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Arab News
3 days ago
- Health
- Arab News
Why Western nations are threatening ‘concrete actions' against Israel for its Gaza offensive
LONDON: On Friday, pediatrician Dr. Alaa Al-Najjar, one of a dwindling number of doctors still working in Gaza, left home as usual for another distressing shift in the war-battered Nasser medical complex in Khan Younis. As she cared for babies and children who had been wounded in air attacks over the previous days, a missile struck her home, killing nine of her own ten children. Their father, also a doctor, was badly injured in the attack. The couple's only surviving child, an 11-year-old boy, was brought to his mother's hospital, where his life was saved on the operating table. That same day, more than 50 people, including many young members of a single family, were killed in Jabalia in the north of Gaza. The poet and author Mosab Abu Toha, who earlier this month won a Pulitzer Prize for a series of essays in The New Yorker magazine, portraying the 'physical and emotional carnage in Gaza,' happened to be near the scene. His harrowing photograph of a dead girl, perhaps only two years old, with most of her head missing, has been viewed tens of thousands of times on X. The eyes of the medic tenderly carrying her body from the rubble of her home told their own story. Incidents such as these, and the wider humanitarian emergency resulting from renewed violence and a weeks-long aid embargo, appear to have pushed many in the international community to consider the imposition of sanctions on Israel. Last week, the EU, Israel's biggest trading partner, announced it was reviewing the EU-Israel Association Agreement, in particular Article 2, which states that the relationship 'shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles.' Also last week, the UK, France and Canada issued a joint statement condemning the situations in Gaza and the West Bank, denouncing 'the level of human suffering in Gaza' as 'intolerable.' Warning that Israel was risking 'breaching international humanitarian law,' it added: 'We will not stand by while the Netanyahu government pursues these egregious actions.' Then came the unprecedented threat: 'If Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will take further concrete actions in response.' In response to these calls for 'concrete actions,' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a blistering attack on the leaders of the UK, France and Canada, saying that they had 'effectively said they want Hamas to remain in power.' He also accused them of siding with 'mass murderers, rapists, baby killers and kidnappers.' Israel began military operations in Gaza in retaliation for the unprecedented Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, which resulted in some 1,200 deaths, the majority of them civilians, and about 250 people being taken hostage. Eighteen months on, at least 54,000 Palestinians, the majority of them women and children, have been killed in Gaza, according to local health officials, while all but a handful of the hostages have been released or killed in the crossfire. On Monday, at a summit in Madrid of European and Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, Spain's foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares called for an arms embargo on Israel and sanctions against individuals 'who want to ruin the two-state solution forever.' Speaking before the meeting, Albares said that humanitarian aid must enter Gaza 'massively, without conditions and without limits, and not controlled by Israel,' describing the Strip as humanity's 'open wound.' 'Silence in these moments is complicity in this massacre,' he added. Saudi Arabia has long called on the US and other Western nations to freeze arms shipments to Israel in response to its restrictions on the flow of humanitarian aid into the embattled enclave. Also on Monday, more than 800 lawyers, academics and retired senior judges in the UK signed an open letter expressing 'our deep concern over the worsening catastrophe in the occupied Palestinian territory.' They urged the British government to meet its 'fundamental international legal obligations … to take all reasonable steps within (its) power to prevent and punish genocide (and) to ensure respect for international humanitarian law.' Israel's attacks 'are quite clearly and blatantly in disregard of international law, and are just becoming unacceptable,' Guy Goodwin-Gill, emeritus professor of international refugee law at the University of Oxford and one of the letter's signatories, told Arab News. What happens next, he said, 'depends to a certain extent upon the willingness of other states to come to the party.' The US seems unlikely to single out Israeli leaders for sanctions and would almost certainly veto any proposed action by the UN Security Council. 'But I think the UK could impose financial and immigration sanctions, not only on Israeli ministers and officials suspected of involvement in the unlawful conduct but, in my personal view, it should consider imposing visas on all Israelis,' Goodwin-Gill said. 'Given the extent of conscription in the country, all Israelis have been potentially involved in the actions of the military on the ground — the tank commanders, the soldiers, and the air force pilots in particular. 'I think they should be subject to a visa requirement, subject to inquiries about what they were doing during the war.' The Israeli government's standard response to any criticism is to accuse its critics of antisemitism. The signatories nevertheless decided to speak out. 'I think there was an apprehension about being labeled antisemitic,' Goodwin-Gill said. 