crimes against humanity

NGOs Urge UK Labour Government to End ‘Complicity in Israeli Crimes’ in Gaza

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Original article by JULIA CONLEY republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is seen at the NATO 75th anniversary summit in Washington, D.C., on July 10, 2024. 
(Photo: Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images)

“We are asking this government for leadership and to take a just decision, for the sake of Palestinians in Gaza who are living through ‘hell on Earth,'” said six rights groups.

A week after the British Labour Party won control of the United Kingdom’s government, six rights organizations called on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to bring the country “back from the brink” and restore its “credibility on the international stage” by ending its military support for Israel.

“The Labour Party now has the chance to start restoring some credibility by ensuring the U.K. abides by international law, thereby extricating the U.K. from the indelible stain of complicity in Israeli crimes that deeply shock the conscience of humanity,” wrote the British Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) and Al-Haq, based in Palestine.

The groups wrote the letter with the support of the International Center of Justice for Palestinians, War on Want, the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Addressing Starmer along with newly appointed Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds, the groups reminded the prime minister that following his election, he promised Britons that the “sunlight of hope was shining once again” after 14 years of Conservative rule, and called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to say there is a “clear and urgent need for a cease-fire.”

“Calls for a cease-fire are evidently not enough, in particular when the U.K. is arming one party to the conflict,” wrote the groups, pointing out that earlier this week Palestinians in northern Gaza reported that recent bombing there has “matched October 2023 in its intensity—with levels of destruction not witnessed since World War II, nearly all civilian infrastructure is completely destroyed.”

“We are asking this government for leadership and to take a just decision, for the sake of Palestinians in Gaza who are living through ‘hell on Earth,'” they wrote. “The world should have put an end to their unimaginable suffering a long time ago. Labour must suspend, revoke, and refuse all arms licenses for Israel now.”

The U.K. licensed about £859,381 ($1.09 million) of weapons to Israel in the last three months of 2023, as the Israel Defense Forces relentlessly attacked Gaza and blocked nearly all humanitarian aid, leading to what 10 independent United Nations experts this week said is now famine across the enclave.

“The new Labour government’s calls for a cease-fire are meaningless while it continues to arm Israel. British weapons have killed too many Palestinians,” said GLAN lawyer Charlotte Andrews-Briscoe. “This government knows that the only lawful and moral decision is to stop arming Israel. Britons have voted for change: This government must deliver that change.”

On social media, GLAN amplified a video posted by Starmer on Sunday in which he pledged to “restore politics as a force for good.”

“We are calling on Keir Starmer to put these words into action,” said the legal group.

When the war on Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people ends, said the groups, Starmer’s government must expect that there will be “a reckoning in which Israel will be found to have committed mass atrocities.”

But the organizations called on Starmer—who, months before he called on Netanyahu to agree to a cease-fire, said Israel had “the right” to withhold power and water from Gaza—to see that ending military support for Israel “is not only the legal obligation of the U.K., it is a moral obligation.”

“Schoolchildren will learn about this period for years to come, just as we have all learned about past genocides and wondered how they could be allowed to happen,” reads the letter. “Will they read about a new Labour government that acted with respect for the sanctity of all human life?”

Original article by JULIA CONLEY republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Zionist Keir Starmer is quoted "I support Zionism without qualification." He's asked whether that means that he supports Zionism under all circumstances, whatever Zionists do.
Zionist Keir Starmer is quoted “I support Zionism without qualification.” He’s asked whether that means that he supports Zionism under all circumstances, whatever Zionists do.

Vote For Genocide Vote Labour.
Vote For Genocide Vote Labour.
Continue ReadingNGOs Urge UK Labour Government to End ‘Complicity in Israeli Crimes’ in Gaza

US Peace Advocates ‘Utterly Condemn’ Biden Decision to Send Israel 1,700 500lb Bombs

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Original article by JAKE JOHNSON republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Palestinian rescue workers search the rubble of a house destroyed by an Israeli airstrike on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on July 6, 2024. 
(Photo: Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

“The Biden administration is fully culpable for the slaughter of civilians in Gaza, and should be held accountable for its role in aiding and abetting Israel’s shocking war crimes.”

The Biden administration’s decision this week to lift a pause on the transfer of 500-pound bombs to the Israeli military drew outrage from U.S. peace advocates who warned the weapons would be used to commit additional war crimes in the Gaza Strip, which has been pulverized by nine months of relentless Israeli attacks.

