which the UN estimates more than 400,000 people are trapped.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians in Gaza remain trapped by the latest Israeli offensive centred on Jabaliya refugee camp, according to UN agencies and human rights groups. Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency, Unrwa, said some Unrwa shelters and services were being forced to shut down for the first time since the war began and that with almost no basic supplies available, hunger was spreading again in northern Gaza, amid witness accounts of bodies lying uncollected in the streets because of the renewed fighting.
Three hospitals in northern Gaza – Indonesian, Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals – have been ordered by Israeli forces to evacuate, putting patients’ lives at risk, medics say. The director of Kamal Adwan hospital n northern Gaza said eight patients, mostly children, were at risk inside the intensive care units should the Israeli army force them to evacuate. Israeli bombardment near Kamal Adwan hospital has already caused some damage to the facility, medics said. Officials said they know of many fatalities lying on the roads outside the hospital because of Israeli fire.
Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu spoke for the first time in weeks on Wednesday amid expectations of an imminent Israeli strike on Iran. The US vice-president Kamala Harris also joined the call. The White House said Biden emphasised “the need to minimize harm to civilians, in particular in the densely populated areas of Beirut”. The readout did not directly mention possible retaliation for the Iranian missile strike but said Biden had condemned Tehran’s attack “unequivocally” and pledged “ironclad” support for Israel.
The US called on Israel to urgently address “catastrophic conditions” among Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and stop “intensifying suffering” by limiting aid deliveries. Speaking to the UN security council, UN ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield also warned Israel against trying to permanently expel Palestinians from Gaza or seize any territory for itself.
Ireland’s prime minister, Simon Harris, said he is hopeful of a ceasefire in the Middle East after an hour long meeting with Joe Biden in Washington on Wednesday night. Harris said the US president told him he had a “very lengthy” conversation with Netanyahu and he was left “in no doubt that this was a conversation of substances and of depth in terms of actions that Israel need to take in terms of aid, humanitarian aid, in terms of bringing about a ceasefire”.
Al Jazeera accused Israel of deliberately targeting journalists after one of its cameramen was shot and critically injured by an Israeli sniper on Wednesday while a photojournalist for another network was killed and a third also injured while covering the siege of Jabaliya camp in northern Gaza. The Hamas affiliated TV channel al-Aqsa said on Telegram that one of its photojournalists, Mohammad al-Tanani, had been killed in an Israeli attack in Jabalia refugee camp on Wednesday, while its journalist Tamer Labad, was injured. Two days earlier, another Al Jazeera cameraman, Ali Al-Attar, was also critically injured in an Israeli attack on a hospital in northern Gaza.
Unifil, the UN-peacekeeping force in Lebanon, said its headquarters and nearby positions in southern Lebanon have been repeatedly hit amid recent escalation along the blue line. Unifil said it is following up with Israel’s military after, it said, IDF soldiers deliberately fired at UN positions and two peacekeepers were injured and hospitalised. “Any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international humanitarian law and of Security Council resolution 1701,” the peacekeeping force said on Thursday.
Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, warned its next strike on Iran will be “deadly, precise and surprising”. “Whoever attacks us will be hurt and will pay a price. Our attack will be deadly, precise and above all surprising, they will not understand what happened and how it happened, they will see the results,” Gallant said in a video message on Israeli media on Wednesday night, broadcast after he postponed a scheduled trip to Washington, and a few hours after the conversation between Benjamin Netanyahu and Joe Biden.
Gulf states have been lobbying Washington to stop Israel from attacking Iran’s oil sites because they are concerned their own oil facilities could come under fire from Tehran’s proxies if the conflict escalates. As part of their attempts to avoid being caught in the crossfire, Gulf states including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar are also refusing to let Israel fly over their airspace for any attack on Iran and have conveyed this to Washington, three sources told Reuters.
Israel’s military said it had “eliminated” a Hezbollah member in Syria who it claimed had relayed intelligence against Israel in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Syrian state TV said early on Thursday that Israel had carried out airstrikes targeting an industrial site in the Syrian city of Homs and a military site in the countryside near the city of Hama, causing “some material damage”.
A UN inquiry said it found that Israeli actions in Gaza amounted to both war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination. A statement by ex-UN high commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Thursday accused Israel of “relentless and deliberate attacks on medical personnel and facilities” in the war in Gaza, and said Israel carried out a concerted policy of destroying Gaza’s healthcare system.
Humanitarian organisations including Amnesty International, Oxfam and War on Want called on the UK government to stop all arms transfers to Israel. “The escalation of Israel’s attacks on Lebanon underscore our concerns and the need for the UK government to immediately suspend all weapons licences to Israel, and ensure it is not complicit in atrocities,” the letter said on Thursday.
