https://www.commondreams.org/news/btselem-israel-gaza
#Israeli #Human Rights Group Denounces #Netanyahu's 'Criminal Policy of Revenge'
JAKE JOHNSON
Oct 10, 2023
..."The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem on Tuesday condemned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials in Israel for implementing a "criminal policy of revenge" in the wake of Hamas' deadly attack, making a dire humanitarian situation worse by intensifying the unlawful blockade of Gaza and bombing civilian areas of the occupied enclave.
The group said in a statement that Netanyahu's call for Gazans to " get out now" ahead of Israel's relentless bombing campaign was a "farce," given that the Gaza Strip is "closed off on all sides and the residents have no way out."
"There are no shelters and no way to seek cover from airstrikes," B'Tselem said. "Among the people killed, some of them still trapped under debris, are entire families wiped out in a single bombardment—including at least 140 minors and 105 women. The death toll is rising by the minute."
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More than 800 people, including more than 140 children, have been killed and over 4,200 have been injured in Gaza since Israel began bombing on Saturday, the day Hamas gunmen crossed into Israel and killed hundreds of people. Netanyahu pledged in response to turn the places Hamas "hides and operates" into "cities of ruin."
In addition to its aerial bombardment of Gaza, Israel is preparing for a "monthslong ground campaign in Gaza," TheTimes of Israelreported on Tuesday. A major invasion is expected to push the already devastating death toll even higher.
B'Tselem said Tuesday that "one crime does not justify another, nor does one kind of injustice justify another."
"Acts of revenge are prohibited by basic moral principles and by the provisions of international law that Israel is obliged to uphold," the group added. "Contrary to what Israeli ministers are implying, this policy is not new, but has been implemented towards Gaza for many years. The death, destruction, pain, and horror it has wrought have led to nothing but more horror. It is time to demand a different reality—a new future for all those who live here."...