'But I think that is disappearing with the continuing violations of international humanitarian law that are going on and on, and in the face of evident desire on the part of some in the Israeli government to bring about the destruction of Gaza, the destruction of the aim of a two-state solution, and the end of the prospect of any self-determination for Palestinians.' In addition to the events in Gaza, 'the extent to which settlers are invading the West Bank and assaulting Palestinians, not only with the passive support of the Israel Defense Forces, but also being armed by them, is beginning to put people on notice that the label of 'antisemitism' is not going to stick this time.' It isn't just the UK's legal community that is breaking cover to openly criticize Israel's actions. On Wednesday, 380 writers, musicians and organizations signed a letter accusing the Israeli government of genocide and calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. 'The government of Israel has renewed its assault on Gaza with unrestrained brutality,' the letter read. 'Public statements by Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir openly express genocidal intentions. The use of the words 'genocide' or 'acts of genocide' to describe what is happening in Gaza is no longer debated by international legal experts or human rights organizations.' On May 7, a statement signed by more than 30 UN human rights special rapporteurs and independent experts condemned what is happening in Gaza as 'one of the most ostentatious and merciless manifestations of the desecration of human life and dignity.' They added: 'While states debate terminology — is it or is it not genocide? — Israel continues its relentless destruction of life in Gaza, through attacks by land, air and sea, displacing and massacring the surviving population with impunity. 'No one is spared — not the children, persons with disabilities, nursing mothers, journalists, health professionals, aid workers, or hostages. Since breaking the ceasefire, Israel has killed hundreds of Palestinians, many daily — peaking on March 18, 2025, with 600 casualties in 24 hours, 400 of whom were children.' The signatories of Wednesday's letter wrote: 'We refuse to be a public of bystander-approvers. This is not only about our common humanity and all human rights; this is about our moral fitness as the writers of our time, which diminishes with every day we refuse to speak out and denounce this crime.' The British government has not yet spelled out what 'concrete actions' it might take against the Israeli government. So far it has imposed sanctions only on several settler leaders, accused of 'engaging in, facilitating, inciting or providing support for activity which amounts to a serious abuse of the right of individuals not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment' and who have 'threatened and perpetrated acts of aggression and violence against Palestinian individuals in the West Bank.' Several organizations 'involved in facilitating, inciting, promoting and providing logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts and forced displacement of Palestinians in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories,' have also been sanctioned. In all cases the named individuals and organizations have been subjected to 'asset freeze, director disqualification sanction, and travel bans.' In reality, said Michael O'Kane, senior partner at UK law firm Peters & Peters and co-founder of legal guidance website Global Sanctions, it is 'very unlikely' that any of those sanctioned so far actually have any assets in the UK, and 'that is true of the vast majority of people who are sanctioned by the UK government. 'If you take Russia as an example, there are over 2,000 people on the sanctions list, and I suspect only a very small percentage of them have any assets in the UK.' Such sanctioning is, however, more than merely tokenistic. 'This is what's called 'signaling,'' O'Kane told Arab News. 'The government is saying: 'By sanctioning you, we are signaling to you and to the wider world that we consider your conduct to be unacceptable, a breach of international norms.'' However, there have been increasing calls for targeted financial sanctions to be imposed on members of Netanyahu's government, in particular national security minister Ben-Givr and finance minister Smotrich. 'If things continue to go in the same direction in Gaza, I wouldn't rule out the possibility of that happening,' O'Kane said. There is also the possibility that the UK government could tighten restrictions on the export of arms to Israel. In September last year the government suspended about 30 export licenses 'for items used in the current conflict in Gaza … following a review of Israel's compliance with international humanitarian law.' However, more than 300 arms licenses remain unaffected. A case brought by the Palestinian rights organization Al-Haq, challenging the government's decision to allow the export of components for F-35 fighter aircraft to continue, is under review in the UK's High Court. The government's lawyers told the court this week that 'no evidence has been seen that Israel is deliberately targeting civilian women or children.' At the start of the case on May 13, Raza Husain KC, the lawyer acting for Al-Haq, told the court that, on the contrary, 'acts of annihilation have been accompanied by persistent genocidal, dehumanizing and even celebratory statements made at all levels of the Israeli military and political structure, including such figures, I regret to say, as the prime minister, president, minister of defense, minister of national security, and minister of finance.' Even if nothing comes of the threats by the EU, the UK and Canada to directly target Israeli ministers, the combined outrage at Israel's behavior is creating political momentum behind a joint French-Saudi international conference that will open on June 17 at the UN in New York. Anne-Claire Legendre, the French president's adviser, told a preparatory meeting at the UN on May 23 that 'faced with facts on the ground, the prospect of a Palestinian state must be maintained. 'Irreversible steps and concrete measures for its implementation are necessary. This is the purpose of the international conference to be held in June.'