The UK should end its half-hearted half measures towards Israel if Benjamin Netanyahu is to be stopped from pushing the world off a cliff, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, Husam Zomlot, said on Thursday at a briefing to mark the anniversary of the Gaza conflict. He called for a full arms embargo, recognition of Palestine as a state and economic sanctions that “dismantle the apparatus of illegal settlements in the West Bank”.
EU staff have stepped up their criticism over Europe’s “inaction” in response to the Israel-Gaza war, in a letter calling on the bloc’s senior officials to start a dialogue with them aimed at changing course on the Middle East crisis. The war has sharply divided EU member states: Hungary and the Czech Republic are Israel’s strongest supporters, while Spain, Ireland and non-EU Norway have recognised the Palestinian state.
Unicef have confirmed that the second round of polio vaccination for children in the Gaza Strip will start on 14 October. Unicef executive director Catherine Russell in a statement on Thursday said “area-specific humanitarian pauses” had been agreed for the vaccination, adding that it was “critical that these pauses are respected by all parties.”
A young person has been detained in Sweden after a shooting at an Israeli defence company on Thursday. Police are investigating the incident, at Elbit Systems Sweden in Kallebäck, Gothenburg on Thursday morning, as attempted murder and aggravated weapons offences. Nobody was injured.
Unicef have confirmed that the second round of polio vaccination for children in the Gaza Strip will start on 14 October.
Unicef executive director Catherine Russell said:
The second round of polio vaccination in the Gaza Strip is confirmed. It will start on 14 October to vaccinate around 590,000 children under the age of 10.
Area-specific humanitarian pauses have been agreed. It is critical that these pauses are respected by all parties. Without them, it is impossible to vaccinate the children
Unicef will include vitamin A supplements to strengthen children’s immune systems. Children in Gaza live in extremely dire hygiene and sanitation conditions.
With the additional vaccine equipment and cold boxes that arrived yesterday, Unicef is ready to deliver and vaccinate children to stop the transmission of polio. The success of the first round shows that when agreements are respected, we can get the job done.”
UN inquiry accuses Israel of crime of ‘extermination’ in destruction of Gaza health systemA UN inquiry said on Thursday it found that Israel carried out a concerted policy of destroying Gaza’s healthcare system in the Gaza war, actions amounting to both war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination, reports Reuters.
A statement by ex-UN high commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay released ahead of a full report accused Israel of “relentless and deliberate attacks on medical personnel and facilities” in the war.
“Children in particular have borne the brunt of these attacks, suffering both directly and indirectly from the collapse of the health system,” said Pillay, whose report will be presented to the UN general assembly on 30 October.
Israel says that Gaza’s militants operate from the cover of built-up populated areas including private homes, schools and hospitals and that it will strike them wherever they emerge, while also trying to avoid harming civilians. Hamas denies hiding militants, weapons and command posts among civilians.
According to Reuters, the UN inquiry’s statement also accused Israeli forces of deliberately killing and torturing medical personnel, targeting medical vehicles and restricting permits for patients to leave the Gaza Strip.
As an example, it cited the death of a Palestinian girl, Hind Rajab, in February along with family members and two medics who came to rescue her from under Israeli fire.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says more than 10,000 patients requiring urgent medical evacuation have been prevented from leaving Gaza since the Rafah border crossing with Egypt was shut in May. The Palestinian health ministry says nearly 1,000 medics have been killed in Gaza in the past year in what the WHO called “an irreplaceable loss and a massive blow to the health system”.
The statement said the treatment of both Palestinian detainees in Israel and hostages seized by Hamas fighters in the 7 October attack had been investigated and it accused both sides of involvement in torture and sexual violence.
The Commission of Inquiry (CoI) has a broad mandate to collect evidence and identify suspected perpetrators of international crimes committed in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. It bases its findings on a range of sources including interviews with victims and witnesses, submissions and satellite imagery.
The CoI has previously alleged that both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes in the early stages of the Gaza war, and that Israel’s actions also constituted crimes against humanity because of the immense civilian losses. The term is reserved for the most serious international crimes knowingly committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against civilians.
Israel has not cooperated with the inquiry, which it says has an anti-Israel bias. The CoI has accused Israel of obstructing its work and preventing investigators from accessing both Israel and the Palestinian territories, reports Reuters.
Sometimes, the evidence gathered by such UN-mandated bodies has formed the basis for war crimes prosecutions and could be drawn on by the international criminal court.
