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Tag: IDF

  • Once Again, Biden Bypasses Congress to Approve Arms Sale to Israel

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

    An IDF soldier readies a 155mm artillery shell for loading in a howitzer. An Israeli soldier carries a 155mm artillery shell near a self-propelled howitzer deployed at a position near the border with Lebanon in the upper Galilee region of northern Israel on October 18, 2023. (Photo: Jalaa Marey/AFP via Getty Images)

    “When Israel runs out of rockets to murder children with they simply hold their hand out to daddy for more,” said one critic.

    Citing “the urgency of Israel’s defensive needs,” the Biden administration on Friday said it would bypass Congress for the second time this month to approve an immediate arms sale to the key Middle East ally as it continues to wage a genocidal war against Gaza.

    The Associated Press reported that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken notified lawmakers of the new emergency determination involving the sale of $147.5 million in equipment including fuses, charges, and primers for 155mm artillery shells that Israel has already purchased from the United States.

    The unguided explosive rounds—which Israel is using in heavily populated urban areas—have a “kill radius” of about 50 meters, with shrapnel able to inflict lethal wounds on people hundreds of meters away.

    “The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to U.S. national interests to ensure Israel is able to defend itself against the threats it faces,” the State Department explained.

    https://twitter.com/lilleyjuice/status/1740847948513341840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1740847948513341840%7Ctwgr%5E620949b4d025f371f31e65cfbf2c06e20e06b8be%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fu-s-aid-to-israel-2666833315

    The move follows a similar State Department determination on December 9, which expedited 13,000 rounds of tank ammunition to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), whose troops have killed and maimed more than 80,000 Palestinians—mostly women, children, and elders—during 84 days of near-relentless attacks on Gaza.

    Some of the deadliest Israeli attacks of the war have been carried out with U.S. weapons, including an October 31 airstrike with 2,000-pound bombs on the densely populated Jabalia refugee camp. More than 120 civilians were killed.

    The State Department also said that “we continue to strongly emphasize to the government of Israel that they must not only comply with international humanitarian law, but also take every feasible step to prevent harm to civilians.”

    “The U.S. administration wholeheartedly supports the mass slaughter of Palestinians.”

    Critics pushed back against that language, with Ibrahim Zabad, a professor of international relations at St. Bonaventure University in upstate New York, asserting on social media that the State Department’s move to bypass Congress “shows the U.S. administration wholeheartedly supports the mass slaughter of Palestinians, their ethnic cleansing, and the demolition of Gaza.”

    British journalist Andy Worthington, known for his work chronicling the cases of Guantánamo Bay detainees, asked: “Do they think not enough Palestinian children are being orphaned or killed in Gaza?”

    Eli Clifton, a senior researcher at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, noted Blinken’s lamentation Thursday that 2023 “has been an extraordinarily dangerous year for press around the world.” Blinken’s statement did not mention the scores of journalists killed—sometimes allegedly on purpose—by Israeli troops during the war.

    The U.S. already gives Israel almost $4 billion in nearly unconditional military aid each year. Since the October 7 Hamas-led attacks and Israel’s retaliatory onslaught, U.S. President Joe Biden has repeatedly affirmed his “unwavering” support for Israel. His administration has blocked multiple global cease-fire efforts at the United Nations while seeking an additional $14.3 billion in armed assistance for Israel.

    The United States has given Israel more than $150 billion in inflation-adjusted aid since the nation was founded in 1948 following a yearslong campaign of terrorism and ethnic cleansing.

    While Biden recently decried Israel’s “indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza, he has refused to acknowledge what many international experts have called Israel’s genocide against the people of the besieged strip. Some activists have dubbed him “Genocide Joe.”

    On Friday, South Africa filed a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

    Hundreds of rights groups and a handful of progressives in the U.S. Congress have implored the Biden administration to suspend military aid to Israel, while others including Democratic lawmakers have called for conditions to be placed on such assistance.

    Earlier this month, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) led a letter urging Biden to boost oversight of how American arms are used against Palestinian civilians. The letter specifically mentions 155mm artillery shells.