The National
3 days ago
- Health
- The National
US surgeon accuses Israel of deliberate destruction of Gaza healthcare system
An American trauma surgeon who worked in Gaza accused Israel on Wednesday of deliberately destroying the enclave's healthcare system. Dr Feroze Sidhwa 's accusations, which came amid heightened global scrutiny over Israel's latest military offensive in Gaza, also said he had borne witness to the 'targeting of my colleagues and the erasure of a people'. 'The medical system has not failed, it has been systematically dismantled through a sustained military campaign that has wilfully violated international humanitarian law,' Dr Sidhwa, a critical care surgeon from Stockton, California, said in an emotional address to the UN Security Council in New York. 'I did not see or treat a single combatant during my five weeks in Gaza. My patients were six-year-olds with shrapnel through their hearts and bullets in their brains, pregnant women with their pelvises obliterated and their foetuses cut in two while still in the womb.' Dr Sidhwa carried out two medical missions in Gaza, first at the European Hospital in Khan Younis in early 2024, and then at Nasser Medical Complex in April this year. He recounted scenes of families sheltering in hospitals, baking bread on hotplates in emergency wards as air strikes rained down. 'Most of my patients were pre-teen children, their bodies shattered by explosions and torn by flying metal. Many died. Those who lived often awoke to find their entire families gone,' he said. The surgeon warned that civilians are dying not only from bombardment but from starvation, disease, sepsis, exposure and despair. He accused Israel of denying Palestinians the 'conditions necessary for life' and said preventing genocide means not normalising atrocities. 'Parents memorise their children's clothing in case they must identify their remains. They pray for one piece of bread to give them before they sleep, so their children die a little less hungry if they are killed at night,' Dr Sidhwa said. He urged council members to act on their mandate to protect global peace and security and prevent 'irreversible harm'. He called on the US in particular to heed public demands for intervention. 'I'm asking my own government's representative to hear the voices of the majority of Americans who are calling for the same,' he said. 'Hospitals are meant to be sanctuaries. Healthcare workers and first responders are supposed to be protected. Children are supposed to be protected.' As the Gaza war entered its 600th day, the US surgeon noted that 'every day, the distinction between combatant and civilian is erased'. Israel intensified its military offensive in Gaza earlier this month as mediators continue struggling to secure an elusive ceasefire. Palestinians have become increasingly desperate for food as nearly three months of Israeli border closures have pushed Gaza to the brink of famine. The aid that is now coming in 'is comparable to a lifeboat after the ship has sunk,' Sigrid Kaag, the UN Special Co-ordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, told the council. 'Since the resumption of hostilities in Gaza, the already horrific existence of civilians has only sunk further into the abyss. This is man-made,' Ms Kaag said. 'Death is their companion. It's not life, it's not hope. The people of Gaza deserve more than survival. They deserve a future.' Ms Kaag called for collective action to revive a two-state solution, stating that the high-level international conference at the UN in June presents a 'critical opportunity'. 'It must launch a concrete path towards ending the occupation and realising the two-state solution,' she said. Israel has vowed to seize control of Gaza and fight until Hamas is destroyed or disarmed and exiled. It also continues to demand that the militant group return the remaining 58 hostages, only about a third of whom are believed to be alive. More than 54,000 people have been killed in Gaza and at least another 123,000 injured since Israel started its war in the Palestinian strip after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks killed about 1,200 people in Israel.