Gulf states urging US to stop Israel from bombing Iran’s oil sites – Reuters’ sourcesGulf states are lobbying Washington to stop Israel from attacking Iran’s oil sites because they are concerned their own oil facilities could come under fire from Tehran’s proxies if the conflict escalates, three Gulf sources told Reuters.
As part of their attempts to avoid being caught in the crossfire, Gulf states including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar are also refusing to let Israel fly over their airspace for any attack on Iran and have conveyed this to Washington, the three sources close to government circles told Reuters.
Israel has promised Iran will pay for its missile attack last week while Tehran has said any retaliation would be met with vast destruction, raising fears of a wider war in the region that could suck in the US.
During meetings this week, Iran warned Saudi Arabia it could not guarantee the safety of the Gulf kingdom’s oil facilities if Israel were given any assistance in carrying out an attack, a senior Iranian official and an Iranian diplomat told Reuters.
Ali Shihabi, a Saudi analyst close to the Saudi royal court, said:
The Iranians have stated: ‘If the Gulf states open up their airspace to Israel, that would be an act of war’.”
The diplomat said Tehran had sent a clear message to Riyadh that its allies in countries such as Iraq or Yemen might respond if there was any regional support for Israel against Iran.
A potential Israeli strike was the focus of talks on Wednesday between Saudi de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi, who was on a Gulf tour to rally support, Gulf and Iranian sources told Reuters.
The Iranian minister’s visit, along with Saudi-US communications at defence ministry level, are part of a coordinated effort to address the crisis, a Gulf source close to government circles told Reuters.
A person in Washington familiar with the discussions confirmed with Reuters that Gulf officials had been in touch with US counterparts to express concern about the potential scope of Israel’s expected retaliation.
According to Reuters, the White House declined to comment when asked whether Gulf governments had asked Washington to ensure Israel’s response was measured.
US president Joe Biden and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Wednesday about the Israeli retaliation in a call both sides described as positive.
Miranda Bryant
Miranda Bryant is the Guardian’s Nordic correspondent.
A young person has been detained in Sweden after a shooting at an Israeli defence company.
Police are investigating the incident, at Elbit Systems Sweden in Kallebäck, Gothenburg on Thursday morning, as attempted murder and aggravated weapons offences. Nobody was injured.
Swedish broadcaster SVT reports that the young person who was held could be as young as 12. Police have not confirmed an exact age, only that they were under 15.
Police were alerted to the shooting at 9.30am on Thursday. They later found a bag belonging to the boy and the national bomb squad was called but it was found not to contain anything dangerous.
Police spokesperson, August Brandt, said:
We can confirm that a shooting has taken place here. Thankfully, no one was physically injured.”
Unfil reminds Israel of obligations after two UN peacekeepers injured by IDF fire on UN positions in LebanonUnifil, the UN-peacekeeping force in Lebanon, was said it is following up with Israel’s military after, it said, IDF soldiers deliberately fired at UN positions and two peacekeepers were injured and hospitalised.
In a lengthy statement, the peacekeeping force, which was established in 1978 in the wake of the “coastal road massacre” and Israel’s Operation Litani, said:
Recent escalation along the Blue Line is causing widespread destruction of towns and villages in south Lebanon, while rockets continue to be launched towards Israel, including civilian areas.
In the past days we have seen incursions from Israel into Lebanon in Naqoura and other areas. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers have clashed with Hezbollah elements on the ground in Lebanon. Unifil’s Naqoura headquarters and nearby positions have been repeatedly hit.
This morning, two peacekeepers were injured after an IDF Merkava tank fired its weapon toward an observation tower at Unifil’s headquarters in Naqoura, directly hitting it and causing them to fall. The injuries are fortunately, this time, not serious, but they remain in hospital.
IDF soldiers also fired on UN position (UNP) 1-31 in Labbouneh, hitting the entrance to the bunker where peacekeepers were sheltering, and damaging vehicles and a communications system. An IDF drone was observed flying inside the UN position up to the bunker entrance.
Yesterday, IDF soldiers deliberately fired at and disabled the position’s perimeter-monitoring cameras. They also deliberately fired on UNP 1-32A in Ras Naqoura, where regular Tripartite meetings were held before the conflict began, damaging lighting and a relay station.
The statement continued:
We remind the IDF and all actors of their obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property and to respect the inviolability of UN premises at all times. UNIFIL peacekeepers are present in south Lebanon to support a return to stability under security council mandate.
Any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international humanitarian law and of Security Council resolution 1701. We are following up with the IDF on these matters.