Sara Haghdoosti, executive director of Win Without War, said in a statement Thursday that “we utterly condemn” the administration’s decision to release a shipment of 1,700 500-pound bombs to Israel’s military, which has killed more than 38,000 people in Gaza since the Hamas-led October 7 attack. The shipment was paused in May as Israel prepared to launch its deadly assault on Rafah.

“We are dismayed because these bombs will almost certainly be used to kill more innocents in Gaza, where indiscriminate bombing continues and where a starvation crisis only worsens,” said Haghdoosti. “And if they are not used there, they risk being used to terrible effect in Lebanon, where civilians would again bear the brunt of a disastrous possible war between Hezbollah and the Israeli government.”

“We are perplexed because the White House is, yet again, using arms transfers to directly undermine its stated policy aims—both to secure a cease-fire and protect civilians in Gaza, and to avoid a full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah that would devastate the region,” Haghdoosti continued. “Releasing this transfer signals to the Israeli government that, if cease-fire talks again stall, the war in Gaza can continue and that a massive conflict with Hezbollah can begin, with no real U.S. pushback.”

President Joe Biden “must reverse this decision, which makes no sense as politics or policy,” she added.

Biden, who is facing mounting calls to drop his reelection campaign, was not asked about the reversal during his closely watched press conference at the conclusion of NATO’s 2024 summit in Washington, D.C. late Thursday.

The administration’s decision to lift the pause came following what The Washington Post described as “a pressure campaign by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and pro-Israel lobbyists in the United States, including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, demanding the resumption of all weapons shipments regardless of their lethality.”

Last month, Netanyahu—who is facing a possible arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC)—released a video complaining that the administration was “withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel.”

The U.S. is Israel’s top arms supplier and has sent Israel billions of dollars worth of weapons and other military equipment since October 7—weaponry that Israel has repeatedly used to commit atrocities in Gaza.

An unnamed administration official told the Post that the U.S. was mostly concerned about the 2,000-pound bombs that were part of the initially planned shipment, rather than the 500-pound bombs. The 2,000-pound bombs will remain on hold, the official said.

Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) joined Win Without War in demanding that the Biden administration walk back its decision to lift the pause on the 500-pound bombs, warning that “providing such massive, explosive weapons with wide-area effects despite Israel’s systematic and deliberate deployment of such bombs in built-up civilian areas throughout Gaza further exposes U.S. officials to liability for war crimes prosecution.”

“This week alone, Israel used U.S. weapons to strike a school during a soccer game killing scores of children, and ordered the forced evacuation of hundreds of thousands of desperate civilians from Gaza City,” said DAWN senior adviser Josh Paul, who resigned from the U.S. State Department last year over the Biden administration’s continued arming of Israel.

“Lifting a suspension on the delivery of 500lb bombs meant to prevent the invasion of Rafah, only to then send Israel those bombs to enable the further destruction of Gaza City, is not only an act of perversity but a lawless one as well,” Paul said.

Raed Jarrar, DAWN’s advocacy director, called on the ICC to “investigate U.S. officials for their complicity in the genocidal atrocities in Gaza, insisting on providing Israel with some of the most lethal weapons in the world despite full knowledge that Israel is using them unlawfully against Palestinian civilians.”

“The Biden administration is fully culpable for the slaughter of civilians in Gaza, and should be held accountable for its role in aiding and abetting Israel’s shocking war crimes and crimes against humanity,” Jarrar added.

Original article by JAKE JOHNSON republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

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Continue ReadingUS Peace Advocates ‘Utterly Condemn’ Biden Decision to Send Israel 1,700 500lb Bombs

Israeli snipers accused of killing fleeing Palestinian civilians in Gaza City

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/israeli-snipers-accused-killing-fleeing-palestinian-civilians-gaza-city. Many articles from the Morning Star today.

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in the central Gaza Strip, July 10, 2024

ISRAELI snipers were accused of killing fleeing Palestinian civilians in Gaza City today.

This comes as the United States announced the resumption of 500-pound bomb shipments to Israel.

Palestinians who fled Gaza City after the latest Israeli evacuation order say snipers shot dead civilians near Yarmouk stadium.

Exact numbers of the dead are as yet unclear but the shooting comes after Palestinians were ordered by the Israelis to evacuate to the south as it steps up its offensive across the enclave.

…

Multiple people said they saw a man walking in the street shot in the head by a sniper in a tower. Several people later managed to retrieve the body.

Israeli authorities have repeatedly ordered hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to leave areas they had previously declared were safe to return to — in both northern and southern Gaza.

This is not the first time Israeli forces have been accused of sniper fire against civilians.

…

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/israeli-snipers-accused-killing-fleeing-palestinian-civilians-gaza-city. Many articles from the Morning Star today.