    “The IDF has previously used these shells to hit populated areas including neighborhoods, hospitals, schools, shelters, and safe zones, causing a staggering number of civilian deaths,” the senators noted.

    According to a Quinnipiac University poll published on December 20, less than half of registered U.S. voters support sending military aid to Israel—an approximately 10-point decrease from the previous month.

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

  • ‘This Is What the US Chose’: Israel Targets Refugee Camps in Central Gaza

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

    Search and rescue efforts for those trapped under rubble continue after Israel bombed the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza on December 25, 2023.  (Photo: Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images)

    “So long as Netanyahu faces no consequences, even more innocent civilians will face death and starvation,” said one U.S. lawmaker.

    The Israeli military on Tuesday expanded its ground assault to refugee camps in central Gaza, forcing displaced people to flee in terror from an area that was once considered a relative safe zone as the rest of the strip came under near-constant bombardment.

    Over the weekend, U.S.-armed Israeli forces pummeled central Gaza with airstrikes, reducing the Maghazi refugee camp to ruins and killing more than 100 people in one of the deadliest bombings since the devastating military campaign began in early October. Many more people are believed to be trapped under the rubble in Maghazi.

    The Associated Press reported Tuesday that the Israeli military has “ordered residents to evacuate a belt of territory the width of central Gaza, urging them to move to nearby Deir al-Balah.” According to the United Nations, more than 61,000 people were sheltering in the area Israel is now targeting.

    “Residents of central Gaza described shelling and airstrikes shaking the Nuseirat, Maghazi, and Bureij camps,” AP reported. “The built-up towns hold Palestinians driven from their homes in what is now Israel during the 1948 war, along with their descendants.”

    One mother of four told Middle East Eye that she “started crying hysterically” when she heard the news that Israel had deemed areas of central Gaza battle zones and issued evacuation orders.

    “Where would I go with these children?” she asked. “We do not have any relatives in Deir al-Balah.”

    Seif Magango, a spokesperson for the U.N. Human Rights Office, said in a statement Tuesday that he is “gravely concerned about the continued bombardment of Middle Gaza by Israeli forces.”

    “It is particularly concerning that this latest intense bombardment comes after Israeli forces ordered residents from the south of Wadi Gaza to move to Middle Gaza and Tal al-Sultan in Rafah,” Magango continued. “Israeli forces must take all measures available to protect civilians. Warnings and evacuation orders do not absolve them of the full range of their international humanitarian law obligations.”

    Israel’s expansion of its ground assault came days after the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) approved a binding resolution calling for an increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza and urgent steps to “create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities.”

    An initial draft of the resolution called for an “urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities,” but the U.S.—which has veto power at the UNSC—watered the measure down. The U.S. ultimately abstained from the final vote, allowing it to pass.

    Passage of the U.N. resolution has done nothing to deter the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from intensifying their attacks on areas packed with civilians, many of whom have been displaced multiple times in less than three months.

    More than 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million has been forced to flee their homes due to Israel’s airstrikes and ground invasion, which began following a deadly Hamas-led attack on southern Israel. Around 60% of Gaza’s housing infrastructure has been destroyed or damaged by Israeli forces, leaving displaced people with nothing to return to—if they’re able to return at all.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly suggested Monday that he’s looking for countries to “absorb” displaced Gazans, intensifying fears that a goal of the ongoing assault on Gaza is the permanent removal of the Palestinian population.

    The U.S., meanwhile, has not wavered in its unconditional military support for Israel, even as the country’s government has defied its meager calls for the protection of Gaza civilians. The Biden administration has reportedly delivered more than 10,000 tons of military equipment to Israel since October, including 2,000-pound bombs that Israel has dropped on densely populated areas.

    In a social media post on Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) argued that the Biden administration’s “begging Netanyahu to safeguard civilians while sending him weapons and abstaining on even the most modest U.N. resolution has failed.”

    “So long as Netanyahu faces no consequences,” Doggett added, “even more innocent civilians will face death and starvation.”

