Palestinians will not be allowed to return to homes in northern Gaza, says IDF
Israeli ground forces are getting closer to “the complete evacuation” of northern Gaza and residents will not be allowed to return home, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said, in what appears to be the first official acknowledgment from Israel it is systematically removing Palestinians from the area.
In a media briefing on Tuesday night, the IDF Brig Gen Itzik Cohen told Israeli reporters that since troops had been forced to enter some areas twice, such as Jabaliya camp, “there is no intention of allowing the residents of the northern Gaza Strip to return to their homes”.
He added that humanitarian aid would be allowed to “regularly” enter the south of the territory but not the north, since there are “no more civilians left”.
International humanitarian law experts have said that such actions would amount to the war crimes of forcible transfer and the use of food as a weapon.
The Israeli army and government have repeatedly denied trying to force the remaining population of northern Gaza to flee to the relative safety of the south during a month-long renewed offensive and tightened siege. Residents still clinging on in the north have said the new operation has created the worst conditions of the war to date. Israel said the push is necessary to combat regrouped Hamas cells.
Rights groups and aid agencies have alleged that despite the denials, Israel appears to be carrying out a version of the so-called “generals’ plan”, which proposes giving civilians a deadline to leave and then treating anyone who remains as a combatant.
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Article continues at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/06/palestinians-will-not-be-allowed-to-return-to-homes-in-northern-gaza-says-idf
Green Party’s Carla Denyer responds to Trump’s re-election as US president
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Carla Denyer is co-leader of the England and Wales Green Party and Green Party MP for Bristol Central.
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Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, hit out at the apparent Trump victory, claiming it marks a “dark, dark day for people around the globe.”
He said: “This is a dark, dark day for people around the globe. The world’s largest economy and most powerful military will be led by a dangerous, destructive demagogue.
“The next President of the United States is a man who actively undermines the rule of law, human rights, international trade, climate action and global security. Millions of Americans – especially women and minorities – will be incredibly fearful about what comes next. We stand with them.
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Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, struck a similar tone. He said: “I know that many Londoners will be anxious about the outcome of the US Presidential election. Many will be fearful about what it will mean for democracy and for women’s rights, or how the result impacts the situation in the Middle East or the fate of Ukraine. Others will be worried about the future of NATO or tackling the climate crisis.
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“The lesson of today is that progress is not inevitable. But asserting our progressive values is more important than ever – re-committing to building a world where racism and hatred is rejected, the fundamental rights of women and girls are upheld, and where we continue to tackle the crisis of climate change head on.”
37 Groups Demand Foreign Secretary Clarify UK Definition of ‘Genocide’
Original article by Jessica Corbett republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
David Lammy’s recent comment to Parliament, the coalition said, “at best, has injected a deeply troubling ambiguity in respect of these pivotal issues in light of the mass atrocities perpetrated against civilians in Gaza.”
Fallout over remarks that David Lammy, the U.K.’s secretary of state for foreign, commonwealth, and development affairs, recently made to the House of Commons about the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip continued on Tuesday with a letter from 37 rights organizations.
“We call on the foreign secretary, as a matter of urgency, to make a statement clarifying the government’s understanding of i) genocide in international law; ii) the scope of the U.K.’s international obligations pursuant to the Genocide Convention and Rome Statute; and iii) what steps must be taken to fulfill such obligations,” the coalition wrote.
The groups pointed to an exchange between Lammy, of the Labour Party, and Conservative Member of Parliament Nick Timothy on October 28, when the foreign secretary said that the way words like genocide are being used now “undermines the seriousness of that term.”
Israel faces a South Africa-led genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its 13-month assault on Gaza, which has killed at least 43,391 Palestinians and wounded another 102,347, according to officials in the Hamas-governed enclave. The ICJ initially ordered Israel to “take all measures within its power” to uphold its obligations under the Genocide Convention in January.
