As the ICC seeks arrests, I ask those who facilitated the Gaza slaughter: what were you thinking?

The Guardian

The deaths, the atrocities – all were predicted. Those who ignored all the warnings should be held responsible too.

As the international criminal court’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, officially seeks arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders, a question must be asked of the politicians and media outlets that legitimised Israel’s western-backed destruction of Gaza, which is one of the great crimes of our age: what were you thinking?

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Karim Khan (centre) requested arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, 21 May 2024. Photograph: International Criminal Court/Rex/Shutterstock.

The arrest warrant requests detail, firstly, how three Hamas leaders should be held criminally responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity including extermination, murder and hostage-taking. Their guilt is incontrovertible, and no cause justifies such depraved crimes against civilians.

But there is a distinction to be made. For while Hamas’s crimes were obscene and indefensible, the prosecutor’s proposed charges against the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, describe atrocities that were directly facilitated by cheerleader politicians, most notably in the US, UK and Germany, and legitimised by multiple media outlets. (...)

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> See also: A Middle East Peace That Could Happen (But Won’t)

Tags: #israel #palestine #palestinians #occupied_territories #gaza #war #war_crimes #un #united_nations #un_resolutions #us #united_states #icc #media #news #journalism #journalist

A Middle East Peace That Could Happen (But Won’t)

In Washington-Speak, “Palestinian State” Means “Fried Chicken”

Noam Chomsky (Tom Dispatch)

The fact that the Israel-Palestine conflict grinds on without resolution might appear to be rather strange. For many of the world’s conflicts, it is difficult even to conjure up a feasible settlement. In this case, it is not only possible, but there is near universal agreement on its basic contours: a two-state settlement along the internationally recognized (pre-June 1967) borders — with “minor and mutual modifications,” to adopt official U.S. terminology before Washington departed from the international community in the mid-1970s.

The basic principles have been accepted by virtually the entire world, including the Arab states (who go on to call for full normalization of relations), the Organization of Islamic States (including Iran), and relevant non-state actors (including Hamas). A settlement along these lines was first proposed at the U.N. Security Council in January 1976 by the major Arab states. Israel refused to attend the session. The U.S. vetoed the resolution, and did so again in 1980. The record at the General Assembly since is similar. (...)

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Tags: #israel #palestine #palestinians #occupied_territories #gaza #west_bank #two_state_solution #illegal_settlements #settlements #jeruzalem #war #war_crimes #un #united_nations #un_resolutions #us #united_states

Israel still has no proof of Unrwa terrorist claims – but damage to aid agency is done

The Guardian

Inquiry has not backed up allegations of ties to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which led to loss of $450m as people died in droves. (...)

Three months later, the situation has only worsened with the onset of a human-made famine on top of the bombing, the collapse of healthcare, the lack of water and a rise in epidemics. (...)

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Palestinians walk with their belongings past destroyed buildings in Khan Younis on 8 April. Photograph: Haitham Imad/EPA.

Tags: #israel #palestine #palestinians #gaza #unrwa #hamas #islamic_jihad #war #propaganda #desinformation #un #united_nations

Civilians make up 61% of Gaza deaths from airstrikes, Israeli study finds

The Guardian

Civilian proportion of deaths is higher than that in all world conflicts in 20th century, Haaretz newspaper says.

The aerial bombing campaign by Israel in Gaza is the most indiscriminate in terms of civilian casualties in recent years, a study published by an Israeli newspaper has found.

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An injured Palestinian girl in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. Photograph: Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto/Shutterstock.

The analysis by Haaretz came as Israeli forces fought to consolidate their control of northern Gaza on Saturday, bombing the Shejaiya district of Gaza City, while also conducting airstrikes on Rafah, a town on the southern border with Egypt where the Israeli army has told people in Gaza to take shelter. (...)

In the first three weeks of the current operation, Swords of Iron, the civilian proportion of total deaths rose to 61%, in what Haaretz described as “unprecedented killing”. The ratio is significantly higher than the civilian toll in all the conflicts around the world during the 20th century, in which civilians accounted for about half the dead.

“The broad conclusion is that extensive killing of civilians not only contributes nothing to Israel’s security, but that it also contains the foundations for further undermining it,” Haaretz concluded. “The Gazans who will emerge from the ruins of their homes and the loss of their families will seek revenge that no security arrangements will be able to withstand.” (...)

The figures will make uneasy reading for the Biden administration, which is facing global criticism and isolation for vetoing a UN security council vote for a ceasefire on Friday. (...)

Human Rights Watch said the US risked “complicity in war crimes” by continuing to provide Israel with weapons and diplomatic support. Paul O’Brien, the executive director of Amnesty International USA, said: “With this veto, the US government is shamefully turning its back on immense civilian suffering, a staggering death toll, and unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.” (...)

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> See also: Genocide – The Gaze From The Abyss

Tags: #israel #gaza #palestine #palestinians #occupied_territories #war #war_crimes #international_law #collateral_damage #weapons #victims #civilian_victims #humanitarian_aid #un #united_nations #ceasefire