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

  • UN Condemns Israel’s ‘Unlawful Killings’ and Settler Violence in West Bank

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

    A Palestinian child stands next to a damaged building following a three-day Israeli army raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on December 14, 2023.  (Photo: Zain Jaafar/AFP via Getty Images)

    The U.N. high commissioner for human rights called surging settler attacks on Palestinians “very disturbing.”

    A United Nations report released Thursday warned that conditions in the occupied West Bank have worsened rapidly since October, with Israeli settlers and soldiers ramping up violent attacks on the Palestinian population and subjecting people across the territory to frequent abuse, movement restrictions, arbitrary detention, and “unlawful killings.”

    The report by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights found that since October 7, settler attacks—including shootings and the burning of homes—have surged to an average of six per day, up from three per day previously. The report notes that in many cases, the settlers were “accompanied” by Israeli forces, wearing Israeli military uniforms, and carrying weapons supplied by the army.

    Between October 7 and December 27, Israeli forces and settlers killed at least 300 Palestinians in the West Bank, according to the U.N. Israeli soldiers arrested more than 4,700 Palestinians during that period, holding many of them in so-called administrative detention without charge or trial.

    Palestinian detainees have faced grotesque abuse and torture at the hands of Israeli soldiers, who have raided West Bank homes and refugee camps with increased frequency in recent weeks. Six Palestinian men died in Israeli detention between October 7 and November 20, the U.N. found. One of the men was reportedly insulin-dependent; he, along with others detained at the same time, was physically assaulted by Israeli soldiers.

    The new report notes that members of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have filmed and photographed themselves “abusing, degrading, and humiliating Palestinians apprehended in the West Bank, including pictures of detainees stripped naked or half-naked, blindfolded and handcuffed, and screaming in pain while physically abused and humiliated including by being forced to pose with the Israeli flag, sing songs in Hebrew or forced to dance with soldiers.”

    “In one of the videos, a Palestinian man, subsequently identified through monitoring as having been arrested on 31 October, is seen kneeling, blindfolded, and with hands tied behind his back, being kicked several times in the stomach by a soldier who spits on him and insults him,” the report continues. “On 1 November, IDF reportedly stated they would investigate the abuses and that one reserve soldier had been dismissed from reserve service.”

    “The intensity of the violence and repression is something that has not been seen in years.”

    Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said in a statement Thursday that “the violations documented in this report repeat the pattern and nature of violations reported in the past in the context of the longstanding Israeli occupation of the West Bank.”

    “However,” Türk added, “the intensity of the violence and repression is something that has not been seen in years.”

    Since October 7—when Hamas launched a deadly attack on southern Israel and the IDF responded with a catastrophic bombing campaign—violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank has surged. Israeli officials have tallied at least 120 hate crimes committed in the occupied West Bank, but no charges have been brought in any of the cases, the U.N. said.

    The report observed that Israeli settlers—with the support of the far-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—are “taking advantage of a generally permissive environment to accelerate displacement of Palestinians from their land, raising concerns of forcible transfer seeking to create facts on the ground making the existence of a viable Palestinian state almost impossible.”

    “According to Israeli organizations monitoring settlement expansion, settlers have built at least four new outposts since 7 October and at least nine new roads leading to settlements, marking a growth in illegal construction by settlers unprecedented since the second Intifada,” the U.N. report says.

    Türk called settlers’ “dehumanization” of Palestinians “very disturbing” and said the attacks and illegal settlement expansions “must cease immediately.”

    “Israeli authorities should strongly censure and prevent settler violence and prosecute both its instigators and perpetrators,” said Türk.

    The U.N.’s findings were published as Al Jazeera reported that Israeli forces have “launched their most intense raids yet on cities in the occupied West Bank as they pressed on with one of the largest incursions in the territory since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October.”

    “At least one person was killed after Israeli troops launched a coordinated overnight assault on 10 cities including Hebron, Halhul, Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarem, el-Bireh, Jericho, and notably the center of Ramallah, which is the administrative headquarters of the Palestinian Authority,” the outlet reported. “Israeli forces used tear gas and stun grenades to clear a street and then blocked off the area, before using a ‘controlled explosion’ to enter a money exchange shop. The soldiers seized documents and arrested business owners.”