Continue ReadingIsraeli snipers accused of killing fleeing Palestinian civilians in Gaza City

Despite Gaza War Crimes Accusations, Biden Sends Israel More 500-Pound Bombs

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Original article by BRETT WILKINS republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

A U.S. soldier secures a load of 500-pound bombs in this undated photo. (Photo: U.S. Army)

Since October, the U.S. has sent Israel more than 20,000 heavy bombs, which have been used in some of the deadliest massacres in Gaza.

The Biden administration has ended a two-month pause on the shipment of 500-pound bombs to Israel despite the frequent use of U.S.-supplied weapons by Israeli forces to commit alleged war crimes and genocide in Gaza.

Citing an unnamed Biden administration official, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that the bombs “are in the process of being shipped” to Israel and should arrive in the coming weeks.

In May, the Biden administration suspended transfers of 500- and 2,000-pound bombs manufactured by aerospace giant Boeing over fears the devastating munitions would be used in airstrikes on Rafah, the southern Gaza city where more than a million Palestinians had sought refuge.

By that time, Israel had already dropped hundreds of 2,000-pound bombs—which the U.S. military avoids using in civilian areas because they can destroy entire city blocks—on Gaza, including in an October 31 attack on the densely populated Jabalia refugee camp that killed more than 120 civilians.

“This is what U.S. funding and weapons do.”

Last month, the United Nations Human Rights Office said Israel’s use of 2,000-pound bombs and other U.S.-supplied weapons likely violated international law by deliberately targeting civilians in disproportionate attacks. Israeli military commanders have also been criticized for using artificial intelligence-based target selection to approve bombings they know will cause high civilian casualties.

The Biden official told the Journal that the pause on 2,000-pound bomb shipments will remain in effect.

“Our main concern had been and remains the potential use of 2,000-pound bombs in Rafah and elsewhere in Gaza,” they said. “Because our concern was not about the 500-pound bombs, those are moving forward as part of the usual process.”

But Israeli forces have killed many civilians with smaller bombs too. The New York Times reported Wednesday that multiple weapons experts including a a former U.S. Army explosive ordnance disposal technician identified a fragment from a Boeing-made GBU-39 250-pound bomb used in Tuesday’s attack on a refugee tent encampment outside the al-Awda school in southern Gaza that killed and wounded scores of civilians, including many women and children.

Palestinian and international agencies say Israel’s 278-day Gaza assault and siege have left at least 137,500 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing. Israel’s conduct in the war is the subject of an International Court of Justice genocide case. International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan is also seeking to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders for crimes including extermination.

Despite overwhelming evidence of Israeli war crimes, the Biden administration remains Israel’s most steadfast supporter, providing billions of dollars in military aid, approving more than 100 arms shipments, and offering diplomatic cover in the form of United Nations Security Council vetoes and what critics call genocide denial.

Reuters reported last month that since October the U.S. has sent Israel 14,000 2,000-pound bombs, 6,500 500-pound bombs, 3,000 Hellfire missiles, 1,000 bunker-buster bombs, 2,600 air-dropped small-diameter bombs, and other munitions.

Citing the al-Awda massacre, Jewish Voice for Peace Action said Wednesday that “this is what U.S. funding and weapons do.”

“Arms embargo NOW,” the group added.

Original article by BRETT WILKINS republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Continue ReadingDespite Gaza War Crimes Accusations, Biden Sends Israel More 500-Pound Bombs

Israel orders evacuation of Gaza City again as it presses on with new deadly offensive

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/israel-orders-evacuation-of-gaza-city-again-as-it-presses-on-with-new-deadly-offensive

Smoke rises to the sky after an explosion in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, July 8, 2024

THE Israeli military ordered the evacuation of the repeatedly displaced Palestinians from Gaza City and told them to head south again today as it pressed ahead with a fresh offensive just hours after killing dozens of people.

Thousands of leaflets were dropped onto the city urging people to leave through two “safe” roads “quickly and without inspection from Gaza City to shelters” in Deir el-Balah and az-Zawiya.

Gaza City, it said, will “remain a dangerous combat zone.”

Israeli authorities claimed in January that they had “dismantled Hamas’s military structure” in the northern city.

Israel ordered residents of northern Gaza to flee south months ago as it operated in the area, and much of the population fled earlier in the war.

…

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/israel-orders-evacuation-of-gaza-city-again-as-it-presses-on-with-new-deadly-offensive

Continue ReadingIsrael orders evacuation of Gaza City again as it presses on with new deadly offensive