Lammy’s response to Timothy last week, “at best, has injected a deeply troubling ambiguity in respect of these pivotal issues in light of the mass atrocities perpetrated against civilians in Gaza,” the coalition argued Tuesday. He “chose to undermine international law and answer in opposition to the International Court of Justice.”
“If Labour is indeed the party of international law, Foreign Secretary David Lammy must align with, rather than undermine, the courts.”
Despite Lammy’s suggestion, the Genocide Convention contains no numerical threshold and “is clear that the crime of genocide is not only perpetrated through mass killing,” the groups noted, highlighting Israeli attacks on food production, water infrastructure, healthcare facilities, and civilian housing, shelters, and camps.
In northern Gaza, “Palestinian civilians are being killed through starvation and dehydration, disease, deprivation of lifesaving medical intervention, and constant bombardment and targeting by weaponized drones,” they wrote. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres “has warned of the ethnic cleansing of Gaza by Israel while the U.N. Commission of Inquiry has concluded that the Israeli authorities have committed the crime against humanity of extermination of part of the civilian population in Gaza through direct and indirect means.”
“These assessments raise the specter of genocide and support the findings of other experts who have long concluded that genocide is taking place,” the coalition continued. “This makes it imperative for the foreign secretary to revisit his comments and to clarify the government’s understanding of the crime of genocide.”
Amichai Stein, a correspondent for state-owned Israeli broadcaster Kan, said on social media Tuesday that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced “the division of the northern Gaza Strip into two parts has been completed, and we getting closer to the complete evacuation of the northern part from civilians and terrorists: ‘This time there is no intention to allow the residents of the northern Gaza Strip to return to their homes and that humanitarian aid will regularly enter the southern Gaza Strip.'”
In other words, as Drop Site News‘ Ryan Grim put it, “Israeli media reporting that the IDF is declaring northern Gaza effectively ethnically cleansed, not even a hint of pretense now that it’s Election Day” in the United States.
While the U.S. has repeatedly faced global condemnation for arming Israel over the past year, the rights coalition on Tuesday focused on the U.K. government, emphasizing that “to the extent that the ICJ has already ordered provisional measures, the U.K. is on notice that a plausible risk of genocide exists, triggering third-state responsibility.”
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Signatories to the letter include ActionAid U.K., Christain Aid, Council for Arab-British Understanding, Democracy for the Arab World Now, Gender Action for Peace and Security (GAPS), Global Justice Now, Jewish Network for Palestine, Medical Aid for Palestinians, Quakers in Britain, and War on Want.
GAPS director Eva Tabbasam told Middle East Eye that the language used to describe the war in Gaza “is essential to recognize the suffering of Palestinians and consider all possible actions the U.K. has to contribute to stopping what is a plausible risk of genocide.”
“If Labour is indeed the party of international law, Foreign Secretary David Lammy must align with, rather than undermine, the courts,” Tabbasam said. “He should have already done so months ago when the court first published this language, but the second best time is right now.”
Separately, War on Want on Tuesday published an analysis detailing how “Israel is committing genocide of the Palestinian people” and arguing that “the U.K. government is failing to uphold international law, and is complicit in Israel’s crimes, as it continues to export weapons and technology used by Israel against the Palestinian people.”
“Palestinians have long struggled for their rights and for justice. During the 1947-8 ethnic cleansing of historic Palestine—the Nakba (Arabic for ‘catastrophe’)—around 750,000 Palestinians were forced from their homes and lands by armed groups, to live under Israel’s system of apartheid,” the group noted. “Israel has carried out its ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people, unlawful occupation, apartheid, and blockade of Gaza—the ongoing Nakba—with impunity and has now escalated its actions into genocide.”
The London-based organization is also circulating a petition in response to the foreign secretary’s remarks from last week, which says in part: “David Lammy is misleading parliament and the U.K. public. He must tell the truth—that this is genocide—and immediately take action to stop the genocide, and the U.K.’s complicity.”
Other responses to Lammy’s comments have included public criticism from What Is Genocide? author Martin Shaw and dozens of public figures in the Arab British community demanding an apology.