CNN
6 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
Nine of this doctor's children killed in Gaza
Nine of this doctor's children killed in Gaza Dr. Alaa al-Najjar left her ten children at home when she went to work in the emergency room at the Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza. Hours later, the bodies of seven children - most of them badly burned - arrived at the hospital, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. They were Dr. Najjar's own children, killed in an Israeli strike on her home. The bodies of two more of her children – a 7-month-old and a 12-year-old who authorities presume to be dead – remain missing. 02:03 - Source: CNN Harvard foreign student describes atmosphere of 'pure panic' CNN spoke to 20-year-old Abdullah Shahid Sial, a rising junior and student body co-president at Harvard University, about his reaction to the Trump administration's decision to revoke the university's ability to enroll international students. A federal judge temporarily halted the Trump administration's ban on Friday, after the nation's oldest and wealthiest college filed a suit in federal court. 01:29 - Source: CNN This Indian YouTuber is accused of spying An Indian travel vlogger has been arrested on suspicion of spying for Pakistan just days after tensions soared between the two longtime rival nations following an attack last month that left 26 tourists dead in India-administered Kashmir. Police say that 'in the pursuit of views, followers, and viral content, she fell into a trap.' 01:46 - Source: CNN See what Gaza's hotels looked like before the war When Donald Trump announced his plans to turn war-torn Gaza into the "Riviera of the Middle East," many Palestinians were angered. CNN spoke to two hoteliers, who explained what life was like before the war and their hopes for the future. 01:51 - Source: CNN Dad rows 157 miles to help save son Joe Jackson's son, William, is 6 years old and has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a disease that can claim the lives of boys and young men. Through the organization Cure Rare Disease, the family found a potential treatment option that comes at a big cost, so Jackson set out to raise some of those funds by rowing 157 miles nonstop through rapids over the course of 31 hours. 02:29 - Source: CNN Mountaineers scaled Mt. Everest in less than a week Mountaineers usually spend weeks or months acclimating to high altitudes before ascending Mt. Everest. But one group accomplished the feat in less than a week after using an anesthetic gas that critics warn could be dangerous. 01:40 - Source: CNN See moment OceanGate team noticed something wrong Newly released video shows OceanGate founder and CEO Stockton Rush's wife, Wendy Rush, who was working on the communications and tracking team, notice the sound of a 'bang' while monitoring the submersible. The Titan submersible imploded on June 18, 2023, killing all five passengers on board. 00:49 - Source: CNN Hot air balloon crash in Mexico injures at least twelve people A hot air balloon crashed near a popular archaeological site near Mexico City, injuring at least twelve people. A representative from the hot air ballon tour company would not comment on the incident. The Attorney General's Office for the state of Mexico reported that they are investigating a 29-year-old man whom police detained. 00:52 - Source: CNN Verdict reached in Paris robbery of Kim Kardashian After a weekslong trial, eight people behind the multimillion-dollar armed robbery of Kim Kardashian in Paris were found guilty. Most of them received prison sentences, portions of which were suspended, but all will walk free due to time already served. 00:43 - Source: CNN Sanctuary forced to move after cartel threats Cartels in the Mexican state of Sinaloa caused an animal sanctuary to close and transfer at least 700 animals – including elephants, tigers, lions, ostriches, chickens, monkeys, crocodiles, and hippos – to a new location. 01:07 - Source: CNN Satellite images show aftermath of North Korean launch failure North Korea's newest warship was severely damaged during a recent launch ceremony. Leader Kim Jong Un said the incident brought shame to the nation's prestige and vowed to punish those found responsible, state media reported. 01:33 - Source: CNN US ambassador to Israel 'can't imagine US would object' to Israel striking Iran CNN's Jim Sciutto spoke with US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee about whether Israel might decide to strike Iran and how the US would react. 00:58 - Source: CNN Aid reaches bakery in Gaza after 11 weeks CNN goes inside a bakery as humanitarian aid finally reaches Gaza for the first time in weeks. This week Israel lifted an 11-week blockade on Gaza, it says was imposed to force Hamas to release all remaining hostages and to bring about a ceasefire. The UN warns that Gaza's population of over 2.1 million people is at risk of famine. 00:50 - Source: CNN Mexican politician gunned down at event An attack on a political event in Mexico, where a mayoral candidate and three others were killed, is the latest in an uptick in political violence in the country. 