Security council resolution 1701 was passed in 2006, and intended to resolve the 2006 Lebanon war, by calling for a full cessation of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, and that only the Lebanese army and the Unifil force have a presence between the blue line separating Israel and Lebanon and the Litani River, about 30km north of the blue line. Israel has criticised Lebanese authorities for failing to fully implement the resolution.
Reuters reports there was no immediate comment from the Israeli military after the Unifil statement.
Palestinian and Dutch organisations on Thursday filed a legal complaint against the state of the Netherlands over its alleged failure to prevent Israel from committing possible genocide in Gaza and other violations of international law.
Reuters reports the case argues that the Netherlands has a legal obligation to do everything in its power to stop alleged violations of international law and the 1948 Genocide Convention by Israel.
It is backed by Palestinian human rights organisations, Dutch social justice NGOs and Jewish organisations, who do not support the Israeli government.
Jennifer Rankin
Jennifer Rankin is the Guardian’s Brussels correspondent
EU staff have stepped up their criticism over Europe’s “inaction” in response to the Israel-Gaza war, in a letter calling on the bloc’s senior officials to start a dialogue with them aimed at changing course on the Middle East crisis.
The group EU Staff for Peace & Justice said that as of September, 1,748 civil servants had signed a letter to the presidents of the European Commission, European Council and European parliament lamenting “how little (if anything) the EU is doing to address the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza”. The group said it had yet to receive a response from any of the leaders, despite a statement from a Commission spokesperson in June claiming that a dialogue had been initiated with staff.
On Thursday, dozens of staff gathered outside the Commission’s Berlaymont headquarters during their lunch break to mark this week’s one-year anniversary of the conflict, which began with the Hamas attacks of 7 October.
After the protest, staff planned to send a follow-up letter to von der Leyen calling for talks with EU staff.
Referring to the Commission’s June statement of having started a dialogue, the staff group wrote: “Although we are happy to hear of this willingness on the behalf of the Commission, no such dialogue with EU Staff for Peace and Justice has yet been initiated by the institution.”
The group has requested a meeting to discuss the EU’s role in bringing about a ceasefire; ensuring the EU abides by fundamental values and that its staff and institutions do not become “morally complicit in breaches of international law committed in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and Israel through EU-funded programmes and trade arrangements”.
The Israel-Gaza war has sharply divided EU member states: Hungary and the Czech Republic are Israel’s strongest supporters, while Spain, Ireland and non-EU Norway have recognised the Palestinian state.
The original letter was sent to von der Leyen and other top officials in May, signed by staff in their personal capacity as citizens. “To stand idly by in the face of such an erosion of the international rule of law would mean failing the European project” envisaged by those who constructed it after world war two, the letter said. It has since been resent multiple times as signatories have increased, according to organisers.
Patrick Wintour
Patrick Wintour is diplomatic editor for the Guardian
The Labour government in the UK should end its half-hearted half measures towards Israel if Benjamin Netanyahu is to be stopped from pushing the world off a cliff, Husam Zomlot the Palestinian ambassador to the UK said on Thursday at a briefing to mark the anniversary of the Gaza conflict.
He said the lack of accountability of Israel for its actions is threatening to weaken the whole world, and countries such as the UK that are renowned for their support for international humanitarian law have to go further.
He called for a full arms embargo, recognition of Palestine as a state and economic sanctions that “dismantle the apparatus of illegal settlements in the West Bank”.
He said “this unconditional support for Israel by the US and western Europe is not bringing peace to Israel, security to Israel. It is literally pushing Israel and the region – and perhaps the world – off a cliff. There is no accountability.
“The lesson to everyone else will be clear, international law and the global rules based on these prohibitions against war crimes and atrocities, and the famine of 2.3 million people are meaningless if we do not end it in Gaza. This very starkly is where we are headed.”
He said half measures are not going to get Israel to agree to the UN resolution calling for a ceasefire and enforcement of the rulings of the International Court of Justice. He added he could not understand why the UK had abstained at the UN security council on the enforcement of ICJ ruling directing Israel to leave the occupied territories in a year, pointing out that the UK had said it agreed with the ICJ opinion.
He said it was clear that the partial arms embargo imposed by the UK was having no effect. He pointed out that the UK government has said it is willing to recognise Palestine when it is most effective to do so, and he could not think of a more effective moment to do so than now.
He insisted the Palestinian aspiration was “to live in peace and dignity just like everyone else, it’s as simple and human as that. And what does Israel want? Do they know? What’s the endgame?
“Israel is engaged in a war not to defend itself or its people, but to defend its illegal occupation, and this includes a war on demolishing the entire global rules based order. Israel’s strategic outlook is entirely dominated by the use of sheer military power to impose its will, rather than the compromises to reach any agreement”.