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‘All Eyes on Rafah’ as Global Protests Against Looming IDF Assault Continue

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

An Israeli woman holds a sign opposing Israel’s looming invasion of Rafah, Gaza during a February 13, 2024 protest outside the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv.  (Photo: Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images)

Demonstrators turned out from Cardiff to Tel Aviv as Palestinians in the Gaza city endured heavy Israeli bombing while bracing for an all-out ground invasion.

Global emergency protests against Israel’s expected invasion of Rafah continued Tuesday, a day after demonstrators took to the streets of cities around the world to say “hands off” the southern Gaza city whose population has swelled more than fivefold due to the influx of Palestinian war refugees.

Hundreds of protesters turned out in the cold and rain of Cardiff, Wales Tuesday afternoon, with demonstrations planned for later in the day in cities including Manchester, England and Houston, Texas.

“We do not care if it is raining—it’s raining bombs in Rafah over a million Palestinians, squeezed into an area barely the size of an airport,” protest co-organizer Black Lives Matter Cardiff & Vale said on social media.

In Tel Aviv, a crowd of left-wing Israelis protested outside the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense, holding signs with messages including “Stop Bombing Gaza” and “Stop Funding Genocide.”

Tuesday’s demonstrations followed Monday protests around the world including outside both the White House in Washington, D.C. and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s residence on Downing Street in London. Rallies and marches also took place in cities including Rome, New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Vancouver, and at U.S. President Joe Biden’s campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, where 21 Sunrise Movement climate activists were arrested.

Airstrikes on Rafah are intensifying as the Israel Defense Forces appear poised to launch a major ground invasion of the besieged city on the Egyptian border. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed and wounded in Rafah since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Friday order to the IDF to create an evacuation plan for the 1.5 million people in the city, most of them refugees from other parts of Gaza.

South African officials said Tuesday that Israel’s bombing of Rafah and stated intent to invade the city are violations of the International Court of Justice’s order for Israel to “take all measures within its power” to prevent acts of genocide. The court found in a preliminary ruling that Israeli forces were “plausibly” committing genocide, as alleged in the South Africa-led case.

The looming invasion of Rafah comes amid a wider war on Gaza in which more than 100,000 Palestinians have been killed, maimed, or left missing by Israeli bombs and bullets since October 7, when Hamas led deadly attacks on southern Israel and kidnapped over 240 Israelis and others. Around 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced and a majority of the besieged strip’s homes have been damaged or destroyed by Israel’s relentless onslaught.

Senior officials from Israel, the U.S., Egypt, and Qatar met in Cairo on Tuesday to resume negotiations for an extended cease-fire in Gaza in exchange for the release of the approximately 130 hostages held by Hamas.

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

Continue Reading‘All Eyes on Rafah’ as Global Protests Against Looming IDF Assault Continue

South Africa makes ‘urgent request’ to top UN court over Israeli attacks on Rafah

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/south-africa-makes-urgent-request-top-un-court-over-israeli-attacks-rafah

Smoke rises after a bombardment in the Gaza Strip, February 12, 2024

SOUTH AFRICA said it had lodged an urgent request with the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) over Israel’s assault on Palestinians in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

The South African government is asking the ICJ to consider whether Israel has committed a “further imminent breach of the rights of Palestinians in Gaza” following the provisional orders the court handed down last month.

This comes as progress is reportedly being made in securing a ceasefire deal between Hamas and the Israeli government.

In December, South Africa instituted proceedings at the ICJ accusing Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

Among its six orders, the ICJ said that Israel must do all it can to prevent the deaths of Palestinians and the destruction of Gaza.

…

A statement released by the office of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, said: “The South African government was gravely concerned that the unprecedented military offensive against Rafah, as announced by the state of Israel, has already led to and will result in further large-scale killing, harm and destruction.

“This would be in serious and irreparable breach both of the Genocide Convention and of the court’s order of January 26 2024.”

…

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/south-africa-makes-urgent-request-top-un-court-over-israeli-attacks-rafah

Continue ReadingSouth Africa makes ‘urgent request’ to top UN court over Israeli attacks on Rafah

Fresh evidence of Israeli war crimes in attacks on Rafah, says Amnesty International

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/fresh-evidence-israeli-war-crimes-attacks-rafah-says-amnesty-international

Palestinians sit by the destruction from the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip in Rafah on February 12, 2024

AT LEAST 95 civilians were killed in four unlawful air strikes on an alleged “safe” area in Rafah, a damning new report by Amnesty International revealed today.

The dead included 42 children. The Gaza Health Ministry says more than 12,300 minors have been killed in the besieged enclave since Israel began its invasion of Gaza following the Hamas attack on it on October 7.

According to Israeli authorities, 1,139 people died during the Hamas assault and more than 200 people were taken as hostages.

It also comes as Israel intensified its bombing of Rafah in preparation for an expected ground assault. Palestinians had been ordered to evacuate to the area by Israeli authorities as a place of safety from the battle that raged in northern Gaza.

According to Amnesty the evidence shows that Israeli forces are flouting international humanitarian law in their military operations in Gaza.