01:52 - Source: CNN Former US Ambassador to Ukraine explains why she resigned Bridget Brink, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, tells CNN's Christiane Amanpour she resigned from her position because of the Trump administration's actions towards Russia. 00:57 - Source: CNN Vice President Vance meets Pope Leo XIV On May 19, Vice President JD Vance met with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican. Here, Vance passed on a letter from President Donald Trump, inviting the pope to the White House. 00:35 - Source: CNN Dior to pay $2M to help labor abuse victims Dior has agreed a number of remedies to settle an Italian competition authority investigation into whether the luxury brand and two of its units misled consumers with their statements about working conditions at its suppliers. CNN's Max Foster reports. 01:36 - Source: CNN Israeli strikes hit last hospital in Gaza's north Israel launched intense air and ground campaigns that health officials say killed hundreds over the last few days and shuttered the last functioning hospital in the enclave's north. The Israeli military's ground operation in northern and southern Gaza comes as international mediators push for progress in ceasefire talks. 00:55 - Source: CNN Daylight shows extent of damage to Mexican Navy ship The Mexican Navy training ship that struck the Brooklyn Bridge Saturday was moving in the 'wrong direction,' according to a senior city official. CNN's Gloria Pazmino, reports from the East River where daylight shows the extent of the damage. 01:10 - Source: CNN Watch Pope Leo XIV's inaugural Mass in St. Peter's Square Pope Leo XIV called for a 'united Church' in his inauguration homily from St. Peter's Square where approximately 100,000 people had gathered at the start of the Mass, according to authorities. 00:55 - Source: CNN Cat caught smuggling drugs into prison Officers at a prison in Costa Rica captured a cat with two packages of marijuana and cocaine attached to its body. According to the Costa Rican Ministry of Justice and Peace, the officers confiscated the drugs and handed over the cat to National Animal Health Service for health evaluation. 00:31 - Source: CNN Seoul's biggest fish market CNN Travel's Lilit Marcus tastes her way through the many rows of Seoul's Noryangjin Fish Market, famous for its hundreds of vendors and its wide variety of fresh fish and live seafood. 01:32 - Source: CNN Zelensky says Putin was 'afraid' for talks Neither Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky or Russian President Vladimir Putin are attending peace talks in Istanbul after days of confusion. In a meeting in Albania, Zelensky said Putin was 'afraid' to come to Turkey for talks and that Russian delegation in Istanbul is of a 'very low level.' 00:38 - Source: CNN Baby orangutans rescued in Thailand A man suspected of trafficking two infant orangutans has been arrested in Thailand, according to local authorities. Police conducted the raid as the suspect was about to hand over the infant primates to a customer at a Bangkok gas station. 00:49 - Source: CNN Fareed points out Trump's 'strange double standard' CNN's Fareed Zakaria explains why he thinks President Donald Trump's new foreign policy doctrine has a 'strange double standard.' 01:04 - Source: CNN Kremlin gambles with Trump's wrath over Ukraine CNN's Nick Paton Walsh analyzes the power dynamics and explains how Russia is driving the schedule in these latest negotiations. 01:39 - Source: CNN What is femicide and what's behind the rise in incidents? Mexican authorities are investigating the murder of 23 year old Valeria Márquez - which was caught on video during a livestream - as a femicide. CNN's Max Foster speaks with Jillian Peterson, Executive Director of The Violence Prevention Project, about femicide and why it is on the rise. 01:29 - Source: CNN
CNN
6 days ago
- Health
- CNN
A Gaza doctor went to work. Hours later, her children's bodies arrive
Dr. Alaa al-Najjar left her ten children at home when she went to work in the emergency room at the Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza. Hours later, the bodies of seven children - most of them badly burned - arrived at the hospital, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. They were Dr. Najjar's own children, killed in an Israeli strike on her home. The bodies of two more of her children – a 7-month-old and a 12-year-old who authorities presume to be dead – remain missing.
CNN
6 days ago
- Health
- CNN
A Gaza doctor went to work. Hours later, her children's bodies arrive
Dr. Alaa al-Najjar left her ten children at home when she went to work in the emergency room at the Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza. Hours later, the bodies of seven children - most of them badly burned - arrived at the hospital, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. They were Dr. Najjar's own children, killed in an Israeli strike on her home. The bodies of two more of her children – a 7-month-old and a 12-year-old who authorities presume to be dead – remain missing.
