Israel faces int’l criticism over crimes against Gazans
UN deplores Israeli ‘clear violations’
The Israeli regime has faced international criticism and scrutiny as its intensified airstrikes have increased civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip under the pretext of self-defense and eliminating the Hamas resistance group.
Rapidly expanding Israeli airstrikes across the besieged strip killed more than 700 people in the past day as medical facilities across the territory were forced to close because of bombing damage and a lack of power, health officials said Tuesday, AP reported.
The Health Ministry in the Hamas-governed Gaza said Tuesday that 5,791 people have been killed in the territory since the outbreak of war with Israel.
The death toll includes 2,360 children. A total of 16,297 people have also been wounded in two weeks of the airstrikes in response to Hamas' surprise attack on Israel on October 7, resulting in more than 1,400 Israeli casualties and over 200 people captured, as reported by AFP.
‘Clear violations’
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday alleged violations of international law as Israel pounds Gaza, and urged an immediate humanitarian cease-fire to bring in relief, AFP reported.
“I am deeply concerned about the clear violations of international humanitarian law that we are witnessing in Gaza. Let me be clear: No party to an armed conflict is above international humanitarian law,” Guterres told a Security Council session, without explicitly naming Israel.
The Security Council session was bringing together top diplomats including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has previously rejected calls for a cease-fire, saying it would only allow Hamas to regroup.
The Palestinian Authority’s foreign minister on Tuesday deplored inaction by the UN Security Council to stop “massacres” in Gaza by Israel.
“The ongoing massacres being deliberately and systematically and savagely perpetrated by Israel – the occupying power against the Palestinian civilian population under illegal occupation – must be stopped,” Riyad al-Maliki told a special Security Council session.
“It is our collective human duty to stop them,” he said. “Continued failure at this council is inexcusable.”
‘Beyond the scope of self-defense’
China has condemned violence and attacks on civilians in the conflict, with Foreign Minister Wang Yi declaring Israel’s actions “beyond the scope of self-defense”.
In a Tuesday phone call with his Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen, the Chinese foreign minister called for Israel to take effective measures to protect the safety of Chinese citizens and institutions in the Middle East, adding that “all countries have the right to self-defense, but they should abide by international humanitarian law and protect the safety of civilians”.
China will do its utmost when it comes to contributing to Palestinian-Israeli reconciliation, its foreign minister told Cohen.
China will firmly support any resolution as long as it is conducive to peace, Wang said, calling the conflict a “major choice between war and peace”, Reuters quoted the state media as saying.
In a separate phone conversation with Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki, Wang said he “deeply sympathizes” with the people of Gaza, adding that they need security and efforts to promote peace, not weapons or geopolitical calculations.
‘Unrestricted authorization to kill’
Qatar’s ruling emir on Tuesday urged the international community not to grant Israel “unrestricted authorization to kill” Palestinians in its fight against Hamas, in what he called a dangerous escalation that threatens global security.
“We say enough. Israel shouldn’t be granted an unconditional green light and unrestricted authorization to kill,” Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said in an annual speech to open the Persian Gulf state’s advisory Shura (Council), his first public comments since Qatar began its most recent efforts to mediate between Israel and Hamas.
'Fight must not be without rules'
In what was apparently a message to Israel, French President Emmanuel Macron said, “The fight must be without mercy, but not without rules” because democracies “respect the rules of war,” AP reported.
Macron added that, for example, democracies don’t target civilians.
Speaking after meeting Israel’s prime minister on Tuesday, he called for access to aid for Gaza and for electricity to be supplied to Gaza hospitals – not for making war. Macron also proposed a coalition to fight terror groups in the region “that threaten all of us.”
The French president compared the proposal to the international coalition fighting the Daesh group in Iraq and Syria. He was referring to the resistance groups in Palestine, Lebanon, and Yemen, saying they must not take the risk of opening a new front.
Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that it is Hamas that is responsible for civilian casualties, but that “we will do every effort to avoid them.” He added, “It could be a long war.”
Israel said on Tuesday it had killed dozens of Hamas fighters overnight in strikes on Gaza but that its war to destroy them, which involves bombarding and blockading the Palestinian enclave, would take time.
Lebanon won’t initiate war
A prominent Lebanese Christian politician allied with Hezbollah said Tuesday that Lebanon would not initiate a war with Israel but would defend itself if attacked.
The comments by Gebran Bassil, head of the Free Patriotic Movement of former president Michel Aoun, came as sporadic clashes continue on the Lebanese border between Hezbollah and armed Palestinian groups in Lebanon on one side and Israeli forces on the other.
“No one can drag us into war unless the Israeli enemy attacks us, and then we will be forced to defend ourselves,” Bassil said after a meeting with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, another Hezbollah ally. Bassil also spoke by phone to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Monday. “All the Lebanese agree that they do not want war, but that does not mean that we should allow ourselves to be attacked without a response.”
Warning of backfire
In rare comments on an active foreign policy crisis, former US president Barack Obama said some of Israel’s actions in its war against Hamas, like cutting off food and water for Gaza, could “harden Palestinian attitudes for generations” and weaken international support for the regime, Reuters reported.
Obama said on Monday any Israeli military strategy that ignores the human costs of the war “could ultimately backfire”.
It was not clear whether Obama had coordinated his statement with US President Joe Biden, who served as his vice president for eight years.