Original article by Jessica Corbett republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
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Tell the UK Foreign Secretary: this is Genocide
Israeli attacks persist on northern Gaza’s last hospitals
Original article by Ana Vračar republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.
Hospitals in northern Gaza continue to endure Israeli attacks as Palestinians’ health deteriorates amid rising hunger and infectious disease
Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza remains under direct attack by Israeli forces. After a prolonged siege on the facility, Israeli strikes have damaged critical infrastructure, including water tanks, and injured patients and staff. “Following intense fighting, a siege, and a raid, Kamal Adwan has been reduced from a hospital helping hundreds of patients with dozens of health workers to a shell of itself,” stated WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The latest attacks have destroyed key medical equipment for treating children and newborns, including incubators. Video footage from the hospital shows agitated efforts by staff to move children as Israeli forces target the upper floors of the building. Since children’s and neonatal care in Gaza has suffered severe blows since October 2023, the impact of these latest attacks on Kamal Adwan will deepen the overall healthcare crisis, exacerbated by the fact that most children are exposed to hunger and infectious diseases.
The situation at Al-Awda Hospital is similarly dire. The facility has received no fuel since early October and key services, including ambulance transport, were forced to cease as a result of the attacks. Although limited UN missions have reached the hospital to conduct medical evacuations, they were not allowed to deliver critical supplies, pushing the facility to the brink of collapse. Health workers have voiced fears that ongoing attacks on hospitals in northern Gaza may be intended to completely annihilate healthcare in the region, including by exterminating medical staff who refuse to leave.
Despite targeted attacks and health workers’ concerns about safety, Kamal Adwan and Al-Awda continue to represent the only available point of care for northern Gaza residents. With the hospitals overwhelmed, many patients are dying within days due to scarce medical capacity, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reported on November 5.
Read more: “No treatment, no pain relief, no escape,” UN says on healthcare in Gaza
Other healthcare facilities in the north are also under attack by Israeli forces. Shortly after the polio vaccination campaign in northern Gaza resumed in early November, a primary health center designated as an immunization site was hit, injuring patients and staff. This attack was carried out despite the center being located in an area where a humanitarian pause was agreed to allow vaccination to proceed, according to the WHO.
Because of these ongoing attacks and restrictions imposed by Israeli authorities, the polio vaccination campaign in northern Gaza only reached around 94,000 children out of the planned 119,000. In other parts of the Gaza Strip, WHO and partners were able to achieve or even surpass their 90% coverage goal, but the vaccination rate in northern Gaza dropped below 80%. WHO officials noted that while many children received their vaccines, the continuous obstructions by Israeli forces undermined the overall campaign. The area designated for immunization was restricted compared to previous phases, and the attack on the primary health center highlighted that even these limited zones were not spared from attacks. Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative for Palestine, described the immunization drive as without doubt “a compromised campaign.”
Read more: Final phase of polio vaccination in Gaza suspended amid Israeli attacks
Women’s health in Gaza also continues to be severely impacted by Israeli obstructions. The UN estimates that 155,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women have been affected by attacks on healthcare facilities, with experts warning of rising rates of complicated, high-risk pregnancies and women forced to give birth without any medical support.
Palestinian prisoners have been denied access to healthcare as well. Prisoners’ associations recently reported on health conditions among political prisoners in Negev detention camp, revealing that “all detainees are infected with scabies and don’t receive any medical treatment, and [are] deprived of hygiene and bathing supplies,” leading to worsening health conditions.
As if this was not enough, new concerns about healthcare access have emerged after the Israeli parliament banned UNRWA’s work. “No one in the UN can replace UNRWA,” agreed Tedros and Peeperkorn. They explained that while WHO organizes medical missions into Gaza, UNRWA’s mandate is essential for ongoing healthcare delivery. Besides coordinating with other agencies, UNRWA directly provides health services, meaning that, once the ban comes into effect, it will leave even more people across Palestine without lifesaving care.
Original article by Ana Vračar republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.