    An Al Jazeera correspondent said that Israeli soldiers seized around $2.5 million in the raids.

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

  • Warren Leads Letter Pressing Biden on Israel’s Use of US Arms

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

    An Israeli soldier carries a 155mm artillery shell near a self-propelled howitzer deployed at a position near the border with Lebanon in the upper Galilee region of northern Israel on October 18, 2023. (Photo: Jalaa Marey/AFP via Getty Images)

    The senators—who are seeking improved oversight—sounded the alarm on the “staggering number of civilian deaths” caused by Israeli bombing with U.S.-supplied ordnance.

    As the number of Gazans killed, maimed, or left missing by Israeli bombs and bullets—many of them manufactured in the United States— tops 60,000, a group of U.S. senators on Tuesday urged President Joe Biden to boost oversight of how American arms are used against Palestinian civilians.

    Noting that Israel’s response to the Hamas-led attacks of October 7 “has killed over 15,000 Palestinians in Gaza, the vast majority of whom are civilians,” Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) asked the White House for “information on the accountability and oversight measures that ensure any use of U.S. weapons is in accordance with U.S. policy and international law.”

    “U.S. allies and human rights groups have argued many of these deaths were preventable,” the senators wrote in their letter. “In its campaign, Israel has also repeatedly targeted areas it previously designated as ‘safe zones,’ after telling Palestinians to move to these locations for safety.”

    “[Israel Defense Forces] airstrikes have also hit the densely populated Jabalia refugee camp multiple times,” the lawmakers noted. “The first strike killed ‘more than 100 people’ and injured ‘hundreds’ more. The second strike left dozens wounded and rescuers said those killed included ‘whole families’… Other strikes and operations have targeted hospitals.”

    A growing number of legal, human rights, and other experts have called Israel’s war on Gaza a genocide.

    The senators’ letter continues:

    While these strikes were aimed at Hamas, we have concerns that strikes on civilian infrastructure have not been proportional, particularly given the predictable harm to civilians. The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has said these strikes are ‘clear violations of international humanitarian law.’ Even Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has admitted that his government’s efforts to minimize civilian casualties to date are ‘not successful.’

    The letter singles out 155mm artillery shells, unguided explosive rounds with a “kill radius” of about 50 meters, with shrapnel able to kill and wound people hundreds of meters away.

    “The IDF requires its ground forces to stay 250 meters away to protect its own forces,” the letter states. “The IDF has previously used these shells to ‘hit populated areas including neighborhoods, hospitals, schools, shelters, and safe zones,’ causing a staggering number of civilian deaths.”

    “Over 30 U.S.-based civil society organizations warned against providing Israel 155mm shells in an open letter to [U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd] Austin calling the shells ‘inherently indiscriminate’ and ‘a grave risk to civilians,’” the lawmakers added.

    Claiming that “civilian harm prevention is a cornerstone of American foreign policy”—a curious assertion given that the United States has killed more foreign civilians by far than any other armed force on the planet since the end of World War II—the senators argued that “we must ensure accountability for the use of U.S. weapons we provided to our ally.”

    “As you have acknowledged, Israel’s military campaign has included ‘indiscriminate bombing,’” they wrote. “Your administration must ensure that existing guidance and standards are being used to evaluate the reports of Israel using U.S. weapons in attacks that harm civilians in order to more rigorously protect civilian safety during Israel’s operations in Gaza.”

    To that end, the senators ask Biden to answer 13 questions, including:

    • Are U.S. officials aware of the IDF’s current policy on preventing civilian harm?
    • What insights does the U.S. government have into how the Israeli military assesses issues of proportionality?
    • What systems does the Israeli government have in place to investigate allegations of civilian harm?
    • Does the U.S. Defense Department or State Department plan to provide Israel with guidance on how 155mm shells should be
      used when civilians are nearby?
    • Are you aware of any requests for inspector general reviews or audits of U.S. military assistance provided to Israel?