…

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/fresh-evidence-israeli-war-crimes-attacks-rafah-says-amnesty-international

Continue ReadingFresh evidence of Israeli war crimes in attacks on Rafah, says Amnesty International

“Are They ‘Hamas’?” 12,300 Children Killed by Israeli Forces in Gaza

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

People mourn as they receive the dead bodies of victims of an Israeli airstrike on February 12, 2024 in Rafah, Gaza.  (Photo by Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images)

Gruesome new data shows that kids make up around 43% of the death toll from Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip.

Israeli forces have killed more than 12,300 Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip in just over four months, a staggering toll that’s likely to grow as the Netanyahu government ramps up its assault on and prepares to invade the overcrowded city of Rafah.

New figures that Gaza health authorities provided to The Associated Press show that children make up roughly 43% of the total death toll in the Palestinian enclave since October 7. Women and children combined account for three-quarters of the death toll, according to the new data.

“Are they ‘Hamas’?” Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch, asked in response to the numbers, referring to Israel’s claim that it is targeting militants despite the massive and growing body of evidence to the contrary.

An Amnesty International report released Monday examining four recent Israeli airstrikes on Rafah. Amnesty said that “in all four attacks,” it did not find “any indication that the residential buildings hit could be considered legitimate military objectives or that people in the buildings were military targets.”

Virtually all of Gaza’s 1 million-plus children have been traumatized in some way by Israel’s monthslong war on the Gaza Strip: Around 17,000 have been separated from their families, more than 1,000 have had one or both of their legs amputated, and more than 610,000 are currently trapped in Rafah, a small city that was previously considered a relative safe zone for people fleeing Israeli bombs and bullets.

“Israel is erasing generations in Gaza and its soldiers are killing children in numbers competing with the cruelest of wars,” Israeli journalist Gideon Levy wrote in a column last month. “This will not and cannot be forgotten. How can a people ever forget those who killed its children in such a manner? How can people of conscience around the world remain silent?”

“This is the gravest test of all. Will they uphold international law and children’s right to life? Or will they stand by while the lives, bodies, and futures of more children are decimated?”

Children were among the dozens of Palestinians killed Monday in a wave of Israeli airstrikes conducted as the U.S.-armed Israel Defense Forces raided an apartment building to rescue two hostages.

Jason Lee, Save the Children’s country director for the occupied Palestinian territory, said last week that “much of the international community has failed tests of their commitment to protect children so far.”

“This is the gravest test of all,” Lee said of Rafah. “Will they uphold international law and children’s right to life? Or will they stand by while the lives, bodies, and futures of more children are decimated?”

The United Nations Children’s Fund, known as UNICEF, similarly appealed to the international community to act to prevent catastrophe for children and others in Rafah.

“We need an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza, and the safe and immediate release of all hostages—especially children—who have suffered so much,” Catherine Russell, UNICEF’s executive director, said Friday. “A humanitarian cease-fire will save lives. It will allow for the expansion of the humanitarian response, and help provide the best protection for children whose lives and futures are hanging in the balance.”

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

‘All Eyes on Rafah’ as Global Protests Against Looming IDF Assault Continue

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Continue Reading“Are They ‘Hamas’?” 12,300 Children Killed by Israeli Forces in Gaza

Greens call for scaling up actions against Israel, accusing UK government of complicity in killing 

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Image of the Green Party's Carla Denyer on BBC Question Time.
Image of the Green Party’s Carla Denyer on BBC Question Time.

As Israel appears to be on the brink of an all out assault on Rafah, despite warnings against such action by the UN, Red Crescent and others, Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer is demanding the UK scale up actions against the Israeli government until the killing stops. Greens are calling for an end to all arms sales to Israel, prosecutions of war criminals and targeted sanctions on Israel’s leaders. 

Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer said: 

“It is clear that the Israeli government is refusing to heed warnings about the catastrophic implications of an all-out attack on Rafah. The UK government must now demand that Israel stop the killing, calling for an immediate ceasefire. Hamas must also agree to this ceasefire of course, and release all hostages.  

“Decisions made by the UK government – above all its failure, month after month, to call for an immediate ceasefire – have made them complicit in the killing of almost 28,000 people to date, 12,000 of whom are children.

“Israel relies on certain weapon parts manufactured in the UK, including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter whose essential components are made here.

A Dutch court has today ordered the state to cease the export of F-35 spare parts to Israel. We call on the UK government to follow suit, and suspend all arms export licences to Israel until the killing stops. The UK must also cease all military collaboration with Israel, including allowing Israeli use of British bases and RAF intelligence flights over Gaza.

“Greens would also implement the requirements of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign across the UK economy. This would include excluding Israel from international sporting and music events; withdrawing all public money from funds with investments in Israel; and ending beneficial trade arrangements with Israel.

“It is clear that only outside pressure will make Israel stop its mass killing. We can increase the pressure on Israeli leaders by introducing targeted sanctions against key individuals. This would include travel bans and asset freezes on Israel’s leadership and cabinet members, in particular those calling for new settlements in Gaza and the annexation of the West Bank. 

“Finally, we would encourage UK authorities including the Metropolitan Police and Director of Public Prosecutions to pursue perpetrators of war crimes committed where UK citizens are the victims or where UK citizens are potential perpetrators. 

“There are many steps the UK government could take to pressure Israel to stop the killing. Its refusal to do so means that they are implicitly condoning the appalling carnage in Gaza.” 

Continue ReadingGreens call for scaling up actions against Israel, accusing UK government of complicity in killing