In strike after strike, a growing number of children have paid the price in Israel's offensive in Gaza
Throughout its military campaign in Gaza, Israel has faced mounting accusations of war crimes and genocide, including in a case brought by South Africa before the International Court of Justice, the United Nations' top court. The ICJ last year ordered Israel to do everything it can to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza, issuing a symbolic blow condemning the Israeli military's campaign in the enclave since the court has no power to enforce its rulings. Both Israel and the United States have rejected accusations of genocide.
But condemnation has also grown from within, with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert telling the British newspaper The Guardian in a recent interview that by the spring, when the Israeli government abandoned negotiations for a permanent end to fighting, he had reached the conclusion that his country was committing war crimes.
Meanwhile, he said, a widely condemned proposal from Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz to build a so-called 'humanitarian city' over the ruins of hard-hit Rafah in southern Gaza and force Palestinians to live there would constitute ethnic cleansing. Olmert called the proposed site a 'concentration camp.'
Avi Melamed, a former Israeli military intelligence official, said that often in strikes, decisions of life and death are inevitably being made.
'If there is a person there that is, you know, responsible for terrible things … I would say, of course, we have to take this person down. But then, of course, comes the question, 'OK, what's the cost?''
'Is he sitting surrounded by 20 kids in a classroom? Probably, I would say I would not, I would not attack,' he said in a phone interview. 'If say, there is a probability that this person is finding shelter around among civilians, I would try to verify that to the best of my capacity and then to take the decisions.'
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STV News
15 minutes ago
- STV News
Starmer to raise Gaza ceasefire and UK steel tariffs in Trump meeting
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Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Sir Keir should not emulate Hugh Grant
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Glasgow Times
an hour ago
- Glasgow Times
Mike Dailly: UK must recognise Palestine as a state
60,000 are dead in Gaza, with 144,500 Palestinians injured since October 2023. According to DWB, Gazans risk being shot as they look for food. It's against this humanitarian crisis that France will become the first G7 country to recognise Palestine as a state. Last week, President Emmanuel Macron advised the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas that he would announce formal recognition at the United Nation's (UN) General Assembly in September. Such recognition may be largely symbolic but it adds diplomatic pressure for UN membership and statehood. Palestine has been seeking full UN membership since 2011 but has been blocked by the United States (US). Last April, a resolution for UN membership for Palestine was vetoed by the US. The 15-member Security Council had 12 votes in favour, two abstentions and one vote against. A state has certain defining features under international law, including a permanent population, a determinate territory, "effective" government and the capacity to enter into relations with other states. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz described the move by France as "a disgrace and a surrender to terrorism". He said Israel would not permit the establishment of a "Palestinian entity that would harm our security, endanger our existence". US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US "strongly rejects" Macron's plan because it was a "reckless decision" that "only serves Hamas propaganda and sets back peace." At the same time as Macron's announcement, ceasefire talks were halted as the US and Israel withdrew their negotiating teams from Qatar. In contrast, France and Saudi Arabia are hosting an international conference at the UN in New York - today and tomorrow - seeking peaceful solutions and renewed efforts for a 'two-state solution'. The US has opted out of attendance. A two-state solution would see an independent Palestinian state established alongside the state of Israel, giving both peoples their own territory. Palestinians want an independent state in the occupied West Bank, annexed east Jerusalem and Gaza, land that have been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes Palestinian statehood and says it would reward militants after the 7 October attacks by Hamas in 2023. President Macron said, "France will seek to make a decisive contribution to peace in the Middle East and will mobilise all of its international partners who wish to take part". While the US continues to insist it supports a two-state solution and peace in the Middle East, in reality, it appears to be a key driver of stalemate in the region. The need for food, water and medicine in Gaza is now beyond an emergency. Jordan and the UAE have a proposal, supported by the UK, to drop aid into Gaza, but aid agencies say this will do little to mitigate the hunger of Gazans as the crisis is now beyond critical. Pressure is on Prime Minister Starmer to follow President Macron and for the UK to recognise Palestine as a state. Around 221 MPs have signed a motion urging him to do so. Let's hope he does so this week.