    The senators’ letter came ahead of Wednesday’s procedural vote on whether to begin debating a $106 billion “national security” spending package requested by Biden, which includes more than $10 billion in additional U.S. military aid to Israel atop the nearly $4 billion it receives each year from Washington.

    On Tuesday, Sanders—who has angered progressives by failing to demand a Gaza cease-fire—said he opposes sending billions of dollars in unconditional U.S. armed aid to the “right-wing, extremist” Israeli government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

    “Israel must dramatically change its approach to minimize civilian harm,” he said, “and lay out a wider political process that can secure lasting peace.”

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

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  • Dutch Court Hears Case Accusing Government of Complicity in Israeli War Crimes

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

    Protesters hold signs denouncing genocide during a demonstration in solidarity with Palestine in Amsterdam on October 15, 2023. (Photo: Ana Fernandez/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

    “When military goods can contribute to human rights violations or international humanitarian law, that export is strictly prohibited,” said one campaigner. “It is incomprehensible that, despite clear warnings, the government has knowingly deviated from this.”

    A Dutch court on Monday heard opening arguments in a case brought by four human rights organizations that have accused the government of the Netherlands of being complicit in Israeli war crimes due to its export of military supplies as Israel kills thousands of civilians in Gaza.

    Supplying the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) with parts for F-35 fighter jets, which are stored in a warehouse in the Netherlands, puts the Dutch government at risk for “becoming complicit in violations of international humanitarian law,” the director of the Dutch branch of Amnesty International , one of the plaintiffs, said when the lawsuit was announced last month.

    Amnesty is joined by Oxfam Novib—the Dutch chapter of Oxfam International—The Rights Forum, and PAX in the case, which is expected to result in a judgement around December 15.

    The groups filed the lawsuit after government documents showed the Netherlands had allowed at least one shipment of reserve parts for F-35s since October 7, Al Jazeera reported .

    The Dutch Defense Ministry wrote in a letter to Parliament that “it cannot be established that the F-35s are involved in grave violations of the humanitarian laws of war,” but with nearly 16,000 people killed in Gaza in less than two months—including more than 6,600 children —the human rights groups aim to test that claim in court.

    “The state must immediately stop its deliveries of F-35 parts to Israel,” lawyer Liesbeth Zegveld said Monday at the Hague District Court. “That is its obligation under… Article 1 of the Geneva Conventions, it is its obligation under the Genocide Treaty to prevent genocide, and it is its obligation under export law.”

    Martje van Nes, PAX’s director of organization, pointed out last month that “the Netherlands has a very concrete assessment framework for arms exports.”

    “When military goods can contribute to human rights violations or international humanitarian law, that export is strictly prohibited,” said van Nes. “It is incomprehensible that, despite clear warnings, the government has knowingly deviated from this. This makes them responsible for the deployment of the equipment.”

    PAX noted on Monday that the call for the Netherlands to end shipments of any supplies that Israel could use to continue its massacre of Palestinian civilians—in retaliation for an attack by Hamas in October that killed 1,200 Israelis—”is all the more urgent” considering the end of a temporary cease-fire on Friday. More than 800 people have been killed since the pause in fighting ended last week, and Israel was stepping up its ground attacks on Monday.

    “As far as we are concerned, the government must take action now to protect citizens,” said PAX on social media. The group has demanded a permanent humanitarian cease-fire.

    Dagmar Oudshoorn, director of Amnesty International in the Netherlands, said that as the host country “of both the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court,” the Dutch government “likes to present itself as a champion of international law.”

    “Our government is losing all credibility right now,” she said. “Evident violations such as food, water, and fuel blockade, the forced displacement of the population, and the bombing of schools and hospitals, are not mentioned. And by supplying armies, the Netherlands runs the risk of becoming complicit in violations of international humanitarian law.”

    The Netherlands has maintained since October 7 that Israel “has the right to defend itself” and has called for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to adhere to international law, but the groups said the IDF is clearly not doing so and should lose the support of the country.

    “This complicity must stop now,” said Gerard Jonkman, director of The Rights Forum.

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